BY UGO CHUKWUKA

Ndigbo in Nigeria owe to themselves a sincere and unemotional answer to this question before it is too late: what if Peter Obi does not win the 2023 presidential election? This is precisely the question the governor of Anambra state, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, courageously confronted in his piece which he titled: ‘History Beckons and I will not be Silent (Part 1)’. But rather than sit back and ponder over the strong possibility of Obi not emerging and the attendant implication for Ndigbo, the issue was treated with sentiment driven by media frenzy and attacks.

The emotional outbursts that greeted Soludo’s timely intervention can be summarised as an insinuation that the governor of Anambra state does not want Peter Obi to become president of Nigeria. Such outbursts remain a classic case of ad hominem – insulting and making insults against the person while ignoring the issues put forth.
When people abandon the message to attack the messenger, it becomes dangerously diversionary and this is now a rising political culture that is further alienating Ndigbo from mainstream politics in Nigeria. This was the aim of those who pushed the narrative that Soludo does not want Peter Obi to become president of Nigeria and drove the media razzmatazz to an attempt to drown out the real issues contained in the erudite professor’s well-thought-out treatise and advice to Peter Obi in particular and Ndigbo in general.

Nonetheless, truth is both eternal and sacred. Though Peter Obi has managed to thrust himself forth as one of the four contenders to the office of the president of Nigeria, it is still obvious that he is the one playing catch-up and hasn’t quite reached the level where he and his Labour Party can be rationally evaluated as having developed the capacity already possessed by the ruling APC, and the main opposition PDP.

The capacity in question is what the two behemoth political parties (PDP and APC) gained from their inception and experience in the field since 1998. (Note that APC is as old as PDP because the legacy political blocks that formed the APC are as old as the PDP and like the PDP, APC has held the office of the president, state governors, and LG chairmen. Yes, PDP and APC have produced governors, senators, the senate president, the speaker of the house of representatives/members, state assembly members, and local government chairmen. Labour Party has not).

Sadly, Nigerians keep hearing the Labour Party and its candidate shouting at every turn, “people are the structure”. This claim is not only fallacious but also smacks of deep ignorance of party democracy as well as how political parties function in an election. By their admission, by the time Peter Obi joined the Labour party, the party was adjudged as not being present in up to 10% of Nigeria, particularly in the wards and polling units where voting and initial coalition take place.

Today barely 70 days to the presidential election, Labour Party, though has made some progress and inroads, evidently has not advanced beyond 30% in covering the wards and polling units in Nigeria whereas up to 80% of the grounds needed to be covered effectively by any political party that hopes to produce the president of Nigeria. Confirmatory of this position is that days ago, an open appeal by the Labour Party for volunteers as local government ward and polling units’ coordinators for the party surfaced online.

So, when Soludo says that Peter Obi is not positioned or primed to win, he is right and knows what he is talking about. Peter Obi is, without a doubt, popular particularly in the southern part of Nigeria. But the core north, which controls over 40% of the votes, has not heard much of Peter Obi. A few who have heard are not likely to abandon their regional strategic interests to support a Peter Obi presidency that has not shown how such interests would be protected. What is more, Obi and Labour Party are not reaching out enough or negotiating enough with the critical stakeholders. They rely on the social media-generated frenzy to create the false impression that an Obi victory is already fait accompli.

