When some folks living in bondage hopped from one TV talk show to another, turning the barrel against Peter Obi and calling him unprintable names, the anger was not just puzzling but intriguing to the uninitiated.
The argument advanced further, especially by a former Nollywood actor, was that Obi is not man enough to contest a party primary. That he is not a leader who builds from the scratch. That he gallivants from one party to another looking for ready-made platforms. That Obi was spineless and a mere political “conman” who does not deserve to lead a nation.
For the man used to the shouts of “lights, camera, roll, action,” his chief reason for abandoning ship with his former principal was because Obi did not defend the mandate allegedly given to him by the people. How exactly could Obi defend a mandate already ruled upon by the Supreme Court of the land?
Was he expected to mobilize Nigerians to shut down the streets, raise a militant group to cause mutiny, or overthrow the government? Coming from a legal practitioner who swore to uphold the Constitution and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that position was simply preposterous and inconceivable.
If by any chance he expected a repeat of Chief Abiola’s defiance, then drawing such a parallel further exposes a lack of rigour and poor judgement in this present democratic dispensation. Talking about Chief Abiola — the great patriot on whose blood the present democratic superstructure rests — the sage famously said you cannot shave a man’s hair behind his back.
