Sometimes ago, the energetic and irrepressible Seun
Okinbaloye made this passionate plea to
all Nigerians: …’this nation is choking. We can no longer breathe. There
is a shortage of air. We need to allow this nation thrive.… This nation cannot
be taken as a private enterprise anymore. The nation belongs to all of us and
this time around again, no sitting on the fence. We must pick up to rescue this
nation…2023 election is make or mar. Look, this nation cannot make a mistake
with its choice of next leader. It is a must we get it right. If you employ
best hands to run your private companies, we should have the best of us run the
affairs of this nation. We must get leadership right. Not only at the center
but across the states. Knowledge, crisis management skills, character and
integrity, vision and courage to make tough decisions, effective communication
skills, ability to unite the nation. Leaders who cannot show these traits
cannot be hired. Enough is enough. Nigeria, rise, vote and vote right. And your
time is now. When he made this
plea, almost in tears, the election appeared far away. Today, it is just a few
hours away. And just the other day,
Casmir Igbokwe supported the motion when
he opined that ‘in this
election, competence and character matter. Nigeria is on the edge of precipice
and needs to be rescued. There is no sitting on the fence. For too long,
Nigerians have suffered the consequences of bad leadership. For too long,
ethnicity and religion had coloured our voting pattern; not anymore’ (The
Sun, 20/2/23
But long before then, at the PDP National convention preparatory to
the 2015 elections, Lucky Goodluck, the man who moved from grass to Grace and
from Grace to greater Grace made this prophetic statement: The choice
before Nigerians in the coming election is quite simple: a choice between going
forward or going backward; between the new ways and the old ways; between
freedom and repression; between a record of visible achievements/beneficial reforms and desperate
power-seekers with empty promises. Unfortunately, like entranced folks,
we gleefully chose going backwards, the old ways, repression, and desperate
power-seekers with their empty promises. And true to his ‘prophecy’, we are now
in a more precarious position than we ever imagined that we could be. If you are in doubt, consult the
government-funded data agency. We have
tested their promised change; it was fake, bitter and fulfilled in reverse. We
now demand genuine holistic change and the choice before us is like that
between day and night. We have two broad
options; to choose OBIcracy,
or the detestable and insufferable troika of plutocracy,
gerontocracy & Kakistocracy
Obi to the rescue:
2015 vs 2023 Judiciary in distress Confused confusion
OBIcracy,
is the theory, practice and philosophy of OBIism or politics as
practiced and espoused by Peter Obi. It is a system in which ‘people who
are disenchanted with structured political leadership choose a structureless
but competent leader of character,
voluntarily deploying their 3Ts to mobilise and campaign for him
against FULLY structured incompetent
leaders with missing and/or doubtful certificates, age, integrity, origin and
even parentage’. OBIcracy espouses inclusiveness, shared prosperity, ‘youthocracy’,
social cohesion, compassion and preferential interest in the poor,
underprivileged and marginalised. It
prioritises character, competence, openness, pro-people policies, respect for
the rule of law, civility and moderation in speech and action whether in public
or public life; clean, simple and credible lifestyle and all round education
and exposure sufficient to lead Nigeria from the ‘nth’ world (we
had long gone far below the third world) to the current world and to the
future. Under OBIcracy, one can confidently go and verify!
It is built around a holistic concept of
integrity, which always seeks the good of others,
beieving that if something is not
good FOR BOTH SIDES, then, it is not good for either side and that you
may succeed momentarily for what do or know, but you can only succeed
permanently because of what you are (The Word for Today 1/3/19; Before
I Die, 30/4/21). It also SOLEY thinks and works around whatever is true, whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable, whatever is excellent and praiseworthy (Phil,4:8). It abhors
desperation and ambuscade, and believes
strongly in equity, while adopting the
golden rule!
Pacesetting leadership style
OBIcracy adopts a Pacesetting Leadership Style as propounded by
Daniel Goleman in which the leader leads from the front,
constantly sets high standards for the team and expects them to exceed it with
minimal supervision; when the leader sets the cadence for the team and demands
high intensity in their performance. This is because, ’the
perfect way to lead is by taking the lead. Taking the lead stiffens the
backbone of the followers and enhances their confidence. Taking the lead
demonstrates your faith and commitment to what you are directing them to do.
Taking a lead shows them how to do it and at the same time inspires them to do
what they see you do
OBIcracy
as a construct goes beyond Peter Obi and that was why he was able to
identify another OBImatic Nigeria, a YUSUful one
for that matter in the person of Dati
Baba-Ahmed, out of the numerous other OBIfied people across all the regions , religions and tribes
of Nigeria. Thus, there are many OBIcratic
individuals beyond Peter Obi. The mission statement of OBIcracy
is ‘to take back Nigeria, for the purpose of rescuing
it from continued decline, shift the National psyche from consumption to
production and from sharing dwindling resources to creating wealth and
frontally combating poverty, all with the overarching aim of creating a Nigeria
that Nigerians will be proud of’. OBIcracy
also espouses PWB (Politics Without Bitterness) as preached and
practiced by late Waziri Ibrahim of Great Nigerian Peoples Party.
