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The anti-Peter Obi scheme has entered its endgame. Its promoters are in their elemental best at moment. The political scavengers who have been presiding over the systemic and systematic decapitation of opposition political parties have turned their full attention to Obi. And their vow is targeted like this: we must extinguish this dyed-in-the-wool opposition element who is bent on upsetting the apple carte. That explains their last ditch effort to put him in political limbo. That is one crucial battle they must fight in the ballyhooed struggle for the soul of 2027. The scavengers have decided on this path of desperation, having failed repeatedly to cage the phenomenal character that has defied all odds. The real worry for Obi’s traducers is their inability to put him in a straitjacket. The man has been protean in his politics and in his approach to everyday issues. That is why those after him are reaping surprises. The man is spreading like wild fire. He has refuse to be contained.
When therefore you hear that a Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, has been drafted to put Obi’s political party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) out of the political radar, the whole idea behind the plot becomes too well known. Its actual intent is not just to create panic and put the party on the defensive, the scheme is tailored towards destabilizing Obi and his presidential quest. They want him to go into the elections with unsure steps. They do not even want him to stand for the election. They want to extinguish him. The fear is that having him on the ballot could rudely truncate Tinubu’s second term ambition. They are evidently scared scared of the surprises he could spring.
In order not to create room for an uppercut from the opposition led by Obi, Tinubu has to go defensive. He is wearing a protective amour no matter how fragile it is. He has to do this to shield him, somewhat, from the malaise he suffers. He is hostage to a form of fantasy, the human condition that William Golding described as “fictitious steady”. The fact of the matter is that a lot of shenanigans have been going on around the Tinubu administration. There is something they call Renewed Hope Agenda. Another is called City Boy Movement. Some others go by all manner of names. They are all engagements that give the presidency the impression that it is engaging Nigerians sufficiently,. Little or no attention is paid towards measuring their impact on the people. The driving force is just to seize the stage and drown the voice of those who are not properly disposed to government and its activities.
Perhaps, the most potent tool that government has deployed against the people and opposition elements is the mess it is making of the judiciary. There are court cases everywhere majorly sponsored by government to stop the opposition from taking off the ground. The other day, there was a court judgment seeking to de register some five or six political parties. And now, there is another declaring that the NDC should not be recognized as a political party. President Tinubu and those he is using for the odd job know what they are doing. For Tinubu particularly, the public shows are meant to create for him a false sense of protection. He needs this make belief to retain some reasonable level of confidence. He needs those assurances, however false, to get him going.
Perhaps, Tinubu would have, by now, got used to this world of fantasy. But one man keeps bringing him back to reality. Each time Tinubu sleepwalks, Obi arouses him from slumbering numbness. This forced return to reality has been a strain on Tinubu. He is not comfortable around this man that does not permit him the luxury of a phantasmagoria packaged and sold to him as reality. In fact, the opposing tendencies represented by Tinubu and Obi are at the root of our unsettled situation. To stay settled therefore, Tinubu and his presidency feel an overriding need to cage Obi, the precocious one who does not suffer fools gladly.
To think that all this is happening even when President Tinubu has taken all practical steps to emasculate the polity beats the imagination. The president has, so far, stopped at nothing to gain advantage over every political player in today’s Nigeria. Some months back, he had cause to set sail, but in the wrong direction. He enacted an exodus that saw governors from opposition political parties falling over themselves to join Tinubu and his All Progressives Congress (APC). The defectors did not move for the love of Tinubu or his party. It was about political convenience and survival. You have to join the president’s party to belong, and to be seen as part of the system.
With nearly all the 36 governors on his side, Tinubu need not be afraid of winning a second term election. Surprisingly, the man is scared stiff. Somehow, he does not believe that the governors can do much for him. The fear and trepidation that are weighing the president down is a measure of the reality of the situation we have on our hands. Tinubu is not favoured by any circumstance to retain power in 2027. But he wants to force the unpalatable situation down the people’s throat. This has brought about something that looks like a life-and-death struggle. A certain scramble for the soul of the country is going on.
But in any situation such as the one in which Nigeria has found itself, there will always be a man of vision and mission. Such a character is usually not part of the anonymous crowd. He does not get on the bandwagon of destruction. He stays detached from the madding crowd. He does not stop at anything to ensure that the country returns to the path of sanity and rebirth.
In our present circumstance, Peter Obi represents that man of difference. He is focused on how the country can be rescued. He is not available to be bought over. This consistent course of action on his part has bred fear in the establishment. They want to contain him. They want to clip his wings. Indeed, they want to extinguish him. For the desperate cabal, Obi is one thorn in the flesh that must be pulled out. The desperation to achieve this negative objective is manifesting in a myriad of ways. For Tinubu and his lynch mob, the fear of Peter Obi is the beginning of wisdom.
