By Isaac Asabor
If there are primordial sentiments that were demonstrated by not a few Nigerians ahead of, and during the last general elections, they are unarguably the ones that manifested in the form of party, religious and ethnic affiliations. However, the manifestations of the sentiments were not unanticipated by not a few political observers, and analysts alike, as Nigeria has been a nation with plural ethnic, religious, lingual and cultural identities that are constantly exploited by the political class to promote their selfish interest. Although not a determinant for conflict, diversity in Nigeria has unjustifiably sparked identity-based conflicts which necessitate separatism, insurgency and ethnic restiveness, among others, which threatens to drive the country to a perpetual state of fragility.
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is germane to recall that in August 2022, ahead of the last presidential elections, purveyors of fake news and campaigners of calumny mischievously went to the electoral market to de-market Mr. Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) as they resorted to tarnishing his reputation by alleging that he is a member, and apologist of proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its activities in the South Eastern region of the country.
The allegation was so weighty that it could break a scale as not a few electorates gullibly believed the fake news. However, unarguably realizing the damaging consequence of the fake news, his running mate, Mr. Datti Baba- Ahmed granted audience to the news crew of Trust TV’s Daily Politics, where he said he wouldn’t be with him (Obi) or be his Vice-presidential candidate if he was in support of the activities of IPOB members.
According to him, before he accepted to be the former Governor of Anambra State’s running mate he did all the investigations he could but nothing linked him to the pro-Biafra group.
He added, “It’s the same kind of interview they did for me when I said I want to be addressed for the 2023 election as a Nigerian. There is nothing that people cannot say. Just this morning, I had to do a press conference to the multiplicity of fake news all around … those allegations are yet unsubstantiated.”
Prior to the foregoing fake news aimed at de-marketing him in the electoral market, his traducers went to Tweeter, and made a tweet containing a picture of a young man wearing Biafran T-Shirt and stepping on the Nigerian flag. The tweet which went viral claimed the young man was Peter Obi’s son.
Against the backdrop of the tweet, a verification was carried out by fact-finders, specifically reporters in PRNigeria, an online news platform, who extracted the image of the vehicle in the background and ran a reverse image search of it. Result of the investigation revealed that the vehicle belongs to the German Police. Other associated images with the same painting style was linked to the German Police which proved that the image was taken in Germany while Mr. Peter Obi’s Son, Oseloka Obi was known to be based in London. As a father that can vouch for his Son, Peter Obi distanced his son from the proscribed IPOB.
During an interview on Arise TV, Obi said his son is a responsible man who is “consumed by his work in London”.
He said, “On the issue of my son, that guy is not my son. My son is a professional who is consumed by his work. Let me tell you something, I just came back from London. I couldn’t even see my son. He is consumed by his work. He tells me, ‘Dad, how are you? How is politics? How is you campaign? I like what you are doing.
“If I show you the texts I exchange with my son, you will see my son telling me ‘Listen dad, I don’t have time for this.’
“I couldn’t see my son because he was busy doing what he is doing. So, he doesn’t have time for that. My son lives in the UK. And I can pay any amount to anybody who can prove and say that was my son.”
Also, Mr. Doyin Okupe, Director General of Peter Obi’s campaign organization at the time, made a tweet to debunk the claim, stating that “This is not Peter Obi’s son…”
Also, Peter Obi’s media office responded to the viral tweet which reads in part, “We wish to state that the said young man is not Mr. Peter Obi’s son, who, by his strict upbringing marked by rigorous discipline, understands what civic duty and responsibilities entail.”
The statement further stated that “Mr. Oseloka Obi is about six feet and taller than his father; while the young man they used for the mischief is slightly above 5 feet.
“The Peter Obi Media office calls on those seeking elective posts and their supporters to always be guided by the right ethics at all times.”
Against the foregoing backdrop, the fact finders concluded that there is no evidence to prove that the unidentified IPOB activist stepping on the Nigerian flag while robed in the colors of the Biafran flag is Mr. Peter Obi’s son.
At this juncture, permit this writer to say that the foregoing anecdotes expediently became obligatory to illuminate how far campaigners of calumny leveraged on primordial sentiments and fake news to de-market their opponents, particularly Obi, in the last presidential election.
On the other hand, ostensibly in the bid to leverage the undeserved and undemocratic opportunities that are inherent in tribalism and populism, the then Presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), now President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on June 3, 2022, literarily set the social media on fire with a prophetic declaration of “Emilokan” (It’s my turn) in Abeokuta, Ogun State while those who concurred with him re-echoed his declaration by rephrasing his slang to “Awalokan” (It’s our turn).
No doubt, primordial sentiments discernibly played out across Lagos State as some voters who supported Obi were attacked, intimidated, suppressed at polling stations for resorting to vote for him as some of them were quizzed on who they intended to vote for.
To cut the story short, the electoral commission declared Bola Tinubu winner of the presidential election amid specter of protests by opposition supporters who called for the votes to be voided.
Subsequently on the day of his inauguration on May 29, 2023, he made a devastating pronouncement that “The fuel subsidy is gone….The subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead rechannel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.”
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is not an exaggeration to say that the president’s pronouncement prompted a spike in the pump price of petrol from its relatively affordable price to somewhat unaffordable price of N600/litre in the spate of 48 hours.
As gathered from Reuters, in its news story, headlined “What’s gone wrong with Nigeria’s economic reforms?”, and culled by Yahoo News on October 2, 2023, Tinubu has enacted a lightning-fast reform that has unprecedentedly widened the gap between the Naira and the Dollar thereby throwing Nigerians into biting hardship despite the fact that the increase in fuel price has also thrown not a few Nigerians into the quagmire of poverty, even as the inflationary rate keeps soaring to the detriment of the populace.
Unarguably to calm frayed nerves as not a few Nigerians were grumbling (and still grumbling) as a result of the unparalleled hardships brought on them under his nascent administration, President Tinubu in his speech on Independent Day urged Nigerians to endure the pains of his government’s reforms for a better future, telling them he is aware of the hardship in the country.
As can be deciphered from his plea, there is no denying the fact that his regime has compelled virtually all Nigerians that voted for him together with those that did not vote for him, irrespective of political, religious and ethnic affiliations to be swallowing the bitter pill that is contextually called “Tinubuquine”.
To the view of this writer, it is a bitter pill everyone has been swallowing at different times since May 29, 2023, irrespective of who voted for him on the basis of political, ethnic or religious affiliation. Las Las, as Burna boy would say, though from a different perspective, everyone is today swallowing the bitter pill called “Tinubuquine”. It is a bitter pill that does not discriminate as it cures or makes anyone to suffer from its side effects as it does not know who is a Yoruba person, an Igbo man or woman, or which church or mosque anyone worships and even which party anyone is affiliated to as everyone shops from the same consumer market.
At this juncture, permit me to conclude that the conundrum is a lesson for everyone to learn from, particularly as elections are bound to be conducted in the country in the near future. “What lesson should be learnt from the poverty of policy implementation, as the desired results of virtually all the policies initiated and been implemented under Tinubu’s regime is worsening the plight of targeted beneficiaries, who are invariably the “the poor masses”.
Tinubu’s policy failure?” You may have asked. The answer to your question cannot be farfetched as in forthcoming elections we should for the sake of betterment of Nigeria eschew voting for political aspirants’ based base primordial sentiment, rather than ability, skill and knowledge to serve the people as a leader, even as their integrities also matter.
Be that as it may, permit me to reiterate the fact that “Las Las, Everyone Now Swallows the Bitter Pill Called “Tinubuquine”