OBIcracy is
underpinned by OBInomics, the Economics of PO, which
has a multiplicity of interconnected elements. It has frugality (prudence,
financial responsibility) as a religion in public, private and social lives. It
is all about financial responsibility that is allergic to squandermania.
If you refer to it as stinginess, ‘na you sabi’ but even at that,
the Stingy Men Association of Nigeria( SMAN) has appointed PO,
unopposed, as their life Grand Patron. OBInomics
believes in deploying public money for public purposes, patronising home-made
products and paying for the primary value of goods and services (seeing economy-class
as the same as first class sit in the same flight). OBInomics adopts a statistics-based governance (go and
verify ), prioritises education, health and roads as the foundation for overall
economic development, promotes savings, investments and production(as against
consumption), separates personal from public resources and affairs, does not
believe in enrichment from the office,
beyond formal remunerations( which can even be surrendered for the public
good), and believes in learning from other climes.
The statistical tendencies of OBInomics
is highlighted by an unknown Obidient fellow who declared that if one
dared tell Obi that a snake swallowed N36m,
he will automatically respond that the oesophagus circumference of
average snake in China is 1.3cm, Thailand, 0.5cm, Egypt1.cm, Burundi 2,2cm and
Nigeria1.7cm. a bundle ofN20 notes is 5.2 cm and is too big for a snake to
swallow! OBInomics is against any form of ostentation and it
practices lean government, lean convoys (size and quality), lean dressing, lean
accommodation, lean personal staff
strength and and zero hangers on. It is
based on competence, and is technology-driven. OBInomics believes that
everything can be negotiated (advertisements rates, hotel and flight fees); it
is against pebendalism, and
is also based on optimistic
mindset; preaching hope in a hopeless milieu
And talking of this over-flogged
issue of structure, ‘Wetin be structure sef’? In Organisational Behaviour and Management,
a structure is the ‘grouping of activities in such a way to achieve
objectives, departmentation of these activities and provision of authority,
delegation and coordination (Ik Muo, (2019) Management:
Principles Practices and Processes; Enugu, Potter Creations, P425). But
in Nigerian politics, a ‘structure’ refers to the offices and officers for
politicking across the federation but in reality, it is a framework for
rigging and sharing money; for subverting the electoral process by
intimidation, violence, destruction of electoral materials and other forms of
unholy subterfuge. We have seen
where this structure has led us and now, we need a structureless model, which
is what OBIcracy represents.
Plutocracy is a political philosophy
in which a state is governed or ruled by the wealthy. Under this philosophy,
the power of the ruling class derives from their wealth. Usually, there is a
transition from democracy to plutocracy. The state starts from a democracy, a
quasi-democracy or a pretend-democracy in which the state pretends to be
democratic, but its principles and practices are anything but democratic. Then
the ruling or ruining elites gradually introduce and execute plutocratic
policies. Such plutocratic policies in Nigeria include indirect primaries,
which makes it easy for the rich to buy the delegates and even other
candidates as it happened in the APDP (
APC+PDP=APDP) primaries. No poor party or person can play effectively in
the elections and poverty is weaponised as the poor who are desperate to put food on their table
choose to monetise their votes. In the
forthcoming presidential elections, the emphasis is not on what the plutocrats
will and can do for us; it is about their ability to overwhelm their opponents
and the voters with CASH! Under plutocracy, we go for cash and discountenance
verifiable records of achievement, competence, commitment and character. Surprisingly, plutocrats are deeply religious
because their foundation is built upon Ecclesiastes 10:19: Money answereth ALL
things, including political power!
Gerontocracy is a form of
‘oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly
older than most of the adult population; power accumulates with age, making the
oldest the holders of the most power’. In Nigeria where the youths consist of
60%+ of the population, people who are 80+ are striving to lead! How can they
linkup with the online generation? How can they communicate with the
millennials? What kind of vision can those on the injury time visualise? How
can ‘A-grade’ elders visualise a society which by the normal course of nature,
they will not be a part of???
And then, we have kakistocracy;
‘a government run by the worst, least qualified, or
most unscrupulous or the most Machiavellian of the citizens. How
can we follow this route with our eyes wide-open? How can Nigerians who are
creating and breaking records in all fields of human endeavour all over the world, and who need a conducive environment to replicate their
global records at home, go to bed with kakistocracy?
Fellow Nigerians, ‘olugo n’omume’(It
is time for action) Reverend Fr Sly Ameh had once compared Nigeria to the traveller on the road to Jericho who was beaten, battered, robbed and left for
dead(Luke,10:25-37) and argues that what we need now is not another brigand or
steel-hearted, Machiavellian fellow but a GOOD Samaritan; to rescue and
restore. Nigeria is sick unto death; it is like a car with a knocked engine
that requires not just an ordinary driver but a dexterous mechanic. We now have an opportunity to start afresh
and any mistake this time will be FATAL.
