Peter Obi Is By Far More Upright Than A Vast Majority Of Us

By Atsenokhai Aloy

TELL ME WHY I SHOULD NOT ADMIRE A MAN WHO HAS SO ELEVATED THE BAR AND INSPIRED MANY TO AT LEAST ASPIRE TO BE A LITTLE MORE DECENT

For Mr. Peter Obi , his greatest asset remains his personal integrity and his track record for frugality and uncommon probity. Even his fiercest critics and political traducers would agree that when it comes to integrity, there is no politician alive that comes close to him.

A few days ago, he was on Arise News Prime Time and he made some very emphatic claims. I had wanted to write about it earlier, but I decided to tarry awhile to see if those claims would be disputed. As at the time of making this post, nobody is yet to come forward to dispute them.

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The first and boldest was when he said that if there was any contractor that he ever asked to give him “something” before or after a contract, that contractor should come forward and he will drop out of politics. Many days later, nobody is yet to show up.

This is the same country where a sitting governor was caught on camera receiving bribes from a contractor and stuffing the dollars in his flowing gown. This is a country where contractors are the ones most governors use in looting their states dry. The contracts are hyper-inflated, and the contractor is asked to return the excess through back channels. Yet, a person who was governor for eight years is able to make such bold claims. I dare say that nobody else amongst this current set of extremely corrupt and perfidious politicians can say the same.

Obi may not be a perfect human being like all of us. But when it comes to integrity, he remains a shining example even amongst his enemies. We all recall that Obi had previously told the country how he left billions is three different banks. Aside from the late Umaru Yar’adua, I don’t know of any governor dead or alive that ever left even N1billion for his successor. They all looted the treasury dry before leaving office.

The second point Obi made during that interview that caught my attention was when he said that people should not vote for him because he is from the South East or a Christian. But that people should vote for him because of competence, capacity and compassion. Again, this for me is profound. In a country where many people especially politicians appeal to base and primordial sentiments, it is heartwarming to see someone distancing himself publicly from such.

The third point he made was on security. He said he will be decisive and will not negotiate with bandits. I find this point very reassuring. The reason why banditry and kidnapping has continued to thrive is because of this negotiation. Criminals kidnap citizens and they receive billions to release them. How will they stop? Nobody is neutralized or arrested. Just negotiations and payment of ransom. It has become a huge industry for the criminals.

Finally and on a lighter note, I didn’t hear Obi mention Bwala, Reno, FFK or Bayo all through that interview. In fact, he didn’t mention anybody by name. But I know for sure that these people may collapse if they hold an interview without mentioning Obi’s name. It appears Obi is a permanent thorn on them for whatever reasons.

Even if Obi doesn’t become President, he remains a shining example to the fact that in the midst of thieves and political brigands, there is still someone that can do things differently.

May Nigeria succeed!

©️ Atsenokhai Aloy