Who are these Obidients?, By Femi Fani-Kayode

Let me make this clear from the outset. I’m a member of the APC and a supporter of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

This contribution doesn’t in any manner derogate from that and my evaluation is extra of an educational and mental train than anything.

I’m NOT a supporter of Peter Obi and I’ve NO intention of turning into one. I’m nevertheless on what his supporters characterize and stand for and that’s the topic of this essay.

They’re worthy of my consideration solely as a result of their rise and relevance within the political configuration of our nation, simply in a matter of weeks, is meteoric and phenomenal.

So as to counter and defeat them or to maintain them of their place we should a minimum of try to grasp them and work out how their minds work.

The next are my findings.

These which might be the supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Social gathering presidential candidate, are often known as ‘Obidients’ and they’re EVERYWHERE.

These of us within the bigger political events just like the ruling APC and the opposition PDP, deal with them with contempt and ignore them at our personal peril.

The reality is that they’re way more harmful to our collective trigger as a ruling class than many people can probably conceive or respect.

Solely the discerning can respect this and know exactly the place this complete factor could also be heading.

They could not have constructions or elected representatives within the legislative and govt arms of Authorities however they’ve IDEAS and VISION coupled with a transparent ideological and philosophical bent which might and can endure for much longer than mere political platforms and constructions.

Unknown to them in addition to just about everybody else, therein lies their energy. As they are saying, an concept whose time has come can’t be stopped.

Lengthy after we’re all gone they are going to nonetheless be right here as a result of constructions and political alliances not often endure however IDEAS and VISION final without end.

Once more they are going to outlive and outlast us all as a result of they aren’t a political occasion within the true sense of the phrase however quite a rising nationwide motion which scales and spreads throughout ethnic, spiritual, political and regional strains and conventional boundaries.

In addition they characterize a generational and paradigm shift which is more and more enticing to many and they’re certain tightly collectively by a typical function, widespread trigger and customary goal: particularly to rid Nigeria of the previous order and usher within the new.

That’s actually what they need to do and that’s the major and strongest supply of their inspiration and motivation.

They’re way more harmful to what the French describe because the ‘Ancien Regime’, the previous political class and your complete system itself than something now we have ever seen earlier than as a result of most of them, bar their chief and a small handful of political tried and examined veterans and previous warfare horses round him, are NOT politicians and have by no means ventured wherever close to the political enviornment or the circles of energy.

In the primary they’re an innovatively aggressive and frightful array and affiliation of offended and decided younger women and men who clearly have the braveness of their convictions coupled with the audacity, fury, daring, rage and agency resolve of those who had been concerned within the Endsars protests of 2020 and the fiery footsoldiers that effected the Russian Bolshevik revolution of 1917 led by Vladimir Iliyich Lenin.

There may be additionally one thing Rawlingesque and intimidating about them.

That’s to say they’re comparable in disposition to the late, nice and mighty son of Africa and chief of Ghana, President Jerry Rawlings, who led a profitable revolution in his nation in 1979 and who, on his second coming in 1981 when he toppled one more Authorities stated, “if there isn’t a justice in Ghana then there shall be no peace!”

That’s the spirit that’s within the Obidients and that’s what strikes them.

But although they don’t like to listen to it their probabilities of profitable the presidential election subsequent 12 months, wanting a miracle, are very slim and deep down all of them realize it even when they refuse to publicly acknowledge it.

Regardless of that they’re decided to combat to the tip, hope for the most effective, work arduous and provides it their greatest shot and, in fact, therein lies their victory.

On this recreation braveness is the important thing. As they are saying, ‘he who dares wins’. Once more as they are saying, ‘fortune favours the daring’ and these younger persons are each daring and daring.

That they’ll problem the established order and vie for the sacred and superior energy that has been shared by the 2 main political events or their ancestral predecessors and variants during the last 62 years is commendable in itself. I’m not a part of them however I definitely commend and applaud their efforts.

They too have a proper to combat for his or her rights and future and to be heard. They too have a dream and a narrative to inform and we must not ever begrudge them that.

But if the reality be instructed they aren’t solely thinking about profitable an election however, maybe much more importantly, they’re thinking about making a profound eloquent and defiant assertion, registering their protest in opposition to the standing qou and the powers that be and triggering and engendering a full scale, complete and all-embracing social, cultural and political revolution.

They need an actual and basic change and never a faux one. They need to pull the entire home and system down with everybody in it and rebuild a brand new one in their very own picture, with their very own values and on their very own phrases.

Most essential of all they need to see the again of these of us which might be in any manner related to the previous order or which have been in Authorities or the corridors of energy at ANY cut-off date during the last 62 years.

That need and sentiment is the power that’s driving and propelling them and that’s kindling their fireplace and swelling their ranks.

They’re just like the Robspier’s and the Marat’s of the bloody French revolution between 1789 and 1799 whose battle cry was “liberty, equality and fraternity”, who introduced an finish to the French monarchy, Royal household and the Aristocracy, chopped off their heads and established a proud and robust new order and a fledgling and distinctive Republic.

Like Robspier’s tiny cabal of French revolutionaries, they’re led by a small cell of mental and idealistic hardliners and are bolstered, girded and supported by a unstable, large and more and more harmful assist group and energy base who threaten violence and hurl insults at their perceived detractors on the drop of a hat and as a consequence of years of pent up anger and frustration.

In the event that they ever get energy many heads will position and lots of of immediately’s and yesterday’s leaders will run into exile or go into hiding.

That is particularly so of those that have one thing to cover or who’ve skeletons of their cabinets.

That’s what makes them so threatening and I repeat, these of us which might be within the bigger political events or which might be members of the present and historical ruling class underestimate them, ignore them and show disdain for his or her agency resolve and rising anger at our personal peril.

Most of my political associates, pals and colleagues throughout occasion strains are likely to dismiss them with contempt.

They regard them as being inconsequential and argue that they solely exist on social media. I urge to vary. I see them within the streets and I see them within the Church buildings.

I see them amongst my workers and amongst those who regard themselves as being amongst the oppressed and downtrodden.

I see them amongst the professionals and people which might be bankers, legal professionals, medical doctors and artists.

I see them within the North, West, East and South. I see them all over the place and never solely on social media.

I see them as being a really highly effective and potent rising power which, if correctly managed, will grow to be a serious political energy over the following few years with a robust ideological and electoral basis and big constructions.

That’s the potential that they’ve and that’s how harmful they are often.

The earlier these of us which might be within the bigger political events get off our excessive horses, show a bit humility, attempt to perceive their mindset, attain out to them, take them extra significantly, respect their anger, restore their hope, make the required concessions and attempt to abate their rage and rising angst the higher will probably be for us all.

They could not have immediately but when we don’t play our playing cards proper they might find yourself having tomorrow.

Could God assist us all.

Femi Fani-Kayode, the Sadaukin Shinkafi, is a former Nigerian minister of Aviation and minster of Tradition and Tourism.