Opinion Letter to Peter Obi
THE ALLEGED EXIT OF BARR. KENNETH OKONKWO FROM THE MOVEMENT:
LESSON TO LEARN-
His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi and dearly beloved Comrade members of the Obidient movement. It is with deep sense of respect and honour that I decide to write you this open letter.
Therefore, I bring you special greetings and good wishes as we continue the struggle and journey in our collective and deeply resolve to take back our Country from the political bandits. It is also worthy to note that the Obidient movement has remained intact and also undeterred, despite obvious and outright intimidations and harassments from its foes(the political bandits).It is good that we should all thank God Almighty that inspite of all that and more, the movement is waxing very strong, spreading like wide fire and expanding more and more of its frontiers and multiplying its membership exponentially, getting ready to conquer.
However, we have also observed that the very political party(Labour Party) which provided the platform for you (our principal) to stand in the 2023 Presidential election has for a very long time been overtaken by leadership crisis unfortunately. Ofcourse the hand of Esau(APC) can not be ruled out in the whole saga. Such situation is unhealthy and undoubtedly has negatively affected the party and the movement, truth be told and it is not healthy for us.To me, such situation is not a good omen and it is worrisome and ofcourse should be a serious source of worry to anyone who is knowledgeable about political calculations and how politics works.
His Excellency and beloved Comrades, in the Obidient movement, I feel it is very necessary and expedient at this juncture that we review our general views of the situation, our strategies and our planning for the future inorder not to repeat history. And so that we can make genuine and meaningful progress for our deserved victory, because we have come a long way in this struggle.
Your Excellency and respected Comrades, the recent alleged exit of our beloved brother and Comrade, Barr. Kenneth Okonkwo is also not a good omen to lose such a figure. It is not in our best interest to continue to talk down on him and label him with different names, we cannot throw away the messenger and the message, rather we should purse, listen, think and analyze his messages.
Barr. Kenneth Okonkwo was one of the frontliners in the field, and not just one of the praise singers or one of the arm chair critics of those political bandits in power. He was a daring and confrontational ally. Let us consider that by his privileged position he may have seen and known what most people criticizing him does not know. It is not wise to call him names and see him as a traitor or betrayal as many has term him, I believe he have a message for you Sir.
NOTE- the present day Nigeria political space requires combination of forces. Your Excellency POWER they say is NOT GIVEN, Power is TAKEN, please always bare this in your mind. The very important point in Barr. Okonkwo’s message is that your Excellency must brace up, review your strategies and possibly add another dimension to what what you are use to. You must understand that these crop of political actors that constitute the APC are likely to be controlled by voodoos and therefore only understand the language of force and maybe violence. But Iam not in any way recommending that to your Excellency.
Iam very sure that Barr. Kenneth Okonkwo did not mean that you are incompetent or that you lack capacity to lead the Country in terms of providing good governance and quality leadership BUT Iam very sure he was referring to the will power to take what rightly belong to you and that your gentleman approaches, has not helped matters.
Your Excellency, even in the Bible most of the leaders that God raised were courageous men who talked tough and forcefully. That is surely what is lacking that Barr. Okonkwo is referring to and not the other way round. In the Bible Book Proverbs 30 vs 30 aptly describes the kind of leader Barr. Okonkwo and some of us expect of you.
That was the courageous and forceful move your Vice President- Datti Baba Ahmed tried to push immediately INEC declared the false result and announced Tinubu winner, though Datti had the required courage but lacked the support.
The truth is that criminals and fraudsters anywhere are well known cowards that always clothe themselves with false intimidative appearances. Please Sir don’t you ever fear those cowards!. Because anyone who will liberate and deliver Nigerians from the firm grip of these charlatans and political terrorists must live by faith and be as bold and courageous as the Bible: Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Jephta, Daniel, Esther, David etc.
Your Excellency, the bitter truth is that Barr. Kenneth Okonkwo was one of your finest foot soldiers like many of us were, he is not among your praise singers who knows next to nothing about how this struggle for a new Nigeria can be achieved. Sir the very answer to the Nigeria question lies inside of you BUT Sir, there must be someone who will be courageous enough as Nathan in the Bible that will stand to your face to tell you the bitter truth that you may ofcourse not be comfortable with.
Sir, it is not exaggeration to say that if someone like Nyesom Wike, Omoyole Sowere, or Atiku Abubakar were lucky to have your kind of supporters and followership that cuts across all ethnic divide, tribes and religions, Tinubu won’t by now still be sitting at Aso Rock and feeling comfortable as he is currently doing with your mandate, freely given to you by the Nigerian people.
Your Excellency, do you know the number of people that loss their lives because they want you to be the President of Nigeria?, talk more of people who loose their businesses and also millions of people that invested their money on you?. Haba please Sir let us guide against a repeatation of such in future by also standing out for the people. I don’t mean usual ceremonies of visiting the bereaved and joining them to cry and other such things. It is making sure that their confidence and sacrifices are not betrayed or wasted. Because I know and Iam very much sure that Nigerians still loves you and are still very ready to give you their votes in the next election. Needless to mention that the present day Nigeria, where the APC operators are still presiding over cannot do justice. Under the APC the judiciary is nolonger the last hope of the common man but the lost hope of the common man. The recent statement credited to you “Count me out of Tigbuo Zogbuo politics” is not a good language of a leader like you Sir. It was rather better not to say anything because that can ofcourse be likened to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan ever vital statement that “his political ambition does not worth the blood of any Nigerian” but where has that his statement ended us?. We loss more Nigerians under Buhari than ever in the Nigerian democratic history. To take over and lead Nigerians out of their present quagmires, such a leader must possess all the qualities highlighted, because the struggle is not in favour of the very very gentle soul, but for someone who will provide the BALANCE.
Abraham Lincoln of the blessed memory in his letter to his son’s teacher, told the teacher to teach his son to be gentle with gentle people and to be tough with tough people. Sir, such quality is very necessary in our present circumstances and we know you have it. I just pray and hope that your Excellency will understand and not misunderstand my points. Thank God you didn’t succumb to the empty threat of APC attack dogs and you turned out to support the #EndBadGovernance protesters.That your singler act was really a moral booster to Nigerians.
Finally to my beloved Comrades and members of the Obidient movement, I sincerely advise that we continue to conduct ourselves as very civilized adults and avoid unnecessary criticisms, distractions and or demonization of people who don’t agree with our ideology. Remember in politics, there is no permanent enemy nor permanent friend. We must not see people like Barr. Kenneth Okonkwo and others like him as our enemies. We can still win them back into our fold, because it is far better and profiting to have them as one of us than working against us.
Thank you for your patience and attention, especially your Excellency. May the good Lord continue to guide and direct our steps, for victory come 2027.
Long live His Excellency Mr.Peter Obi !.
Long live the Obidient Movement !!.
Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!.
Hon. Charles C ANIKE
National President
Eastern Union, Nigeria.