Obi can win if he steps up!!! By Donu Kogbara

Dr Yunusa Tanko was one of Peter Obi’s staunchest allies for years. News that he has resigned from the Obidient Movement he once coordinated to head the presidential campaign council of Prince Adewole Adebayo’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) came as a shock to me and many other onlookers. As former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, said in an X post on Wednesday: “Nobody in the Northern part of River Niger has fanatically defended and promoted Dr Peter like Dr Yunusa Tanko.

What must have happened for Dr Yunusa to part ways with Dr Peter? Anyway, nothing is impossible in politics.” Tanko has not insulted his former boss. If he is harbouring a bitter grudge, it doesn’t show. He has graciously acknowledged the support he received from Obi when they were together. And yet, something has clearly gone horribly wrong behind the scenes.

Their once solid professional and personal relationship has broken down. I don’t know Tanko well enough to guess at his motives for walking away from a master he once eulogized. But I recently interviewed him on Opposition Unleashed, an online discussion programme I’ve hosted for a while; and he came across as gentlemanly and touchingly loyal to Obi.

Tanko’s departure saddens me. But it is thrilling the hell out of Obi’s adversaries!…who are gleefully insisting that Obi’s Nice Guy image is fake and that Obi must be UNIQUELY toxic in private because Tanko is just one of many ex-advocates who have abandoned the most charismatic politician in today’s Africa. I find this claim annoying because Atiku and Tinubu have also lost supporters at various points in time.

There are also a whole bunch of people who won’t touch either of them with a bargepole. Was it not because Atiku enraged Nyesom Wike and a clutch of governors that the PDP was destroyed? Was Atiku’s refusal to appoint a southern party chairman in 2022 not a more grievous personnel management failure than Obi’s failure to retain Tanko? Meanwhile, many Nigerians have CHOSEN not to be in Tinubu’s camp despite the riches they could earn by partnering with Oga At the Top.

There is no doubt that Obi is a force to be reckoned with who has captured imaginations and hearts within and outside Nigeria. In the past year, I have visited the UK, US, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Rwanda; and in every single one of these locations, people who are interested in Nigeria have cornered me to quiz me about Obi. They – black foreigners and non-black foreigners as well as Naija diasporans – don’t ask me whether I know Atiku or Tinubu or anyone else.

The curiosity I encounter always revolves around Peter Obi. And the reason for this widespread interest in Obi is obvious: He attracts crowds wherever he goes and comes across as a TOTALLY ATYPICAL BREATH OF FRESH AIR and as being VERY DIFFERENT from most of the other senior politicians in Africa’s biggest country. He doesn’t exude corrupt hedonism or imperial grandiosity.

He doesn’t have a corrupt aura. He lives very modestly, carries his own briefcase, travels abstemiously and stays in frankly unimpressive 3-star hotels that the average 5-star-obssessed VIP would not dream of staying in. He is very much a down-to-earth grassroots icon. He made billions long before he entered government as Anambra State Governor. And he spends millions, but not on himself.

He is a generous philanthropist who regularly donates vast sums to various schools, etc. As I often tell those who ask me why I am his fan, I get the feeling that if he makes it to the presidency, he won’t steal our money or allow his acolytes or relatives to run riot and inflict profligacy on the nation. However, nobody is perfect; and I try to be objective; and I have to say that Obi possesses weaknesses as well as strengths and urgently needs to develop better team-building and personnel management skills.

He is too much of a one-man band and free spirit. And my fear is that he will shoot himself in the foot if he doesn’t quickly adjust his modus operandi because both Tinubu and Atiku are formidable opponents. Given that the January l6th election is around the corner and that Tinubu is inadequate and unpopular enough to be defeated despite the massive advantages he will gain from his incumbency, Obi needs to be more mindful of the fact that some of the folks around him are dangerously disgruntled.

It is not too late to make them feel loved and inspired. Obi also needs to be more efficient and disciplined about funding, organizational and strategy issues. And I would strongly advise him to work more closely with the party – the NDC – that gave him a ticket when he fled from Atiku’s ADC and desperately needed a new political sanctuary. Long story short, celebrity status is not enough.

Obi is carrying the dreams of millions of principled voters on his shoulders. I will forgive him if he loses the election because of factors beyond his control, but not if the defeat is largely self-inflicted.