2023: When it’s dangerous to underestimate the will of a conscious people -By Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh

The result of the whirlwind orchestrated by the Obi/Datti movement has started turning in, with the good people of Osun state of Nigeria finally getting to elect the man that they’ve always loved – Senator Ademola Adeleke aka the dancing Senator of the PDP. Only about 4 years ago, they were robbed of this important mandate and made to look like toothless bull dogs. They cried when the courts claimed that the dancing Senator wasn’t the rightful winner. Osun electorate wiped their tears and went home.

Today, they jubilated like never before. Their beloved brother, friend and Senator is returned as winner. The waiting and the weeping of yesterday was never in vain after all. Hmmm. As a lover of justice and due reward for hard work, I share every bit of this happiness. But what many Nigerians do not know about the current political atmosphere is that finally the forces of righteousness is getting the chance to lock horns with the forces of unrighteousness. And like every whirlwind, hurricane or tsunami, many things are thrown up and many are thrown down too.

Contrary to the wrong perception of many that what we have in the air was an ominous wind whose boisterous strength was further dividing the country; the reality is that the majority – which of course are the humble citizens – are taking back their country from the hands of the minority – who are also fellow countrymen and women but turned enemy of the masses. And because this has never happened before, the minorities who are obviously losing out are using every arsenal they had to scare the people.

To be honest, this wind actually started in 2012 – ten clear years away from today – when then president Goodluck Jonathan removed the so-called fuel subsidy without adequately engaging his countrymen and women who had overwhelmingly voted him to office the previous year. Although, there was great merit in what he had in mind for his citizens, he committed high treason by assuming that the citizens could be ignored as inconsequential in the management of the affairs of state.

Rather than seek to win back the confidence of the masses, that administration moved on as though Nigeria is an animal farm. They would get to hear from the masses when the results of the 2015 turned in; producing the man – General Muhammadu Buhari and the APC instead of the PDP. Unfortunately, even though the masses had made the impression that they are a conscious people and must be treated with a great deal of consideration; the powers-that-be continued in the path of President Jonathan.

What looked like a clash between the masses and leadership quickly turned into a clash between the forces of unrighteousness (majority of leadership plus a good portion of the masses who are cronies) and the forces of righteousness (majority of the masses plus a good portion of leadership who are against executive recklessness). The first glimpse of this current realignment would be seen during the #EndSars statement. While some in leadership wanted sincere dialogue, majority pretended and preferred to kill.

And while the righteous camp expected dialogue having halted their protest; the unrighteous group instead ordered the massacre of innocent citizens (at the Lekki Toll gate and in several parts of the country especially the FCT) whose only crime was attempting to query executive recklessness! It is important to note that treating the masses with scorn has been the trademark of most leadership in Africa. In 2011, the continent would witness the Arab Uprising in the northern part of the continent.

For the first time, sit-tight leadership in Africa was overthrown and replaced with humane leadership that heeded to the yearnings of the people. Leaders like Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gadhafi and the counterpart from Tunisia were all taken down. Those who know political history can counsel you for free that it is dangerous to underestimate the will of a people particularly those of a conscious people. They are quite to remind you that a conscious people are credited as pioneers of every country whose system was working.

Osun state like Edo state is the recent evidence of what a conscious people can accomplish. A conscious people understand that it is bad investment if the citizen gave more to a government without getting something valuable or commensurate as benefits. When a government played politics with the lives of her citizen, when government feels her citizen should agonize to fuel their automobiles; when government thinks that the education of her children should drag because there wasn’t job, it is asking for wrath.

Citizenship is a social contract between the state and the citizen. As long as the citizens kept their part of the deal, the state has no excess to fail. Sadly, Nigeria’s leadership in the past 7 years is a far cry from what responsible leadership should be. The irresponsible manner in which the issue of the terrorist activities of the bandits and aliens was handled by government; the preferential protection they were given to harass innocent Nigerians are only enough provocation to stir even a toothless bull to bite.

I recalled travelling with a friend from Federal Secretariat through to the airport road within the FCT and how a so-called AMAC officer by the name of Mamman arrested my friend for picking a passenger at Gosa. Mamman kept boasting to us that not even the Army Chief of ‘our country’ as he coined the statement could order his arrest. And to prove that he was actually untouchable, he ordered his subordinates to drive us to their station at the FCDA at 5:30pm!

Who wouldn’t conclude as I did that Mamman was only using his ID as AMAC officer as cover to perpetuate kidnapping of hardworking Nigerians within the FCT? This was my conclusions that lead me to resist going any further from where we’d gotten to – at House on the Rock! For he kept saying that he would take his captives to a POS operator where we could pay our fine even when we insisted we had the said amount on us to pay and be on our way home. Still, Mamman collected a whooping #10,000.00 from my friend. My story is only one among countless that the polished citizens of this country have had to endure during the reign of incompetence, intimidation and arrogant wickedness.

Lastly, the #Obidient movement is only the face of the forces of righteousness that is composed of citizens of all works of life, and cutting across gender as well as the many ethnic and religious leaning and, should be so seen. I chose to say this in view of the fact of the tactics that is being mobilized against this movement by the forces of unrighteousness. The movement is NOT an Igbo quest for leadership. It is NOT the Christians’ response to APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.

It’s NOT some youth frenzy or social media joke. It is NEITHER even a battle between the old and the young NOR is it the protest of the sidelined-bunch-from-national-cake against those feasting on the national cake currently. The #Obidient movement is SIMPLY a whirlwind or tsunami of righteousness coming strongly against the forces of evil and incessant bloodletting. If you forget anything you just read, please do not that righteousness exalts ANY nation. So, join the movement and bring your loves ones too.

Comrade Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh; political counselor & advocate for attitudinal change write from Abuja. 08062577718.