BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
The Independent National Electoral Commission has officially declared the campaign season for the fast approaching 2023 general elections in Nigeria open.
So far, only the People’s Democratic Party has made known its plan to begin its Presidential Campaign on Monday (today) in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. Other frontline political parties and their standard bearers seem to still have a lot of rough edges to smoothen before jumping into the campaign train to announce their programmes, officially, to the voting populace.
From the ruling All Progressives Congress to the major opposition PDP and the other main parties, Labour Party and New Nigeria People’s Party, there is a lot to suggest that preparations are ongoing in readiness to engage the voting masses.
While the two “elephants” in the house, the APC and PDP are still grappling with how to iron out some grey areas in their systems, which has resulted in internal wrangling, not much is heard of LP and NNPP and their camps.
However, while the NNPP candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso has been busy setting up campaign offices across the country in readiness for the official campaigns, the candidate of LP, Peter Obi, has continued his unabated Diaspora engagements. This development has suddenly set tongues wagging with too many questions as to how useful these trips are to the realisation of his presidential ambition. Some inquisitive minds wonder why bother the Diaspora Nigerians knowing full well there is no Diaspora voting allowed in the current system.
Social and political critic, Eddie Odunnakwe, described it as an innovation in Nigeria’s and African political history which though might not produce immediate dividends, yet will go a long way to reshape politics from the politicians to the electorates.
“If you ask me, I will tell you that Peter Obi’s foreign trips and meetings with Diaspora Nigerians on the surface look worthless considering the fact that there is no vote coming from them. But looking deep into this move, one can accept the fact that it is one of the major factors or you may call it innovations recorded in the forthcoming 2023 general election in Nigeria.
“I want to believe that Obi knows that no vote is coming from them yet he takes the meeting with them very seriously that we have not read from either the social media or mainstream media that he failed to honour such arrangements. But my take is that, rather than concentrate on the Diaspora meeting, dissipating energy moving from one part of the world to another, he should be fully on the ground in the country and make himself available to the parts where he is not known very well.
“If his meetings with Diaspora Nigerians are seeking to prepare grounds for better governance, he should work towards winning the election first because he cannot give Nigerians good governance if he fails to win the election. It’s only the winner of the election that can execute governance, whether good or bad.”
Odunnakwe further stated that the LP standard bearer should do more local campaigns than foreign though there is a need to get the Diaspora Nigerians involved in the affairs of the country, not only politics.
“The energy Obi is dissipating in getting Nigerians all over the world involved in the forthcoming elections is good, but to me, he should concentrate on the local. I mean at home rather than travelling from one country to another seeking for whatever.”
Obi has visited more foreign countries than any other presidential candidate since his emergence as the LP presidential candidate. Most of his visits are on invitations either by Nigerians residing in those countries or nationals of those countries who see his emergence as a turnaround in Nigeria’s political history.
Baba Maikudi, a political analyst sees his trips overseas and engagements with the Diaspora Nigerians as a distraction.
He said, “Peter Obi is yet to break into the core political science of the country where decisions of who wins the election are made and he is busy delivering lectures in different countries. He needs the Nigerians in Nigeria more than Diaspora Nigerians because no matter how they, I mean the Diasporans applaud him, what he needs are the votes and these votes are with those of us living in the country.
“How much he knows of the voters in the hinterlands and how popular he is among them should be his concern if he wants to realize his presidential ambition. Applauds from students at Harvard University when voters in Kauranamoda or Birni Kudu do not know him is a minus. Now that campaigns have begun, we want to see him use the same energy he is using to travel abroad to meet Nigerians residing here. Use the same energy to visit the nooks and crannies of the country and test his popularity ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
“There is no doubt, from the million-man marchers across the country, youths are rooting for him but the problem is that these youths are metropolitan youths. Those in the remote villages are not part of it, so he has much work to do and should, without further delay, stop these foreign trips because they are becoming serious distractions. The earlier he realized that presidential elections are not won in the metropolis the better for him.”
“The energy Obi is dissipating in getting Nigerians all over the world involved in the forthcoming elections is good but to me, he should concentrate on the local. I mean at home rather than travelling from one country to another seeking for whatever”
However, an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Emeka Sylva, has a different opinion on Obi’s Diaspora engagements. He not only commended it but recommended that lawmakers should think towards making a law that will empower the Diaspora Nigerians to vote in subsequent elections.
