There is a cloud gathering over Nigeria as we approach 25/2.
The masses are suffering like never before. There is no doubt that we have an unbelievable capacity to absorb shock, to live with lack of electricity, roads ridden with pot holes, banditry and terrorism. We as a people, are used to the notion that since no one in government cares, we just have to carry on the way things are.
Nonetheless our people are being stretched beyond their elastic limit.
As day closes on the presidential election, the powers that look like Pharaoh in those days in Egypt, have no doubt decided to multiply the pains ten-fold, with the double trouble of no money to spend, no fuel to move around on top of all pre-existing deplorable conditions.
We have been further pauperised and caged in misery and they are still telling us to vote for their candidate so the punishment can continue unabated.
There have been all sorts of conspiracy theories around what we have all now come to believe as deliberate actions by a power block in Nigeria trying to scuttle the 2023 elections. They are trying to destroy the fragile democracy in Africa’s most populous country, which unquestionably at a point in time was indeed the giant of Africa.
No part of the country is spared in the unrelenting discomfort. We are all, as it were, weeping and wailing!
Against this background, the battle for the soul of Nigeria has also been intensified through political campaigns, also like never before, in the annals of Nigeria’s history. In spite of the fact that the ordinary Nigerian cannot withdraw money they have saved in the banks, the money-bag politicians are still moving money around in very large sums for vote buying.
They are trying to buy the conscience of the people, with what is actually a pittance from what they have stolen from the people.
I have carefully listened to what the money-bag politicians are saying at their rallies and they are actually not saying anything that could improve the decadent situation in Nigeria. Some of them have introduced mesmerising music to their campaign rallies to dull the senses of our people while they are fed with rubbish information.
In the midst of confusion and stagnation in Nigeria has however emerged a voice giving hope to the people, a voice different from the voices of corrupt and wicked politicians. Several millions of Nigerians believe him. He sounds credible and his track record backs him up.
He is a two term governor and as some people had tried, they have not been able to rubbish him. Rather his light has continued to shine brighter and brighter, his message of hope resonating in every nook and cranny in Nigeria.
I believe the salvaging of Nigeria is ordained by God to be actualised through the Obi/Datti movement. And Now is the time!
I don’t ever use the name of God carelessly and my meeting with Peter Obi confirms to me that there’s something divine about his candidacy.
I was returning to London from the United States with my wife and two of our grandchildren.
When we landed at Heathrow Airport, I took our two grandsons to the toilet. As I looked over my shoulder, lo and behold it was Peter Obi right behind us and our discussion actually started from the toilet (not a VIP toilet) and continued outside until a crowd started to gather around us. We were able to take pictures and exchange telephone numbers before we parted.
For me that was a divine appointment.
I had been monitoring the political space in Nigeria before my meeting with Peter Obi (as a matter of fact, I have been monitoring and commenting/reporting on Politics in Nigeria for over 45 years) but the circumstances of our meeting ignited more curiosity in me.
Peter Obi has convinced me that we still have Nigerians who would never be power drunk, who will never forget they are just as human as any other Nigerian and so free of guilt that they also want to move with the people they wish to govern.
Peter Obi tallies with the picture I have in mind of a leader for Nigeria in a time like this. I have also taken time to study his Vice Presidential Candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed and together they fit the bill for spearheading the move towards a new Nigeria.
This is why all of us, members of a group called the ‘New Nigeria Project’ are supporting them. We are concerned Nigerians drawn from all over the world and from all walks of life.
We are Nigerian professionals from different backgrounds namely academia, military, media and religion and we live in different parts of the world, mostly in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
We understand the crucial nature of the forth coming election, but we are not just about winning the presidential and other elections in 2023, we have a vision for the country post election. A lot has gone wrong in Nigeria and it is going to take a well articulated, long term programme to gradually but certainly get Nigeria back to form.
Meanwhile we are focused on the presidential election with Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed contesting on the platform of the Peoples Party, the Labour Party(LP), with the symbol of ‘Mama, Papa, Pikin’!
We want Nigerians to pay more attention to what they have sincerely promised to do, so they can cast their votes for a better Nigeria.
The Obi/Datti team will secure Nigeria, end banditry and insurgency, and unite our dear nation to manage our diversity so that no one is left behind. They will shift emphasis from consumption to production by running a production centred economy that is driven by an agrarian revolution. They promise to leapfrog Nigeria into the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) through the application of scientific and technological innovations to create a digital economy and they offer a lot more.
The pain is really intense now in Nigeria but we need great grace to embrace the ray of hope and ensure we use our PVCs properly as we support ourselves to shun violence. Only the poor, down trodden bear the brunt of violence.
I take solace in the understanding that a boil is most painful when it’s about to burst to give relief. Nigeria will soon be released from the clutches of embezzlers and treasury looters. We should not listen to politicians who preach violence simply for their self interest. We want Nigeria to be rebuilt not to be fractured further. If we vote according to the dictate of our conscience, we will be witnessing the beginning of a NEW NIGERIA before the end of this month.
From our ‘Observation Tower’ we are in a state of ambivalence, as we feel the pain of Nigerians with sadness. At the same time we are happy and delighted as we see the rays of hope shinning brighter and brighter, with new alliances North to South, East and West; with detribalised Nigerian patriots determined to bring into practical reality in Nigeria, that popular statement ‘What God cannot do does not exist’ through the ballot box.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Pastor Femi Idowu is a Communications Consultant Based in London
He was Political Editor NTA Ibadan (1978)
He was also Bureau Chief (NTA Network) Ibadan Bureau
