No Atiku, no Obi

I love thespians. They can create imaginations from nothing. This has been the case since the conclusion of the general elections in Nigeria. A friend says he loves lawyers more than I love thespians because they always tell their clients, “Your Excellency, we have a case”. A lot has been said and done. But this week, the supreme court affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu in a unanimous judgment.

A few folks called me to share their thoughts about the judgment. I was candid in my responses. Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi were not strategic in their quest. So many issues unfolded. The dramatic departure of Peter Obi from one political party to another and the wild goose chase of Atiku Abubakar from the beginning to the end – and that is, he has stopped chasing his tail.

I like the concept of no victor, no vanquished. The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so. This played out until the supreme court judgment validated what has been clear to discerning Nigerians since the announcement of the results of the presidential Elections.

Atiku Abubakar was vanquished. It was a difficult pill to swallow, so he was susceptible to all sorts. His advisers and strategists need to be flogged. They plied him with sweetened lies instead of administering reality to him.

They like medicine after death. It was suggested that one was more significant than five. That was the altar upon which the presidential ambition of Atiku Abubakar was slaughtered. Olusegun Obasanjo must have smiled. A daring move. It was bereft of strategy. And he expected magic to happen? Maybe he felt manna would fall from heaven. That was in the Old Testament. Times have changed, and only those who changed with time are the beneficiaries.

Peter Obi missed a golden opportunity to stamp his name in the sands of time. I figured he was overwhelmed thinking that Rome was built in a day. No, sir, it took 1,229 years for Rome to be built. And you cannot surface out of the blues and snatch the throne of the Roman Emperor. Nigeria is not ripe for such.

Politics is one enterprise that I call the necessary evil. It is not for saints. It is for sinners. Peter Obi is a saint. He dared to join the foray, and his performance was impressive. I had expected that after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announcement declaring President Bola Tinubu as the winner, he should have congratulated and pledged his willingness to contribute his quota to sustainable growth and development in the country.

He missed that opportunity. He is barefaced on the floor. I read the public statement of the Labour Party. I could not help but wonder if commonsense is now a pricey commodity. I am convinced Peter Obi will issue a sensational statement soon. I would be shocked if he didn’t weep. Weeping may last for a while, but joy comes in the morning. The morning is the realisation that the supreme court has affirmed the election of President Bola Tnubu. He won’t accept this realisation if he doesn’t wake up from his slumber.

The folks around him are as dumb as winners of the Darwin Awards. They are prominent in the frame but empty. Peter Obi didn’t help matters. He arrogated to himself the monopoly of knowledge. “Go and verify” became his catchphrase. But there was nothing to verify. It ended in the realm of assumptions, manipulated facts, half-truths, and outright lies.

I am glad the supreme court judgment has laid to rest the wild goose chase and the tyranny of assumptions. Some lawyers can also be dramatic. What would make a Senior Advocate of Nigeria convince a client that the supreme court can entertain fresh evidence? It was a mockery and a sheer waste of time.

Atiku Abubakar is the culprit, and Peter Obi is the gullible mind; both are only separated by nomenclature. I like folks to come out clean. Atiku Abubakar depends on government patronage for survival. It has never been about the interest of the country. Peter Obi is stubborn and wants to bring about change that he doesn’t understand himself.

Bringing about change in Nigeria is not a single narrative. It takes practice to make perfect. That Bola Tinubu is the president of Nigeria today is not happenstance. It took years, and he worked with lieutenants. Today, he is the victor. He earned his stripes.

I like to tell myself the truth. It is neither Atiku nor Obi. It is Tinubu. The international community knows this. Nigerians know this. I wonder why it took so long for the main characters of this tragicomedy to know this. The focus now should be nation-building. The next round of elections would come again. It is sacrosanct.

This victory was hard-earned. I trust Peter Obi would address him as President Bola Tinubu, not Chief Bola Tinubu. Atiku Abubakar has limited choices. There is one president, and his name is Bola Tinubu. It is not Atiku or Obi. Wisdom is profitable to direct. But suffer not for a witch to live. A word is enough for the wise—my two cents.

Ocheja, a military historian and doctoral researcher, can be reached via [email protected].