More than two years before the former U.S. President Barack Obama declared to run for the United States President, Oprah Winfrey appeared on Larry King Live on CNN, described Obama as her favorite senator and hoped he would run for president.  In June 2008, after Obama secured the Democratic nomination, Winfrey said that “I’m euphoric; I’ve been doing the happy dance all day. I’m so proud of Barack and Michelle Obama and what this means for all of us … the new possibilities for our country. And if he wants me to, I’m ready to go door to door.”

Nigeria is standing on the threshold of a crucial Presidential election that will determine the direction of the country for the foreseeable future. Twenty years from today, our kids born and unborn will look back at this moment in our checkered democracy and ask where I, you, we stood on February 16^th, 2019. I want to state for the records, that I am standing with the African Action Congress (AAC) candidate Omoloye Sowore. Like Oprah Winfrey, I am euphoric in standing with Sowore, a presidential candidate with the promise of bringing new possibilities to Nigeria. Continue reading “2019 Presidential Election: I Stand With Sowore” →

For weeks, Atiku campaigned across Nigeria.

He boasted of how his campaign caged Buhari by holding Daura and Katsina hostage.

He locked down Kano to prove that with Kwankwaso, he is guaranteed of 5 million votes from the state.

He stormed the desert of Sokoto two times to prove that the Caliphate is in his back pocket.

He conquered Kebi, swallowed Kaduna, Jigawa,  Zamfara.

He stepped on the head of Boko Haram as he rampaged across his base in the Northeast – Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Borno, Yobe and Bauchi.

After the mother of all rallies in Lagos, he was assured of over 2.5 million votes. The story across the Southwest was so successful that Atiku and PDP were bragging on how they will trample an elephant at the market square on Election Day.

But, wait, it looks like all the grah-grah was for show. Continue reading “…Just One More Thing…” →

Dear Atiku, I intentionally approach my writings on Igbo affairs as a philosopher. Writing philosophically is my vocation, a deep calling, and a deep urge. As you may know, a philosopher raises questions that are existentially heavy to bear. You recently asked Nigerians to “ask [you] a range of questions and hear [your] answers. As onye Igbo, the only, yet very heavy, question on my mind is, will you, Atiku save or sink the Igbos?

Chief Atiku, this question is born out of the admission albeit, wired, by your good friend Nnia Nwodo that Igbos are living in hell in Nigeria. I know that there are millions of Igbos living and thriving in Nigeria, but, lets for the sake of argument, assume that your friend Nnia Nwodo is right. The question to you, Atiku, is; are you on a rescue mission or are you going to worsen the lives of Igbos already living in hell in Nigeria? Continue reading “Dear Atiku, Will You Save Or Sink The Igbos?” →

Peter Obi as a Governor was equivalent to the tortoise in the animal kingdom.

Saint Peter’s eight years of governance was never about job creation; it was not about human capital development; it was not about re-engineering government institutions; it was not about the state economy or improving revenue generation; it was not even about restructuring through local government autonomy you and your boss Atiku are promising; it was not about transparency as you were the alpha and omega that indiscriminately awarded contracts without bids.

As a governor, Peter was the only ‘wise man’ in Anambra State, the king that deceived his subjects, and ultimately a one-man administration that had no regards to democratic principles and ethics.

In the words of Chinua Achebe from ‘Things Fall Apart’: “Travellers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves.”

Peter as a Governor was an embodiment of deceit, corruption, lies and worst still the arrogance.

In a multi-ethnic, multicultural country like Nigeria, you can’t win votes by playing the “ethnic card”. In endorsing Atiku Abubakar, the PDP Presidential candidate last week, the Igbo Social-cultural group Ohaneze Ndigbo claimed that the “the nomination of our son Peter Obi as the vice-presidential candidate has given Ndigbo an opportunity for inclusivity. Ndigbo must seize the moment.” For including this line of argument -ethnicity- in their endorsement, Ohaneze Ndigbo led by Nnia Nwodo failed the political cum emotional intelligence test.

Political intelligence is made up of five things, integrity, self-awareness, emotional intelligence about others, strategy, and execution. Having a high political intelligence means doing all five. While someone will still have political intelligence without being good at each of these; one absolutely lacks political intelligence without any of the five things. Unfortunately, it looks like the leadership of Ohaneze lacks these five things. Continue reading “Atiku’s Endorsement, Nwodo, Ohaneze And The Deficit Of Political Intelligence” →

As the wise saying goes, if you want no disappointments, don’t indulge in illusions. He who lives on illusions dies of disillusion. Unfortunately, some Nigerians that barely survived disillusion after the earthquake of the 2015 Presidential election are still living in illusions.