Ndigbo, including Soludo, genuinely want Peter Obi to win. But the question – what if Obi does not win? – must not also be swept under the carpet. Unless they have completely been misled and lost their way in Nigerian politics, there are very existential conditions which Ndigbo must put in perspective while taking political decisions at this moment. These are issues that shape their very existence and impact their future. Being emotional about such a lifesaving decision can only exacerbate an already bad situation and make the future bleaker as happened to Ndigbo in 2015 and 2019 when Ohanaeze led the Igbo people to shut the door against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Recall that Ohanaeze leadership in 2014 under its former president general, Chief Garry Igariwey, and former Ohanaeze Ndigbo secretary general, Dr Joe Nworgu, openly rejected the request by General Muhammadu Buhari to hold a meeting with the apex Igbo body. Ohanaeze’s leadership refused to engage, accusing Buhari of marginalising the southeast as the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) chairman set up by the Sani Abacha regime. Ohanaeze sentimentally also noted they would not engage with Buhari because when Shehu Shagari was overthrown in 1983, Shagari, the number one person in that toppled civilian administration, was placed under house arrest while Ekwueme, the number two, who had no constitutional functions was imprisoned.
Ohanaeze, by taking this hard stand, inadvertently declared Buhari an enemy of Ndigbo despite Buhari being a frontrunner and possible winner for the office of the president of Nigeria. The Igbo ethnic group thus refused to present their demands to the APC candidate who later won and also turned his back on Ndigbo. It is an impolitic move that the Igbo people later regrettably paid for and still pay dearly for.

As if that was not enough, again in 2019, Ohanaeze under Nnia Nwodo as president general did not only endorse the Atiku/Obi ticket of the PDP but again refused to give Buhari an audience despite being an incumbent president seeking re-election. Buhari was supposed to engage Ohanaeze the day he came down to Anambra state to commission Zik’s Mausoleum, which he completed.

Strangely, Ohanaeze PG rather than receive Buhari as a co-host to the historic moment, was at Nike Resorts in Enugu endorsing Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi’s ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party. Nnia Nwodo said then that after a critical and dispassionate appraisal of the issues and the visible fault lines in our polity, including the analysis of the election manifestos of the various contesting parties, especially with regards to the restructuring of the federation and continued relevance of the Ndigbo in the Nigerian geopolitical space, Ohanaeze resolved to endorse the Atiku/Obi ticket. Furthermore, PDP nominated an Igbo son, Peter Obi, as the vice presidential candidate to give Ndigbo an opportunity for inclusivity.

Ohanaeze as a socio-cultural organisation has no business endorsing candidates. Whenever the Igbo apex body does that, it sends the message that Ndigbo does not want anything to do with other presidential candidates. This is very wrong and has contributed to the quagmire Ndigbo have found themselves in the current democratic dispensation.

This needless and provocative endorsement is repeating itself in 2022. Ohanaeze led by Professor George Obiozor has just endorsed Peter Obi and is urging Ndigbo not to support any other presidential candidate. This is yet another strategic blunder given the fact both Atiku and Tinubu stand stronger chances of winning in the 2023 presidential election when the critical factors that combine to produce Nigeria’s president are dispassionately factored into the equation.

So, the nagging question again; in the likely event that Peter Obi does not win, what then will be the fate of Ndigbo in post-2023 Nigeria given the fact that the major ethnic group is not engaging and has indeed foreclosed engaging the two likely presidents of Nigeria, Atiku, and Tinubu? The ominous consequences of Atiku or Tinubu emerging with the impression that Ndigbo shut him out may continue the Buhari/APC policy of Igbo marginalisation and exclusion, which has shown, is a self-inflicted injury.

Zik’s way remains the best way for Ndigbo. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s politics of diplomacy and compromise fetched the Old Eastern Region positions in the powerful executive, legislative, judicial, bureaucratic, and defence positions in the First Republic. The approach also secured the southeast positions of the vice president and speaker of the house of representatives less than a decade after the civil war as well as several plum positions that ensured visibility and full representation of Ndigbo in the scheme of things as well as being the springboard for region-wide development.

All Igbo patriots should be extremely worried about the currently raging ‘ nzogbu-nzogbu ‘ (do-or-die) mentality, which seems to have displaced the time-honoured Igbo culture of political engagement, consensus building, and common sense. There is an urgent need to turn away from the politics of self-adulation, uncritical echo chamber, and herd mentality and re-embrace once again the politics of dialogue and robust debate.

