OPINION: The Ideological Chasm Between Obi and Umahi

It is clear, even to the deaf, that Mr Peter Obi is the most popular Nigerian today. His popularity was gradual, sustained, and is today absolute. It was nurtured by his remarkable life, his service as Governor of Anambra State, and the steady revelation of his character. As governor, he was distinct from his peers – conscientiously absorbed in the enterprise of governance and devoted, almost recklessly, to the welfare of the people. There are so many positive things to say about Obi that a quire of paper could not contain his praises.

In appearance and manners, he is calm, reserved, and soft-spoken. His friends know him as a man of immense personal warmth and charm. In politics, however, he is an able and energetic campaigner possesses an iron will, and maintains a fierce determination to win every contest without resorting to rigging.

More than many contemporary politicians, he has cultivated a tranquillity born of self-control. He rarely replies to the insults hurled by the Umahi tribe, choosing instead to deal with ideas rather than personalities. It is this rare combination of a restrained temperament and firm conviction that has endeared him to millions of Nigerians.

Peter Obi towers above a thousand Umahis; he is the sun in whose presence a million stars lose their scintillating brilliance. A century after Epicurus, Cicero asked, “Why are there so many followers of Epicurus?” Today, Nigerians ask the same question about Obi many years after he served as the governor of Anambra State. The answer is simple: a nation exhausted by failure naturally gravitates towards a man who exacts as hard a discipline from himself as he expects from others.

It is precisely this gravity that makes him the most attacked politician in Nigeria today. Popularity inevitably attracts hostility. Every political figure who succeeds in capturing the collective imagination of the people concurrently activates those whose fortunes depend on diminishing him. To understand the relentless attacks against Obi, one must understand the distinct quarters from which they come, each driven by its own leadership and underlying motives.

These attacks are symptomatic of a deeper systemic crisis. Our national leadership, with only a few honourable exceptions, has failed Nigeria because we have repeatedly failed to choose men of character to govern our affairs. Consequently, our politics has degenerated into a procession of corruption, indiscipline, incompetence, and shameless philistinism. Today, the occupant of the centre governs Nigeria with devoted incompetence. It is against this grim background – where our country is passing through one of the darkest periods in its history – that the desperate crusade to diminish Obi must be understood.

However, there is a distinct line between institutional political warfare and personal malice. This is where a contrast can be drawn with figures like Engr. Joe Igbokwe. Joe’s primary interest is partisan: ensuring that his party remains in power. Consequently, he targets institutions, regions, or political movements that he considers existential threats to his party’s survival. Yet, you will  not  find him descending into sustained, venomous personal attacks on Obi. There is a fundamental difference between opposing a political tendency and making the destruction of an individual the centerpiece of one’s politics.

Another group is represented by Mr Joel Chukwuma Kpontus Okafor. He is called Mr Kpontus because of the sexual perversion that reportedly led to his rustication from All Hallows Seminary, and two other seminaries thereafter. He represents those whom one may safely describe as “mumus” – the unthinking sycophants. They neither reason nor interrogate facts. Abuse is their argument; insults are their evidence. They merely parrot whatever serves their immediate purpose.

Then we have the governors. Most South-East governors routinely make extravagant and often dishonest assertions in praise of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), leaving one to wonder whether they truly place the welfare of their people above political convenience. You will rarely see them presenting the problems of the South-East as a unified, common front. The other day, Senator Victor Umeh, the lion himself, was fighting single-handedly against the marginalisation of the Igbos. One would have expected  our governors to rally around him, sit down with him, and provide him with more ammunition to fire on; instead, they preferred a state of comfortable complacency. Yet, many of these governors possess sufficient maturity not to make Obi the object of personal abuse. They oppose him politically without descending into character assassination. Even the Governor of Ebonyi State, the scion of Umahi, has generally avoided making the contest personal, as some do. They know themselves.

The most significant faction, however, is the one led by Engr. Dave Umahi. Unlike the others, this group appears to believe that Obi must not merely be opposed; he must be politically annihilated – they demand a knockout blow. Every opportunity becomes an occasion to diminish his achievements, question his integrity, or weaken his appeal before the public.