Who’s Afraid of Peter Obi?

The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, recently used the floor of the Senate to throw jabs at the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, Mr. Peter Obi, urging him to focus on resolving the internal crises within his party before aspiring to lead Nigeria.

Obi incurred Akpabio’s wrath when he spoke at a memorial lecture held in honour of the late Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, where he claimed that the sacrifices of Nigeria’s past heroes had been in vain. 

He cited the worsening economic and social conditions in the country as evidence.

But Akpabio accused Obi of being disrespectful and dishonouring the legacy of Nigeria’s founding fathers, cautioning him against making divisive comments that could cause confusion in the country. 

He suggested that Obi’s fixation on national issues would be better grounded if he first demonstrated leadership within his own party, which is enmeshed in protracted leadership crises.

It has become a troubling trend for members of the current administration to frequently target Obi, despite his consistent focus on Nigeria’s dire socio-economic realities rather than on personalities.

 The Presidency; the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Akpabio have targeted Obi in recent months.

Sanwo-Olu had lashed out at Obi, in a reaction to the comments the former Anambra State governor made during a recent foreign engagement, where he critiqued the country’s economic trajectory.

 The presidency, too, had earlier dismissed Obi and his ideas and proposals on governance and economic reform.

When the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr.  Akinwumi Adesina raised the alarm that things were better for Nigerians in the 1960s than now, the Presidency dismissed his claims, saying that he spoke like Obi.

While the political elite dissipate their energy attacking Obi, the man himself remains resolutely focused on drawing global and national attention to Nigeria’s structural challenges and the urgent need for reform.

Many analysts believe that it would be better for these government officials to focus  their energy on how to tackle the pressing challenges being identified regularly by Obi, which are responsible for the current hardship in the country, rather than vilifying the former Anambra State governor and other opposition voices.