I think the best thing that can happen to Nigeria is for Peter Obi to become President of the country.
I think we need him for something quite different from what most of his supporters think. We need him to give us what Buhari gave us. Buhari gave us, especially his supporters, clarity and epiphany. But we have not learnt enough. We need Peter Obi for another lesson. He might not even be the final lesson before we finally get it, but he will be a grand lesson in the scheme of things. It will complete the geo-religious equation: one Muslim teacher from the North, one Christian teacher from the South.
Imagine if Buhari had never been President. Wow!!! If that man had died without becoming our president for 8 long years, Nigerians, especially his teeming supporters from the North, would have turned his gravesite into a pilgrimage site where they would go to lament about the greatest President Nigeria never had.
Come on, have you forgotten Buhari? They sold us on his honesty. They told us he would sell the presidential fleet. They told us he would make $1 equal to ₦1. Kai, they told us things. When he finally became president, even his critics were silently hoping against hope that he might surprise everyone and become the messiah they said he would. The first sign of his utter cluelessness hit us when he took over 6 months to appoint ministers, who ended up being his regular party men. Oga failed before he even began.
Nigerians have not really learnt anything from the Buhari messiah saga. They still think Peter Obi, or anyone for that matter, can be our messiah who will part our Red Sea by merely stretching out his rod. Oh God, please make Peter Obi the president of this country. If not, Nigerians will spend their entire lives thinking Nigeria would have become a land flowing with milk and honey if Peter Obi had been president.
Am I saying Peter Obi will end up like Buhari if he becomes president? I can’t say that because I sincerely don’t think so. I think Peter Obi will do better. But I’m certain Peter Obi will not be a messiah who will turn water into wine. I don’t even think our lives will change significantly during his presidency. To make matters worse, the man is even saying he wants to do only 4 years. Four years? To improve our lives? Let’s leave that one first.
What can Peter Obi really do? Let’s take the justice system, for instance. That’s my sector. I know a Federal High Court judge who does not grant bail in her court. Once you are arraigned in her court, she will certainly remand you in prison, no matter your offence. SANs and senior lawyers know about this. We talk about it and laugh. They say it is a matter of discretion. We all know she is abusing that discretion, but we are all laughing. What will Peter Obi do as president?
You will go to court, the judge will not appear, and lawyers and litigants will go home after spending hours waiting. Is it Peter Obi that will tell the courts to at least create a WhatsApp group to inform lawyers and litigants beforehand when the court will not sit? I got a judgment from a division of the Court of Appeal. I had 90 days to appeal the judgment to the Supreme Court. The Constitution says I should get the judgment within 7 days, but my time to appeal nearly elapsed before I got the judgment, after begging and screaming at the clerks. What will Peter Obi do?
In that same division of the Court of Appeal, the court granted me leave to appeal a judgment of the National Industrial Court within 14 days. Till today, I have not gotten the order, and this has been since February. You said I should appeal within 14 days, but you refused to release the order. And you cannot talk. If you talk, the same system will victimise you. Can’t you see how I’m leaving key details out of my narrative? Na fear I dey fear o. What will Peter Obi do?
What will Peter Obi do to your community leaders who will sell you a piece of land and then sell it to someone else? What will Peter Obi do when we glorify our servants by making them our masters?
So, we need Peter Obi. Maybe after his presidency, we will realise that what we need is a complete overhaul of our national mentality and political culture. If we don’t learn after him, at least it will help us finish Class Two in the School of We Don’t Need A Messiah.
This is the word of the Lord.
— First Baba Isa (FBI)