By Tony Okoroji
Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ministry in Enugu is a super star, trading tackles with everybody and fearing nobody. In the Catholic Church, nobody is quite sure how to manage him because his followership is significant and passionate. Among his followers that he refers to as “Adorers”, Mbaka can do no wrong.
A few days ago, Father Mbaka got his fingers terribly burnt. The otherwise free-speaking reverend father with massive following, spoke himself into trouble. Mbaka had proclaimed that Peter Obi will not smell the Nigerian presidency because he is a “stingy man”. Wow! The eruption from his followers and beyond was volcanic! Even Bianca Ojukwu, the ex-beauty queen widow of the late Ezigbo, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, had to get into the fray as the Catholic church distanced itself from the opinion of Father Mbaka.
In less than 48 hours, the otherwise incredibly stubborn Mbaka had to eat his words, engage in reverse gear and openly beg and unreservedly apologise to Peter Obi and his followers “for forgiveness”. He is smart enough to know that if he did not, things will fall apart and that his verbal misfire might lead to the end of his beloved Adoration Ministry. The super star had tried to take on a super-duper star!
Governor David Umahi, before now, was of the opinion that he was in complete control of the people of Ebonyi people. He was so sure that whatever he told them, they would do. His self-belief was such that not too long ago, he dumped the PDP under which he was elected and defected to the APC in a failed attempt to be President of the Federal Republic. During the week, he made a very big mistake. Umahi told the people of Ebonyi State not to waste their votes in the next election by voting for Peter Obi. Many in Ebonyi State reacted very angrily to Umahi. Some threw verbal missiles at him.
There are many in the Nigerian political space who are still sleeping. Lying on their beds, they see the Nigerian political architecture to be the same it has always been. Their calculus is based on what happened in 2015 and 2019. The professional Nigerian political contractor believes that the building in 2023 is going to be built on the architecture he knows. When he talks about structure, he is talking about how many governors are available to him, how many local government chairmen will be working for him and how many bullion vans are packed, stuffed with naira notes to “mobilize the electorate”.
He should wake up and look through the window. While he was sleeping, Nigeria may have changed. As Ejike Mbaka and Dave Umahi may have learned during the week, the falcon is no longer listening to the falconer. The governors and local government chairmen may not have the same powers they used to have. Peter Obi never said one word in reply to Mbaka or Umahi. In fact, he was not in the country. He was in Egypt studying their electric power system. The people instantly spoke for Peter Obi. They did not need to be “mobilized” by anybody. They did not wait for a bullion van to visit them.
The very powerful statement, “WE NO DEY GIVE SHI-SHI!” is trending. As it takes hold, the power with which the professional Nigerian political contractor has held the Nigerian people hostage under the two leprous legs of our recent bullion van democracy, would have vanished. “WE NO DEY GIVE SHI-SHI!” is the battle cry of a revolution.
The average Nigerian young person who has not been given one dime by anybody will today beat his chest and proudly tell you that he is “OBIDIENT”. I dare say that this kind of movement has never been seen in Nigeria.
The guys who earn their living by being the errand boys and journey men of our traditional politicians are confused. They desperately want to put out the Peter Obi fire. The trouble is that the more they try, the more they pour petrol on the fire! If you are on Facebook or WhatsApp, you may be forgiven to think that Peter Obi has paid Mark Zuckerberg a huge sum of money to acquire these social media platforms. Almost everything on the platforms is about Peter Obi. If a post is not from someone who is professing his love for Peter Obi, it is from someone attacking Peter Obi. The difference is that the people supporting Peter Obi are numerous and the people attacking him are few. These attackers have to post many-many times to try to get any kind of traction and you cannot but feel that they are hired, tired and frustrated.
While the traditional politicians are hiring consultants and paying big money to get their messages out, many young people are creating free motifs, composing new songs, doing video skits and free concerts to “TAKE NIGERIA BACK”.
During the week, I watched the very creative skit from popular comedian, ACAPELA who argued that the young people are the structure Peter Obi needs and that the structure is being built. I have read a post where someone warned that if you don’t want a divorce, don’t tell your wife not to vote for Peter Obi! During the week, I read a very interesting post from the popular Nigerian poet and journalist, Uzo Maxim Uzoato in which he added a new word to our political lexicon, “OBI-SESSION”. The truth is that everybody is talking about Peter Obi. His brand is on fire and not the product of any political consultant.
The “stingy man” appears to be where the young people of Nigeria have anchored. They are tired of the people who throw money around, money they believe have been stolen from the people. That is why “WE NO DEY GIVE SHI-SHI!” has become the battle cry of the Peter Obi revolution.
The Peter Obi revolution may be the biggest political revolution in the history of Nigeria. If you understand that there are far more poor, hungry, jobless and frustrated people in Nigeria than the rich and comfortable and you still say that Peter Obi has no structure, you may need to think again. Obi’s structure is the poor, hungry, jobless and frustrated people in Nigeria. Obi has made the Labour Party the party of the poor fighting the rich.
The young people of Nigeria, the same age group that tested power with the #endsars movement have caught a new fire and have concluded that for Nigeria to achieve true greatness, an end must be brought to our current bullion van democracy. The battle cry of the revolution is “WE NO DEY GIVE SHI-SHI!”
In eight months, INEC will count the votes and we will see who prevailed, the parties of the rich people with their bullion vans or the party of the poor, hungry, jobless and frustrated who have come to war with the battle cry, “WE NO DEY GIVE SHI-SHI!”
The opinion expressed is strictly that of the author
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