Lasisi Olagunju once reminded us that modern medicine ordinarily prescribes
surgery or at least a compulsory long
term support as a remedy for birth defects. I believe that it is time to
perform that painful surgery in/on Nigeria or at least, install a sustainable
long-term support. And the person who intentionally shot-to-kill somebody cannot
be the person to the bullet from his victim! Those who brought us to this
sorry-pass 1999 to date, the APDP( APC+PDP)
have lost the moral right to ask
us to trust them again because we have nothing to show for the last 24 years.
OBIcracy is it!
‘Chineke nke
igwe ndi agha’(the Lord of hosts), who knows the end from the beginning promises us that ‘never
again will I expose you to the contempt of other countries…I will restore the
years eaten by the locusts, the caterpillars and … Nigeria will never be humiliated again( Joel,2: 19-27). But all the
promises of God are conditional and these ones are no exceptions! We have to do
the right things, seize with both hands,
the opportunities that He has created,
and think of the future, not just
about stomach infrastructure of here and now! It is our responsibility
to SEIZE THIS OPPORTUNE moment! The slate almost is clean and it is up to us to
write the right things on it! For us to optimise this scenario and come out of
the inflexion point stronger, we MUST embrace a paradigm shift. The new paradigm requires us to put our best
foot forward, to start with our first and best eleven rather than ‘managing’
whatever any group presents to us. Thus, we should ask henceforth , always and with all seriousness, whenever anybody
presents himself or herself to serve us, IS THIS THE BEST? This is and should
continue to be the refrain anywhere anybody is presented for service in any
part of Nigeria today and evermore.
Frantz Fanon tells us that Each
generation must discover its mission and fulfil it or betray it!(Wretched
of the Earth). The mission of this
generation, which has become sharpened by the current state of affairs, is to
ensure that Nigeria is placed on the sustainable right path; that we lay the
foundation for the greatness that we have been yearning for; a yearning that
has become more strident in the past 8
years when we have been recklessly wrecked from top to bottom by
people who promised us heaven on earth. At this inflexion point, we must choose between OBIcracy and plutocracy,
gerontocracy and kakistocracy. And
without mincing words, OBIcracy is it! Dr Bolaji Akinyemi believes that
these are the questions that should determine our choice on 25/2/23: ‘Who is the candidate with the competence and character of frugality that
we must model as a country? With N77trn debt hanging on our neck, who is that
candidate adverse to loan as a way to growing our economy? Who among them has
shown charismatic communication that brought his plan for the country home to
ordinary Nigerians to understand? Who has promised to cut off the extravagance
recklessness of political office holders and their civil servant cohorts whose
financial flamboyancy we can no longer continue to bear?’ As one ‘unknown author’
declared on 11/12/22,’Obi is the only
candidate that genuinely describes subsidies as organised crimes because he
does not benefit from it; he shouts the fact
of oil stealing from the rooftops because he is not a part of the
syndicate; he is the only candidate talking about corruption because he is the
only one that is manifestly not corrupt; he is the only candidate that talks
about how to create wealth, improve the economy, because he is the only one
that has created wealth from the strength and astuteness of his intellect
driven private businesses.
This is not the
time to vote for somebody because he is ‘eminently qualified’ as my
former PG student told me. When I asked
him to market his preferred candidate on the bases of character, competence,
physical and mental alertness and integrity, he
went blank. It is not time to vote for a serial contestant, who does not
find Nigeria good enough for habitation. We have seen where the last serial
contestant landed us. It is not time to
vote for somebody because it is his turn. It is also not time to vote for people who will either
privatise our commonwealth or share it with their boys. We do not need to
reward desperation and desperados. I agree with Agu Onwuzuruoha that the time is ripe for the Aristotelian
dialectics of preferring a convincing impossibility to an unconvincing
possibility.
I also agree with Datti that this is time
for Competence you can trust,
characters you know, compassion you can feel and capacity that has been proven.
I also agree with
Taju Tijani that debates and conversations about presidential aspirations
can no longer be socially neutral. We must fight for the soul of Nigeria.
Tribal identifications have become malignant forces which harden peoples
ambivalent feelings into voting certified rogues into power.,, We must give
ourselves relief from the unending disasters of
APDP and support a third force
that has come away through a God-given chance. We must not blow this chance.
Meanwhile, the case for a new order has been
poignantly made by two unlikely Nigerians. On 22/2/23, a video emerged where
our Vice President, PYO, emotionally
declared that We pray that our country will be
peaceful and prosperous. But God allows us by our voting to know whether we
mean our prayers or not. You cannot wish this country well and vote for the
person you do not believe in( trust)! And during one of his chequered electioneering outings,
the chief BATist himself admonished us
Don’t elect them; they don’t know what to do; they don’t know the way,
they don’t know how to do it. They allowed the exchange rate to fall from 200+
to 800! There is nothing more to add
On Saturday, 25/2/23, 48 hours away, we have a
historic opportunity to` to vote for freedom or to retain our slavishness! This
is an opportune moment and we MUST
seize this lifetime opportunity within the lifetime of the opportunity..
with BOTH hands. And so, help us God!
I have spoken!
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Thanks so much for this write up. But my worry remains that the voting populace are not reading this beautiful works of yours. May God help Nigeria to survive tomorrow. Amen.
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