“Peter Obi’s Diaspora engagements cannot be regarded as a distraction. How is it a distraction? He has charted a new course in our political development. Before now, the Diaspora Nigerians don’t care what happens in our elections or who wins but you can equally attest to the fact that Peter Obi has changed the narratives. Our brothers and sisters living outside Nigeria are showing more interest in the 2023 presidential election than us living in the country. This is a result of Obi’s engagements with them.
“Nigeria has been known as the giant of Africa but that assertion does not hold water again and I think Obi is trying to re-enact it in the committee of global politics using the forthcoming general elections to launch her back to where she should be. The kind of reception and accolades he is receiving globally has not made him popular as many people are saying, they have laundered the battered image of Nigeria because the world is asking serious questions if such a man can come out of Nigeria that is believed and seen by other countries as the home of criminals and criminalities.
“However, now that campaigns have begun, I want to believe the Labour Party has the responsibility to make Peter Obi and his running mate Yusuf Baba-Ahmed household names on the lips of Nigerians, particularly, those in the hinterlands. If they do this coupled with the global acceptance of their candidature, Obi and Baba-Ahmed will have less stress in the forthcoming elections. Let me add that too much of everything is not good. Obi is not trying to prove anything with those Diaspora engagements and so, he should be fully at home for the campaign and concentrate.”
A high-ranking politician who preferred anonymity told The Point that the Diaspora engagements by Peter Obi are rather distracting his opponents particularly the PDP and the APC, not Obi himself.
According to him, “The PDP and APC and their candidates have left what they should be focusing more on and are monitoring Peter Obi and his foreign trips. They are more interested in the outcome of their foreign trips than the campaign for their candidates and that is why when you listen to the radio, watch television or read newspapers and social media, all you find is what they are reacting to about Obi. For instance, recently, that’s last week, the news that Peter Obi has been granted honorary citizenship of one of the states in the United States turned into a major issue among these parties and you find out that all their spokespersons reacted as if that has a major role to play in the forthcoming elections. Even one of the presidential candidates made noise about it and Obi who received the award didn’t even show much interest like his opponents.”
The political juggernaut further claimed that when Obi embarks on campaigns much would be revealed about his trips overseas and engagements with the Diaspora Nigerians and added that whether it will translate to general acceptance of his candidature or not will be made public.
“Campaigns have begun and this is the time to know whether Obi’s travelling and meeting with Nigerians in those countries is an added advantage to the pursuit of his ambition or a distraction. We will see if he will be accorded the kind of general acceptance he received in those countries he visited in the various states of Nigeria, particularly, the rural villages. Anybody sitting in his comfort zone to declare that he is distracting himself with the Diaspora Nigerians’ engagements is rather acting too early. So, what I am saying is that time will tell.”
A top member of a support group for one of the presidential candidates who also spoke on condition of anonymity claimed that the LP presidential candidate’s engagements with Diaspora Nigerians are window dressing and cheap popularity seeking which has nothing to do with who emerges as the next President of Nigeria.
The party chieftain argued that the presidential election will be decided by Nigerians residing in Nigeria and as such little or nothing is required from the Diaspora Nigerians in the forthcoming elections.
“Are the Diaspora Nigerians voting? What role are they going to play in the forthcoming elections? Maybe donate money for his campaign.
That’s all but the truth remains that for now, only Nigerians living in Nigeria will decide who our next President will be. Our brothers and sisters living outside our country have no say because they are not voting. So, I don’t know the role anybody is expecting them to play. In our group, we have more things to do than talking about who is travelling abroad for whatever meeting.”
A chieftain of the Labour Party and Convener of Grassroots Support for Peter Obi, Val Igwebuike in his reaction to the question said Obi is a mature man who came into the presidential race convinced of what he wants to do for his country and he knows how to get it done.
“Why is there so much focus on whatever Peter Obi is doing? He is the shining star among the other candidates. You know Peter Obi is a mature man who was not pushed into the race by brothers, sisters, friends or associates. He decided on his own to run for the position of Nigeria’s president and I am confident he has his programmes on how to go about it. If honouring invitations from Diaspora Nigerians is part of his programmes why are people complaining? Is it better to incessantly visit hospitals abroad to recover health than to visit countries and sell the new Nigeria to the world? I think everyone who loves our country will opt for the latter.
“Diaspora Nigerians are Nigerians and are major contributors to our economy, so they should know more about those who want to manage their remittances from 2023 and that is why Obi has submitted himself to be scrutinized by them. His trips are not distractions.”