When you hear an Igbo man whimper that “As it stands now, Buhari can only win this election by rigging and use of force to intimidate voters”, it is a symptom of someone who is living in an Atikulated political cocoon. When you check, you will find that 95 % of his/her Facebook friends believe that their President is one Jubril from Sudan. That is the first indication that his /her circles of friends are still stuck in the political mud of 2015. Continue reading “Living In The Atikulated Political Cocoon And Whining” →

Ohaneze Ndigbo led by Nnia Nwodo just failed the political intelligence test by endorsing Atiku on the day that President Buhari campaigned in Enugu and Anambra States.

This is endorsement is of no effect for these reasons:

1. Majority of Igbos were already staunch supporters of Atiku-Obi ticket
2. The Igbos that have refused to support Atiku and Obi will not be persuaded by this misstep by Ohaneze

Ohaneze claimed that the “the nomination of our son Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate has given Ndigbo an opportunity for inclusivity. Ndigbo must seize the moment” Continue reading “Ohaneze Ndigbo And Deficit Of Political Intelligence” →

 

Corruption has no class, no color, no ethnicity, no political affiliation, and no religion.

When in doubt, consult Oshiomhole.

Despite the colossal damage caused by corruption, the narrative of political and ethnic sentiments aimed at protecting the corrupt political class remains ingrained in Nigerian public consciousness.  This is what I call the Ethno-Political-induced protectionist paradox.

The question is why should we as a people continue to endorse democratization of corruption? Why are we not standing up to our kinsmen and members of our political party who are corrupt?

The failure of the Nigerian electorate to hold their political office holders/seekers accountable in the same way irrespective of ethnicity and political ideology has allowed sentiments to rule our lives and dictate choices.

Corrupt political entrepreneurs and praise singers in Nigeria, therefore, refer to political affiliation and manipulate ethnic sentiments in an attempt to achieve political power.

Per Confucius, in a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.

We all agree that from independence that Nigeria has not been well governed.

So, the question is; are you ashamed or proud of your political role model?

@churchillnnobi

Apologies Oga Atiku, you are clearly not corrupt. For years, I made the terrible mistake of calling you a chronically corrupt con artist. After listening to you yesterday, when you genuinely revealed to us that our beloved Presidential candidate who is campaigning on the promise to “fight” corruption better than Buhari does not even know the meaning of corruption, I realized that I was wrong.

Apologies Atiku, what I refer to as corruption is what you believe and eat. It is what you live for and what you are willing to die for.

After listening to you yesterday, I realized that you are corruption and that corruption is you. So, apologies for condemning you for whom you are. Continue reading “Apologies Atiku, You Are Not Corrupt, You are Corruption” →

Political Tsunami????

If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building or do you change the nail?

Peter was a dictator that ruled Anambra State for 8 good years, without transforming or reforming a single government agency or ministry in the state. Worst still no single interest or investment to develop human capital in the state. An embodiment of selfishness?

Please, go and listen again to Emperor Peter in all his speeches. All you will hear is “I”, “I…” “I…” never “we”, never “my administration”, never “my commissioner”.

Peter Obi’s story is always about an instance of personal heroism or an exploit. For 8 years as the governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi did not prepare a single young politician. He did not attract a single established politician to APGA fold in Anambra State.

He could not expand the footprint of APGA to any of the Igbo states in Nigeria. Not Abia, not Ebonyi, not even Enugu. Rochas initially won in Imo under APGA platform, still riding under the banner of Ikemba Nnewi. Once he won, he left APGA because he couldn’t work with Peter Obi.

When Goodluck Jonathan wanted to make Peter a Minister, the PDP stakeholders scuttled that, simply because everything with Peter is all about him.

When he was given the free hand to pick the governorship candidate of PDP in Anambra, all PDP stakeholders abandoned the party for him. None of the “heavyweights” in PDP in the entire southeast campaigned with him and his candidate Obaze in that election. He and Obaze were thus humiliated by Obiano.

So the question for Ndigbo with interest in the political jungle of Nigeria at the national level is; what type of man/woman do you need to be at the table with Atiku and the rest of Nigerian (assuming PDP wins)? Do you want a man that will be only interested in himself or a man that will fight for Ndigbo?

That is the question that should be at the back of our minds. Leave your emotion aside and think about that deeply.