Comrade March Oyinki
The Obidient Movement is a phenomenon born out of a burning desire by Nigerian citizens across the globe, especially the youths to librate the country from the ruins of oppression, brutality, corruption, impunity, abuse of the rule of law and bad governance.
The movement emerged from the bloodshed of our young sons and daughters who were shot at with life ammunition and maimed by the military at the Lekki Tollgate ‘theatre of death’ during the #EndSARS peaceful protest.
The fore-runners of the #EndSARS struggle, including Folarin Falana, popularly called Falz, son of famous legal luminary Femi Falana (SAN); Obianuju Catherine Udeh, who is known more as DJ Switch, winner of the first edition of The Glo X Factor in 2013; Adebowale Adedayo known fondly as Mr Macaroni, an actor and political activist; the ever energetic Aisha Somtochukwu Yesufu, a political activist, co-founder of #BringBackOurGirls and businesswoman, and a host of others, saw the opportunity offered by the 2023 general election as a pay-back time for the youths to root out all the abusive and corrupt ruling political class by rallying behind the only candidate that they considered eschews these negative traits and exhibits good character, competence, capacity and charisma in the person of Peter Obi and later his deputy Ahmed Datti.
Peter Obi only came into the picture of the ‘Obidient Movement’ during the PDP pre-primary electioneering with several support groups featuring prominently, particularly, the Take Back Nigeria group that staged the first 1 Million Man Match.
The movement emerged out of a spontaneous reaction of a coalition of support groups and at that time Peter Obi was just a benefactor of this massive youth followership that became the ‘Obidient Movement’, which of course Obi has no control over whatsoever.
The movement has blossomed from what the main proponents of hate speech and perpetrators of fake news claimed was just two or three young people in a room with laptops making noise on social media, to a colossus ground force that shook the foundation of the country and threw the political gladiators and opponents into utter disbelief and shock when they saw the crowd that came out to cast their votes for the Labour Party Presidential candidates and the overwhelming victory that was reported from most of the polling stations across the country.
The apparent shock from this supposed victory of the Labour Party threw the federal government off-balance and the ruling party APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, into a panic mode that destabilized and drove them into desperation to intercept the electronic transmission of the election results system, the BVAS, and hurriedly, started posting obliterated and falsified results on the IREv portal.
Subsequently, in the hew hours of the night, despite the results were only partially loaded, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, obviously confused and afraid of failing his principals, hastily declared the APC presidential candidate as president elect, knowing absolutely, that it was the only way he can help to retain the ruling party in power.
The gross violation of the electoral process by Prof. Yakubu, the INEC Chairman and the mischievous manual upload of the election results left the ‘Obidients’ and indeed the entire citizens of Nigeria all over the world in utmost shock and disbelieve.
The filing of the election petition by Peter Obi and the Labour Party in the Election Tribunal places the hope of every Obidient on the balance in the hands of the nation’s blind judicial system.
The deafening silence currently experienced in the country and inaction by the aggrieved Obidients, and the generality of the public in reaction to the stolen electoral victory and popular mandate leaves much to be desired as Nigerians have lamented from various quarters including those in the diaspora who have expressed great concerns about the muted public reaction against INEC’s day light robbery of the real verdict and its collaboration in the rigging of the election, in such a shoddy and reckless manner in favour of the ruling party, the APC.
Comrade Gabriel Uma, the Convener of a France based support group, Obidient Supporters Network (OSN), like any other concerned Nigerians around the globe, have lamented that the citizens appear to have swallowed the bitter pill and that is why they are not showing enough resistance in reaction to this blatant display of impunity and gross violation of the rights of Nigerians to freely cast their votes without molestation and intimidation that characterized the grossly abused electoral process by INEC.
While the public outcry is loud at the background and mostly on social media, not much of it is heard in the public as the ‘Obidients’ and most Nigerians grumble and murmur, awaiting that lone bold voice that will call them out to occupy the Streets of the FCT and other 36 state capitals in protest against the swearing in of the President elect, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu by President Mohamadu Buhari on May 29, 2023, contrary to the will of majority of the people.
The present unholy calm by the citizens in reaction to their stolen mandate by INEC is not unconnected with the proceedings at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, chaired by Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani with Justice Stephen Adah, Justice Bolaji-Yusuf, Justice Moses Ugo, and Justice Abbah Mohammed as members.
Some of the recent developments in the ‘Obidient Movement’, such as the leadership tussle that led to the break up of the Coalition for Peter Obi (CPO), the pioneer coalition of support group that constituted the ‘Obidient Movement’ and the subsequent proliferation of new coalitions, coupled with the Labour Party’s attempt to balkanize and control the movement, especially, under the former Labour Party Campaign Director General, Doyin Okukpe, who dissolved the CPO, necessitated the urgent call for support groups to put their house together, take ownership of the Movement and strengthen it.
Majorly is the absence of a visible and trustworthy leadership that will call out and lead the Obidients and the rest of the citizens to come our on the streets to demonstrate and register their utter displeasure of the gross impunity and violation of their fundamental right to a free and fair elections.
The imminent leadership void prevalent in the ‘Obidient Movement’ brings to fore the call for the movement to change into a proper organization and an establish legal entity with a leadership structure and office.
Comrade March Oyinki, President, Movement For Change Worldwide (MFCW) is at the forefront alongside some key stakeholders and support groups under the aegis of the Obidient Movement Council (OBMC) who are working relentlessly on this project to ensure its realization.
The big question at this juncture, is who will bell the cat? Peter Obi is an enigma and the only one that has the personae to bring all the Obidients out on the streets in the monster of all protest that will rumble the political stage and disrupt the May 29 interregnum.
Will Peter Obi assume his natural leadership role of the Movement and file out with the Obidients? Would we continue to beam our search light elsewhere for a role model? As the pendulum swings and the time draws nearer to May 29, we shall wait and see, as anything can happen.
