“As Dem Dey Rate Obi, Dem Dey Endorse Am, E Dey Pain Dem, E Dey Sweet Us” -By Isaac Asabor

If there is a means of communication that unites Nigerians and is spoken more often than any other, it is unarguably Pidgin English which is favorably spoken in the course of carrying out both economic and social activities. For instance, in Lagos, where the country’s numerous languages come together in a frenzied miscellany, the pacey tempo of pidgin is the symphony of the streets. It is against the foregoing milieu that it was not strange to this writer when he saw a group of “Obidients” who are invariably affiliated with the Labour Party (LP) and in support of Mr. Peter Obi ahead of February 25, 2023, presidential election gathered at a spot in Ogba, Lagos discussing Obi’s chances at the polls.

Against the backdrop of the foregoing factual perspective, it is not an exaggeration to say that the phrasal line that goes thus in pidgin, “As e dey sweet us, e go dey pain them. As e dey pain them, e go dey sweet us,” was inspirationally created by Governor Wike (Rivers State Governor), and the phrase which no doubt can be said to have become his brand, had seen Timaya introduced a whole new dimension to the track, giving it a dancehall perspective. In fact, the revered Nigerian singer cum songwriter, Timaya released the single titled, Sweet Us, produced by skilled Beatsmith and Michon.

At this juncture, it is expedient in this context to say that in the single produced by Michon, Timaya disses those he describes as his enemies who are projecting hatred.

The singer states that money is the only thing on his mind, adding that it pains his enemies that he is having more.

The singer, in the song, uses the slang “E dey pain them” which translates as “they are pained” in Pidgin English.

Just as the slang serves as a magnum opus to explain how embittered and pained every traducer that is opposed to Mr. Peter Obi’s presidential aspiration feels whenever his candidacy is endorsed by any political bigwig or rated high by any pollster, it equally explains how happy, excited and grateful to God the Obidients become whenever he is endorsed by any political bigwigs or rated high by any pollster.
Against the foregoing backdrop, Obi’s opponents have always been rancorous whenever pollsters declare him to be ahead of other presidential elections for the 2023 elections.

For instance, in September last year, the ANAP Foundation’s poll which was conducted by NOI Polls, and points to a three-horse presidential race between Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential aspirant of the Labour Party (LP), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and described Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) who came fourth in the poll, as a “dark horse” was heatedly disputed against and condemned by virtually all Obi’s traducers.

In its response to the poll, which unarguably favors Obi, the Atiku Campaign Organisation dismissed the poll through its spokesman, Daniel Bwala, who said, “Funny, polls are assessed by sample size and margin of errors.

“The Peter Obi surrogate polling company conjures something to inflate his ego and confuse voters into thinking cyberspace translates to physical space”.

In a similar vein, the Campaign Council of the NNPP said the projections in the poll were self-seeking, self-serving, misleading, inaccurate, and laced with partisanship with its spokesperson Ladipo Johnson, saying “I would take it with a pinch of salt.

“This is a known template, in this season, we should expect many more dubious-sounding opinions, polls, etc.

“Unfortunately there are many who for parochial reasons are drawing back the development of our democracy, due to various propaganda tricks.”

According to Johnson, the data purportedly relied upon did not go far enough in an empirical manner to show the ethnic and religious backgrounds of those polled.

He added that there was no indication as to whether those polled was artisans, educated or non-educated, professional or non-professional Nigerians among others.

At this juncture, it is germane to say that since former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday endorsed Obi’s candidacy, saying he had an edge over other presidential candidates in terms of knowledge, discipline, vitality, and character, even as the elder statesman, called on Nigerians to vote for the LP standard bearer in the February 25 presidential polls.

Without any iota of exaggeration, his endorsement has attracted fuming responses from the All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, and the African Action Alliance which described his support for Obi as worthless.

It would be recalled that In his 2023 New Year message that Obasanjo described the last seven years of the Buhari administration as horrible and hell on earth for most Nigerians.

The letter partly read, “The last seven and a half years have no doubt been eventful and stressful years for many Nigerians. We have moved from frying pan to fire and from the mountain top to the valley. Our leaders have done their best, but their best had turned out to be not the best for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad. For most Nigerians, it was hell on earth.

In fact, since the news of the endorsement was broken, the plethora of headlines that have been trending on the pages of conventional newspapers and online newspapers cut across “PDP reacts to Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi”, “Obasanjo endorses Peter Obi, PDP reacts”, “Obasanjo seeking third term through Obi, says PDP campaign …” and “Obasanjo’s Obi endorsement worthless, Tinubu won’t lose sleep”. In my view, the foregoing reactions are indications that Obi’s traducers are pained over his endorsement and ratings while his “Obidients” are excited. In fact, “As E Dey Pain Dem, E Dey Sweet Us”.