A LETTER FROM A CONCERNED NIGERIAN TO OUR DEAR

Peter Obi, @PeterObi

I am compelled to write this for posterity. To capture my exact feelings in this moment.

You don’t know me and probably will never see this but if you ever feel like you are responsible for dashing the hopes of well meaning poor Nigerians who believed in your dream, the silence you hear is not disappointment in you but a realization of the amount of corruption you were standing up against by even daring to run. It is clear now why the political elites were shocked by your audacity and said you wouldn’t win a single local government. You went from two people tweeting in a room, to SIX MILLION votes. You galvanized the weak and the hungry and those who had given up on the Nigerian project.

As a dark cloud, heralded by the creeping out of nefarious characters like Asari and Oluomo, covers Nigeria and blocks out whatever sunlight was left, the same Nigerian system we grew up to despise has reminded us all why. Sometimes just adjusting and surviving makes you forget the amount of dirt you are sitting in. You brought the broom but those who use us as a dumpster for their personal gain have shown the strength of elitist collusion. They think they have secured the status quo for their entitled foreign based children.

I need you to however remember that the true measure of leadership is not in a title held, but in the sparks ignited just by your words, deeds and strength of character. That’s why Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King didn’t need titles or offices to evoke lasting change from the rotten status quo. They made people see what’s possible and determine to change it. Every child South of the Niger (and indeed the world) has heard you Peter, they have felt the inner stirring. Through your tenacity, you have exposed tribalism, nepotism and the orchestrated plan to deprive some from fulfilling their God given potential by reason of their heritage. You have forced the oppressors to show their true colours and validate what we thought was mere speculation: that we are indeed under barely concealed bondage, and must work daily through generations to break free. By that token, you have succeeded.

The spark you have ignited by seeing this through to it’s logical conclusion, will only grow until fulfilment. Like the actions of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King led directly to Barack Obama and Kamala Harris generations later, whether you eventually ascend to the rightful office of leadership or not, a child watching today has decided he will not stay where he has been put by the ruling tribes and will finish what you have started.

May you live to see the day.