Igbo political leaders must back Soludo’s intervention and engage by opening up negotiations with the PDP and APC presidential candidates to ensure the Igbo pride of place and relevance in the coming government. This is the way to also ensure the youth restiveness, separatist agitations, and insecurity that has bedevilled the southeast of late is stopped from escalating beyond 2023.
No major ethnic group in Nigeria carries all its eggs in one basket or forecloses negotiations in an election where there is no clear likely winner. A word, they say, is enough for the wise.

Chukwuka wrote from Lagos, Nigeria. He can be reached via ugochuka@gmail.com

https://www.thecable.ng/ndigbo-what-if-peter-obi-does-not-win-the-2023-presidential-election/amp

I new you guys would be posting this.

dumahi:
I new you guys would be posting this.

Why?

They'll start singing Biafra or Death.

The interesting thing is that they have already blackmail themselves by their almost unanimous support for the Obi's presidential aspiration. So they'll have to live with the outcome of 2023 with humility and imposture of pretended patriotism if Obi fails.

Sadly, Nigerians keep hearing the Labour Party and its candidate shouting at every turn, “people are the structure”. This claim is not only fallacious but also smacks of deep ignorance of party democracy as well as how political parties function in an election.

The emboldened statement makes me see that most of Obi's supporters are political neophytes.

Then they reunite with their Gucci flag

He is not Winning

Grammer too much, dont even have to reach such a long text

How did Goodluck Jonathan's presidency help the Ijaw Nation?
How did OBJ as President favour the Yoruba race?
Katsina state has produced two presidents in recent times. How did that change the ordinary life of the common man in the state?

I thought Peter Obi is running because he has the capacity and not because he's Igbo.

Are there no other Igbos in this Presidential Race? Why the fixation on Obi?

Igbos has nothing to loose

Bad government do not know your tribe or religion

Same thing that would happen to Yorubas if Tinubu doesn't win ,

same thing that would happen to Fulanis if Atiku doesn't win

Same thing that happened to ijaws after Jonathan lost

Which is absolutely nothing

But only a fool would leave to vote the most competent Candidate and vote someone he/she knows us incompetent simply because he/she feels the competent candidate can't win

There is no higher form of foolishness than this

Rubbish article. We cannot know whether PO will win or lose until after the election results are announced. That is what we want to find out. Why are you not asking the Yoruba what they will do if Tinubu loses?

What is your problem with indigbo OP?

FarahAideed:
He is not Winning

Never say never!

Jostoman:
What is your problem with indigbo OP?

I didn't write it. Check the writer and source.

Hmmm. What ifs? OP, what if PO wins?

Make no mistake, whether PO aspired or not, the fate of ndigbo wouldn't have changed in Nigeria's politics. Now that it was their turn, PDP gave it to the North. Assuming APC wins, without a PO in the race, they would still have zoned it to the North again, and the cycle continues. PO is riding on providence made possible by many factors. Now, can just be ibos' time.

Efuaye:
How did Goodluck Jonathan's presidency help the Ijaw Nation?
How did OBJ as President favour the Yoruba race?
Katsina state has produced two presidents in recent times. How did that change the ordinary life of the common man in the state?

I thought Peter Obi is running because he has the capacity and not because he's Igbo.

Are there no other Igbos in this Presidential Race? Why the fixation on Obi?

Exactly

nothing will happen, we move

Aufbauh:
They'll start singing Biafra or Death.

The interesting thing is that they have already blackmail themselves by their almost unanimous support for the Obi's presidential aspiration. So they'll have to live with the outcome of 2023 with humility and imposed patriotism if Obi fails.

You are just a hatefilled fat rat!
The presidency is not your mothers property neither is it your fathers birthright.
Atikus deputy is Igbo and most of PDP Igbo chieftains are still with Abubakar.

Two Igbo governors are campaigning for your ethnic candidate Tinubu. That is Hope Uzodimma and Dave Umeahi!

Infact, as we speak, there are no Igbo governors campaigning for Peter Obi. They're all working for candidates from outside the region.

