By The Qoheleth
If Peter Obi had won the 2023 presidential election and been subsequently installed as president, he wouldn’t have effectively reformed Nigeria successfully. He would have even been the worst president, making people regret voting for him. In short, he could have been worse than Jonathan, Buhari, and Tinubu put together. The leadership problem in Nigeria is not caused by individual political leaders but by a failed system. The country, therefore, needs a leader who will courageously and positively transform the system and its process.
Why am I saying this? Out of the current crop of politicians in Nigeria, Peter Obi is the most outstanding and has exhibited the sterling qualities of a leader who can transform the country. He understands the challenges and how they can be practically solved. He has also shown to possess good knowledge of what leadership is all about in the current political dispensation. In short, he is different from other politicians.
No decent politician can succeed in a land filled with 99.999 corrupt and fraudulent politicians and people. To succeed, the person would either convert over 50% of the corrupt ones to be like him or move entirely away from the system. These percentages of dirty politicians are in the political parties and among the people. They can be found in religious communities, traditional institutions, organizations, the media, associations, and institutions. They are in tribes, states, and families. And they are ready to guard and protect what benefits them.
If Obi wins the presidency, he will meet them in the national assembly, as governors and judges. He will see them in the media, organizations, and religion. And they will fight him to the death to protect their deeds. Many of them are not patriots and are there for selfish interests. They would frustrate him in all the noble policies he would initiate. If he insists, they would impeach him. That was why almost all the past presidents danced to their tunes and all of them performed below expectations.
A good leader cannot succeed in a bad system in Nigeria. It is either he forms a team of like minds from the beginning who would set a standard practice and follow the genuine laws, or fall to their whims and caprices. This means establishing a political party through his movement, co-opting patriots into such a body through which they can produce leaders at all levels. That was how IBB’s policy worked and produced genuine people-oriented leaders. That was also how Buhari/Idiagbon established discipline among Nigerians within a short time. There should be a deliberate effort to separate the grain from the chaff. And use the grain as a foundation of good governance.
I actually thought that the establishment of Obidients was to set a solid and sustainable structure for reforming Nigeria. I thought that Obi should reform the Labour Party and set it as a standard for other parties to follow. If these are done, decent Nigerians would see a credible platform to come out and serve their country. Peter Obi cannot succeed by following the old, corrupt standard. He must show Nigerians the difference between his kind of politics and others. This may take some time, especially in building trust among Nigerians who have lost confidence in politicians.
If he develops the courage to execute this conviction, he will pull more Nigerians into the fold. His vision is unique and credible. His goal is achievable. But his process of doing this is weak. He is associating with the wrong set of people. He is operating in a disjointed and lawless system. Such a system has destroyed the reputation of many once-credible people. The first step to bring sanity is to clear the Augean stable. This can be achieved by establishing a new process that accommodates genuine democracy and the rule of law. This cannot be found within any political coalition or in other existing political parties. That is why they are fraught with crisis and confusion. He should set a quality standard, change the mindsets of the people to accept such standards, and through it re-establish a genuine democratic process in the country.
If this is not done, Peter Obi and his likes will still fall into the hands of the corrupt leaders who would ensure that their desired change is not established, no matter the level of efforts and campaigns. They would also destroy his integrity, reputation, and political career.
