2023: Obi And Nigeria’s Cash-And-Carry Democracy

By Casmir Igbokwe

The refrain in town today is, anywhere Peter Obi goes; we will follow him. Another one says, “As it stands now in Nigeria, we have APC, PDP and PETER OBI. We have tried PDP, tried APC. It’s time to try PETER OBI…” These statements have great import. They mean that many Nigerians are tired of our cash-and-carry democracy. They show that people are weary of our leadership deficit. They want a genuine, positive change in the dwindling fortunes of the country. And they believe a Peter Obi presidency will engender all that.

Until last Wednesday, Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, was a leading presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He shocked Nigerians when he announced his resignation from the party and withdrawal from the presidential race. Initially, I felt uncomfortable with this move. But with hindsight, I think he took a wise decision.

It had become obvious to obi and many others that the PDP was bent on giving its presidential ticket to the highest bidder. The party has a subsisting rotation arrangement in its constitution. But it ditched it for pecuniary interests. Many of the aspirants moved round, doling out humongous amount of money to delegates.

It was also dollar rain at the primary election of the party held last Saturday in Abuja. Top spenders reportedly include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki. Each of the delegates was said to have smiled home with at least, $50,000.  At the end, the highest bidder, Atiku, emerged the winner after defeating 12 other candidates. He polled 371 votes while his closest challenger, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, polled 237 votes. Former Senate president, Bukola Saraki, got 70 votes to emerge third.  Tambuwal had stepped down for Atiku a few hours before voting. As it stands now, Wike may likely emerge as Atiku’s running mate.

Millions of Nigerians are currently disillusioned with this type of politics. They fear for the future of our children, the future of Nigeria. Currently, the situation of the country is dire. It requires redemption. Yesterday being May 29, 2022, Nigeria marked her 23 years of unbroken civilian rule. Our major achievement is that the military has not disrupted our transition from one civilian government to the other. Outside that, we have continued to move progressively down the ladder of democracy.

In the area of security, we have failed woefully. Kidnapping has become a very lucrative business. Travellers are usually the major victims. Weeks after the abduction of some passengers from Abuja to Kaduna train, many of them are still in captivity and risk being killed soon. The terrorists made certain demands from the government and the government is yet to meet them.

On May 15, 2022, a serving lawmaker representing Aguata II Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Okey Okoye, and his aide, Mr. Ulaevuchukwu  Chiegboka, were abducted and slaughtered like goats. A sad Governor Chukwuma Soludo imposed curfew on eight local government areas and placed a N10 million bounty on the head of the killers. This has not stopped the gunmen from their murderous activities. There are many other examples of heinous crime in Nigeria. Simply put, life has become meaningless and valueless in the country.

In the area of the economy, we have not fared better as well. Do we talk about the debt trap which has progressively risen from N21.725 trillion in 2017 to N39.55 trillion as at December 2021? The Debt Management Office (DMO) says the debt will likely get to N45 trillion in 2022. Do we talk about rising inflation, unemployment and poverty? Almost on a daily basis, prices of essential commodities keep rising. A 12.5KG of cooking gas which sold for between N3,000 and N4,000 a few years ago now sells for between N9,000 and N10,000. Prices of staples like rice have gone beyond the reach of average Nigerians. A 50KG bag of rice which sold for between N7,000 and N8,000 in 2015 now sells for between N25,000 and N30,000. And this is in a country where the minimum wage is N30,000.  Do we talk about the exchange rate, which has gone from about N199 to a dollar in May 2015 to about N600 to a dollar today?

Do we talk about the worsening electric power supply? These days, what the electricity distribution companies do is to flash light to consumers. In many parts of Lagos where I live, light does not last beyond five minutes most times. Many companies which depend on diesel to power their machinery are closing shop because the cost of that commodity is something else. The cost of aviation fuel is threatening the business of the airlines.

Do we talk about corruption? Rather than improve on our fight against the monster, we have continued to score low marks on corruption perception index. Recently, the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, was arrested for alleged N80 billion fraud. The trending news a few days ago is that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared the Accountant General of Rivers State, Fubara Siminayi, and 58 others wanted for N435billion fraud. Surprisingly, this same Fubara has just emerged the PDP governorship candidate for Rivers State.

It is quite disturbing that we have moved on as if nothing is amiss. Now that the PDP has had its presidential primary election, let’s see how that of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), will turn out on June 6. The APC charged N100 million for the nomination and expression of interest forms for this position. The PDP charged N40 million. What this means is that many sound, credible candidates will never make it. I don’t know how many Nigerians who can afford this money from their legitimate earnings.

Honestly speaking, we cannot continue to sit on the fence anymore. We need to identify credible candidates in some political parties and support them, the dollar rain in APC and PDP notwithstanding. This is what the Peter Obi movement is all about. His supporters organized one-million-man march in different states of the federation recently to preach the Obi gospel. They also pushed him to dump the PDP and join the Labour Party to actualize this ambition.

Obi’s gospel is prudence. It is transparency. It is accountability. He proved his worth as governor of Anambra State between 2006 and 2014. He touched many areas of life, carried out many developmental projects and still left behind N75 billion for his successor. This is unprecedented in the history of this country. In sane environments, the system throws up people like him to move the society forward. But here, such people are muscled out of the scene. This is the narrative some concerned Nigerians want to change.

Whatever anybody says or believes, Nigeria needs Obi to curb profligacy in government; to move the country from consumption to production. We need him to curtail insecurity in the country; to tame corruption in high places; and to bring genuine unity among the peoples of Nigeria. Above all, if we must combat leadership deficit, which has been the bane of Nigeria, then we must be ready to follow Peter Obi anywhere he goes.