For you who project your racism and tribalism on others while playing victim, this is not enough. Meanwhile you can't show me any examples of your tribal governors supporting an igbo presidential candidate.

Essentially, in your warped sense of smartness, igbos should all line up behind your inebriated senile "Push and Start" presidential candidate called Hushcobar Tinupoo to be seen as patriots.

That's insane!

In any event, you're right! We will go back to even more tedious agitations if Mr Peter Obi is rigged out. The Igbo has been rigged out off the presidency since 1966. That must be stopped by all means possible. So be getting prepared..

Peter Obi would win...Period.

I think this would gladden Ndigbo as well as other Nigerians.

The greatest joy would be to retire Tinubu+Atiku

Naira20:
Peter Obi would win...Period.
I think this would gladden Ndigbo as well as other Nigerians.
The greatest joy would be to retire Tinubu+Atiku

If wishes were horses....

Did you just learn that phrase?

Peter Obi is Nigeria's President come May 29, 2023.

Better embrace that Truth before Obi is sworn in and you die of heart failure.

kilisi:


If wishes were horses....

What is the need of all these plum political positions if all parts of Nigeria has remained unindustrialized and poor since then? Whether President, Senate or other plum positions you target, none of them will work for the people in this neocolonial system.

kilisi:
BY UGO CHUKWUKA

Zik’s way remains the best way for Ndigbo. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s politics of diplomacy and compromise fetched the Old Eastern Region positions in the powerful executive, legislative, judicial, bureaucratic, and defence positions in the First Republic. The approach also secured the southeast positions of the vice president and speaker of the house of representatives less than a decade after the civil war as well as several plum positions that ensured visibility and full representation of Ndigbo in the scheme of things as well as being the springboard for region-wide development.

https://www.thecable.ng/ndigbo-what-if-peter-obi-does-not-win-the-2023-presidential-election/amp

The Igbos as one of tribes that fought for the independence of Nigeria has once again presented a credible and intelligent man to head the affairs of this falling nation but if the other tribe prefer to swim in abject poverty then we will dance to their tones and all of will suffer for it.

The Igbos will always be the last to get affected by any negative condition in Nigeria

owobokiri:


You are just a hatefilled fat rat!
The presidency is not your mothers property neither is it your fathers birthright.
Atikus deputy is Igbo and most of PDP Igbo chieftains are still with Abubakar.

Two Igbo governors are campaigning for your ethnic candidate Tinubu. That is Hope Uzodimma and Dave Umeahi!

Infact, as we speak, there are no Igbo governors campaigning for Peter Obi. They're all working for candidates from outside the region.

For you who project your racism and tribalism on others while playing victim, this is not enough. Meanwhile you can't show me any examples of your tribal governors supporting an igbo presidential candidate.

Essentially, in your warped sense of smartness, igbos should all line up behind your inebriated senile "Push and Start" presidential candidate called Hushcobar Tinupoo to be seen as patriots.

That's insane!

In any event, you're right! We will go back to even more tedious agitations if Mr Peter Obi is rigged out. The Igbo has been rigged out off the presidency since 1966. That must be stopped by all means possible. So be getting prepared..

Ignore @Aufbauh. Idoma boy living in lagos running his mouth insulting Igbos

The Yoruba word for Bastard is Omo ale… his name is Omale. You cannot blame him.

Stupid question,have we ever won since 1999?
Why will it be different this time around?

Then we go back to our original Biafla or nothing.

HedwigesMaduro:
Then we go back to our original Biafla or nothing.

All these Yoruba bigots.

TinubuDeDrugLor:
All these Yoruba bigots.

You may want to check again the name of the writer, please.

1) They will stop bearing OBIDIENTS and go back to original name of IPOB
2) They will again start calling Nigeria a zoo
3) They will increase their hate for Tinubu, Northerners and other Nigerians in general
4) They will go back to their madness of BIAFLA or death.
5) They will frustrate Tinubu's government

Nigerians s been Anything to looseBad government do not know your tribe or religion