The nomination of Mr. Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra state, as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate ran into troubled waters. Though his emergence elicited healthy reactions from a wide section of Nigerians, it understandably raised dust in some quarters. The Southeast Governors Forum led by Ebonyi state governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, lamented that the leadership of the zone was not consulted in arriving at Obi’s candidature.
On a face value, the outcry looked like a quest to protect the interest of Ndigbo, but it is beyond that. The outburst is mealy-mouthed and self-serving. It is all about post-Atiku presidency, or permutations for Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2023 or 2027, as the case may be. The thinking of some crop of political gladiators is that whoever emerges as Atiku’s running mate, given his relative wide acceptability, would naturally benefit from post-Atiku succession plan.
This linear calculation makes scant reservation for divine intervention in the affairs of men. And so, those who were scheming and lobbying to run with Atiku, arrogating the megalomaniac right of entitlement, were taken unawares. Others who stepped up negotiations to concede the vice presidency slot to another zone, to enable them appropriate the highest position for the zone (most likely the senate presidency) were also disappointed. These partly accounted for the discordant tunes that trailed Obi’s surprise elevation.
Come to think of it, must they always portray Ndigbo as divided? When did consultation become a yardstick for political recruitment among Ndigbo? How many of our leaders today (traditional and political) emerged through painstaking consultations? How many of our present governors emerged or would produce their successors through open market consultations? I hope it is not the kind of consultation that traded off the position of PDP national chairman from the Southeast after the downfall of Vincent Ogbulafor and Okwesilieze Nwodo. For political self-preservation, none of the then PDP governors from the zone wanted to produce the national chairman from any of their states. Indeed, to earn the confidence of Ndigbo, Southeast political leadership should close ranks and engage the federal government on issues that agitate the minds of an average Igbo man. The leadership should consistently mount pressure for a representation of Ndigbo in the headship of security agencies. They should question the justification for labelling their boys who exercised their democratic rights as terrorists, while cold-bloodied murderers walked the streets unmolested.
One is surprised that the emergency meeting summoned to deliberate on Obi’s nomination was not done during the “Operation Python Dance”. Truly, politics is the only game in town, and as such, people must reinvent themselves for continued control of the nation’s commonwealth. Under Umahi’s leadership, the governors’ forum misfired on strategic political brinkmanship. Recently, I predicted that no PDP presidential flag-bearer would trust Umahi because of his open endorsement of President Buhari, which is tantamount to anti-party activity.
Inadvertently, Umahi lowered the corporate ego of Ndigbo and lost the confidence of emerging power brokers who would have engaged the forum. The scheduled meeting with the PDP presidential candidate after the deed has been done is to humour them into accepting the done deal. Grapevine indicates that Atiku had a hand in the “Handshake Across the Niger” summit facilitated by Afenifere and Ohaneze at Enugu in January, which was intended to rebuild the broken confidence between Igbo and Yoruba, but covertly, it was a promotional build-up to Atiku presidency project. Umahi reportedly did not support the summit and banned people from Ebonyi state from attending. It was only Abia state government that sent a high-powered delegation led by the deputy governor. Despite being the host, Enugu state was represented by a mere special assistant in the governor’s office. Of course, Ekweremadu was represented by Senator Enyi Abaribe, who lately gained a reputation as a defender of Igbo cause.
So, how does one think that Atiku will in good conscience, interface with Umahi on a sensitive decision as the choice of a running mate? Definitely, what goes around must come around. In a twist of fate, the likes of Ayo Adebanjo that participated fully in the Handshake summit at Enugu were part of Afenifere leaders that facilitated the recent reconciliation between Obasanjo and Atiku. By refusing to join the debates about restructuring Nigeria, which is central to the manifesto of Atiku presidency project, most of those who parade as Southeast leaders lost out in the heartbeat of what Atiku exploited to mobilize support across the board.
With the gale of endorsements of Peter Obi’s vice presidential candidature by many distinguished personalities and groups in Igboland, including Ohaneze, it shows that those who complained that they were not consulted are apparently not in touch with the popular sentiments of the people they are supposed to be leading. More so, the plethora of commendations that greeted Obi’s selection from informed and non-partisan patriots outside Igbo land make the lamentation from home a bad market. Any further attempt to disown Obi will deepen image crisis for Ndigbo. The challenge before Mr. Peter Obi is to reach out to his colleagues and calm frayed nerves.
It is good that Atiku has accepted to meet the protesting leaders, but Obi should quickly mend fences, especially in his home state. Political correctness demands so. Ignoring critical individuals could be costly in an election year. Some people may be acting as fifth columnists. Those angling for Atiku’s consultation should use the opportunity to extract a single term commitment, after which Atiku will return power to the southeast in 2023. If they fail, the ruling APC may use that to woo the votes of Ndigbo in 2019. Interestingly, the near-consensus on Obi demonstrates the willingness to change our governance narratives. Henceforth, the new level of consultations should factor in the youths, the intelligentsia, the business class and the industrialists. Obi’s cross is, therefore, to prove that he is popular in the Southeast. That is the first test of his newest political leadership.
Dr. Uche writes from Enugu.
