Mr. Peter Obi the former Governor of Anambra State who is currently running for the Presidency under the platform of the Labour Party can be described as a shrewd Businessman and a very parsimonious Individual. When it comes to spending money, he can be very fastidious. In this write-up, however, we are going to take a look at the Social Media brouhaha that has greeted his emergence as the flagbearer of the Labour Party.
Before we do that, let us take a closer look at the man Peter Obi and some of the things he stands for. Peter Obi is a 1984 Graduate of Philosophy from the University of Nigeria Nsukka.
He had his Secondary School Education at Christ The King College, Onitsha, and later had stints of Courses, Seminars, and Conferences in Institutions like Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, and London School of Economics among others. He has been described as a ” Stingy” man by a good number of people, including the controversial Catholic Priest, Rev.Fr. Mbaka.
To lend credence to this, here are some of his quotable quotes when it comes to handling money. ” If I pay #250,000 to stay in a hotel, I won’t be able to sleep, because I’ll think I’ve been robbed”. Take another one: “I have only two pairs of suits and two pairs of shoes”. He also said that he has been using the same wristwatch for the past 17years! He revealed that as a Governor, he wouldn’t allow his Driver to buy fuel when he wasn’t around so that he could personally pay for the fuel. He even went as far as saying that he has refused to buy a car for his only son who is a University Graduate. Such is the scrimpy lifestyle of our subject matter.
And that is the man that is aspiring to rule a multi-faceted, multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, and multi-dimensional country like Nigeria.
As we pointed out earlier, this piece is not about the personality of Peter Obi perse, it is about the unwarranted furor and brouhaha that have engulfed the Internet since Peter Obi’s declaration. Ever since he picked the Presidential Ticket of the Labour Party, the Social Media have been aflame with all sorts of prepositions and postulations, all aimed at creating an impression that something grand is happening in real life. But it’s all farce and fallacy.
One thing about the Internet is that it is an open field where every Jack and Jill come to play without let or hindrance. It is an arena where people can conjure all kinds of unverified and unverifiable theories, mostly based on sentiments, and ram them down the throat of the gullible Netizens.
Social Media is a sensitive ground that responds easily to the bandwagon effect. And so, based on the way and manner the Social Media is making so much noise about the possibility of Peter Obi emerging as the next President of Nigeria, only the politically naive can be sucked in with such flimsiness. The Social Media is like a Fairy Land. It is not real, when the chips are down we’ll all know that it has been mere gerrymandering.
You don’t win elections on the Internet. You win the election by interfacing with real people. You win the election by consulting with the Political Leaders and Stakeholders. By building Bridges, Systems, and Structures. It is not done by Social Media stuff and stunts.
The question is to what extent has Peter Obi penetrated the Northern Region, the Western Region, and the South-South Region. Can the South East Region alone deliver Peter Obi? How many Political Heavyweights in the South East have come out openly to endorse Peter Obi?
The South East has a good number of Socio-Political Organizations like Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Igbo World Congress, Nzuko- Igbo, Alaigbo Development Union, Aka Ikenga, Igbo Speaking Association, and others. Which of these Associations has come out to publicly identify with Peter Obi? Or is it just to assemble a group of E- rats and mobilize them to start pulling all kinds of publicity stunts on the Internet?
Meanwhile, several Igbo Political Stakeholders like Senator Uche Ekwunife, and Dave Umahi Hon. Ned Nwoko among others has publicly stated that Peter Obi has no political Structure to win an election or rule Nigeria. To gather a bunch of restless youths clamoring for change without any reasonable foundation or groundwork is nothing but a folly of everlasting consequence. But as the saying goes: There is no harm in the trial. So, let Peter Obi try his luck. Who knows what the gods have in stock for him.
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