Nigerians and their socio-political spaces are evidently suffering from a rare, high-pitched fever called Peter Obi. It has become a quotidian fever. The symptoms are immediate and impactful. It manifests at all times and everywhere. Given its overwhelming spread across the country, millions of people have become victims. The fever unleashes itself on Nigerians in positive and negative ways.
The positive victims of the fever argue – he is the best man to lead the country out of its present cesspool. The negative victims of the fever insist – he is the last thing Nigeria needs now. Either way, the Peter Obi fever hovers around Nigeria’s stratosphere like clouds holding the imminent release of an angry deluge. But that is stating the matter mildly.
While the positive victims of the Peter Obi fever frolic and revel in their conviction every day, the negative victims of the fever daily suffer from internally induced bitterness. They manifest subtle cognitive haemorrhage that causes them to betray hidden neurotic tendencies in public.
The Julius Caesar fever also hovered around Rome and the Romans in the same way. Flavius and Marullus, two Tribunes, negative victims of the Caesar fever, chased the plebeians away for honouring Caesar with a holiday. Today, the negative victims of the Peter Obi fever are hounding the positive victims away from every space. But the latter are stubborn and insistent. They refuse to capitulate.
The Peter Obi fever started in 2023 at the national level when he contested for the office of the president under the Labour Party – a hitherto unknown, unheralded, obscure political party. It was an inferno. Immediately he declared for the Labour Party, it became a national battle cry for millions of grovelling, suffering youths in the country.
For these youths, Peter Obi was the shining armour to dislodge the criminal superstructures in the country and point a way forward for a redemptive process that would lead to collective national recovery. The fever in 2023 was palpable. Only nine months to the election in 2023, under an obscure political platform, the Peter Obi fever caught millions of people unawares.
While the positive victims dominated the streets and social media platforms, convinced that their principal would win the election, the negative victims swore that he would never garner more than a hundred thousand votes.
Alas, Peter Obi won in Lagos, the most populous city in the whole of Africa. He won in Abuja and other major cities in the country. According to INEC, he got over 6 million votes. Many people insist he got more, especially in Rivers State. He won across ALL military formations across the country.
That was quite symbolic. Rigging could not take place in those places. Only if there was no rigging across the country. Currently, he has crossed over to the National Democratic Convention (NDC). 24 hrs after he joined the party, the membership registration almost broke the party’s website. According to the party, over ten million people registered in one week. The fever is real.
The Peter Obi fever has returned towards the 2027 election, this time with more devastating fury. I am worried because the fever has more victims these days than it did in 2023. I am worried because more government officials and members of the opposition parties are affected by the fever.
I am worried because governance has stopped due to the prevalence of the fever. I am worried because government officials, ministers, governors, and the president are caught by the fever. They constitute a sinister petty-bourgeois force which threatens the country’s redemption. No one is talking about important issues bordering on the welfare of the people. No one is holding the government of the day accountable.
The response and answer to every political and social issue is Peter Obi. Ask a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria what the achievements of his ministry are and what he is doing to improve the lives of the people through his ministry. The answer is simple – Peter Obi is this, and that. Ask any public official working for the current government to provide insights into the realities in their sector, and the response is always measured – Peter Obi.
Ask presidential spokespersons to outline the achievements of the current government and sell the president to Nigerians for a second term. The answer is unashamedly delivered – Peter Obi. Ask any opposition presidential candidate about their plans and manifesto towards the 2027 election. The predictable answer is Peter Obi. The Peter Obi fever is real.
These days, government officials, presidential spokespersons and other opposition politicians go on national television, not to discuss national issues but to discuss Peter Obi. Social media spaces and mainstream media are not left out in the Peter Obi mania.
It hovers with implacable intensity. No one is interested in discussing the harsh economic realities in the country. No one is interested in interrogating the policies of the current government as responsible citizens. No one is interested in asking the government what it is doing with all the borrowings amounting to nearly 150 billion dollars, plunging the country into the abyss of debt.
No one is interested in asking the simple question of why the government continues to borrow money after removing the fuel subsidy. No one wants to ask the president why he deserves another term after failing spectacularly in his first term.
The Peter Obi fever is real. It has blinded millions of people across the country to the realities confronting them. Many people are also making money from the Peter Obi fever. Any news item about him attracts instant and massive patronage.
Many people affected negatively by the Peter Obi fever have smiled to the bank through Elon Musk’s social media platforms. Post anything negative about Peter Obi on social media, and your engagements rise astronomically. My son, an SS 1 student, the baby of the house, told me that their Mathematics teacher talked about Peter Obi for more than 30 minutes before starting the lesson. University classrooms are not spared from the Peter Obi fever.
The big question is – why is everyone talking about Peter Obi? Why is everybody a victim of the Peter Obi fever? Why does someone who is not a government official and does not hold any policy-making position attract so much scrutiny, while government officials are hardly known?
Why do schools and other establishments call him for different financial interventions instead of calling the government or government officials? Why does Peter Obi break up traffic and markets when he passes anywhere in Nigeria, even with minimal security? Students of Sociology, Psychology, Political Science and Literary Studies owe us a duty to provide answers to the above questions.
The positive victims of the Peter Obi fever insist that their support of his presidential aspirations is in response to the systemic decay in the country. Instead of attacking the current government or hitting the streets to protest the country’s documented misdirection, they submit to the Peter Obi fever as an assured vehicle to Eldorado.
The negative victims of the Peter Obi fever are mostly government officials and other sympathizers of opposition parties. They deserve pity. The Peter Obi fever clouds their perception and reasoning. They hardly think of anything apart from Peter Obi. Their relevance in their respective offices is gauged by how much they talk about Peter Obi.
It is tragic because governance in the country is crippled and consequently lame. All the arms of government no longer live up to their responsibilities. It must be Peter Obi, morning, afternoon and night. It is the tragedy of a country caught in the stranglehold of survival. Atiku Abubakar is a presidential aspirant. Rotimi Amaechi is a presidential aspirant. Goodluck Jonathan is a presidential aspirant. Yet, they have not reached feverish levels in the country.
No one is talking about the reintegration of terrorists into normal society without consequences for their hideous crimes against Nigerians. No one is talking about the recent surge in police brutality against Nigerians. No one is challenging the government for earmarking 135 billion naira for the 2027 election lawsuits.
No one is asking why 4,000 doctors have left Nigeria in the last three years. No one is talking about the collapse of Nigeria’s paper industry, leading to the loss of over 300,000 jobs. No one is interested in the abysmal state of electricity in the country after Mr President promised to revamp the sector.
Nigerians must immediately recover from the Peter Obi fever. He must be left alone to chart his political journey while we face the government of the day and hold it accountable.
We must ask questions of governance at all levels. We must demand accountability from government at all levels. We must demand accountability from legislators and other public officials. Government appointees must use every opportunity to educate the people about their stewardship.
To make Peter Obi the centre of national discourse is to admit our complicity in the submerging of the country by a coterie of political and economic marauders. Let the negative victims of the Peter Obi fever heal, and urgently too.
