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Presidency: The Peter Obi question, the choice Nigeria must make!
By Sunny Igboanugo
To boot, if Obi tells you that if any agreement binds him to quitting office after just one term he would keep to that pact, be sure that he would recant. Why? Peter Obi is neither your everyday politician to whom words are meant to be played with. Not only are his words his bond, making him wear integrity like a second skin.
Let me explain. If there is any sin Peter Obi ever committed against me and many others in Anambra, it was his decision to implant the idea of power sharing through zoning in Anambra State.
Unlike many other states where the division along zonal lines is so sharp, strong and pungent, Anambra’s case was different. If it ever existed, it was ensconced in the bellies of only a few people, most of them politicians. The ordinary Anambra man paid scant regard otherwise.
Samplers: Nnamdi Azikiwe was from Onitsha, in today’s Anambra North. But nobody ever noticed that fact. The man from Anambra South or Central saw him from the same prism as those from his senatorial zone. Zik was Zik – a public property – owned by the people – in fact owned by the entire Igbo, if not Nigeria.
Ojukwu was never put in the straightjacket of such sub-zonal structure. Yes, he was from Nnewi. But to many people from Anambra, Nnewi could have been any other town including theirs. The Ikemba was loved and sometimes hated, not because he came from Anambra South, but because of who he was – simpliciter!
It was the same with Chuba Okadigbo, Mbazuluike Amaechi, Chukwuemeka Ezeife and other great sons and daughters of the state. Anambra was simply Anambra. They collectively owned their icons together, celebrated them or damned them together, not because of where they came from, but who they were and what they represented.
Even though created by law and adhered to in terms of other elections, it was never a major issue of division in the state. Every governor of the state was chosen on prevailing sentiments of the time and not on zonal considerations.
Political pressure must have imbued Obi to bow to the new sentiment of power sharing along zonal lines, an intrusion that upset the applecart and unsettled that monolithic Anambra political structure.
Obi was said to have insisted on that prior to leaving office. The outcome of that focus on power shift led to the choice of Willie Obiano from Anambra North as his successor. Today the disaster of that outcome can only be measured by the further mess Charles Chukwuma Soludo, from Anambra South, has been making of his job functions in the state since succeeding Obiano.
I have since learnt that Obi took that path purely to define the space, remove conjectures and introduce a sharp and decisive political atmosphere, where justice, equity and fair-play would subsist and where nobody would either feel cheated or grumble about being left out.
Even at that, a part of me still finds it difficult to forgive him, since I still hug the old order of a monolithic Anambra, even though I have come to terms and learnt how to live with the new reality, over time.
However, it seems by sheer providence that decision some 10 or more years ago, could come handy today. Anyone wondering how would leave office after four years, could be pointed to how as former governor, he insisted on abiding by the same principle of zoning at that time. See?
On Sunday night during a live X Space conversation with his supporters, he had told his audience: “If there is any form of agreement that will restrict me to four years in office, I will comply with the agreement and be ready to leave office on the 28th of May, 2031—not the 29th, but the 28th.”
Now, regardless that this comment, which has gone viral in the media, with the deafening din reverberating everywhere, was not prompted by Obi himself just out of the blues, but a response to a question put to him by one of the participants, it has become a major topic in the polity.
Many naysayers, including the media have either advertently or inadvertently paid more heed to the response than what prompted it. The interpretation seems to be that it was made out some sort of desperation rather than an attempt to mitigate the fears and misconceptions. They simply ignore the context.
The camp of President Bola Tinubu and goons of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have since latched on it, mounted the rostrum to trumpet a counter narrative. You hear words like Obi is now desperate. How could anyone fix Nigeria in four years? Was he able to fix Anambra in eight years? He spent eight years in Anambra with nothing to show for it. How can you trust a politician to leave power after four years, when he has the opportunity of doing eight?
Well, I have just cited one of the examples of Obi’s grip to the idea of equity, justice and fair-play, regardless the cost. Others, he has addressed himself directly or indirectly.
For instance, when people accuse him of desperation, he has a ready and consistent answer – I’m not desperate to be President, I’m desperate to fix Nigeria. What could be more pointed. For those asking how he fixed Anambra, it is also a case of res ipsa loquitur – the facts speak for themselves.
In 2014, Obi was invited mounted the podium before a global audience to speak on how he achieved more than 90 per cent of the provisions of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) initiative. He had emerged first position among the 36 governors in the country in the delivery of that mandate.
For emphasis, among about eight key areas the MDGs focused, was eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, one of the major crises facing Nigeria today, especially since Tinubu took over power on May 29, 2023 and decided to plunge the country into untold hardship, with his impulsive, reckless, brainwave policies.
He has also not shied away from prompt and direct response on how to fix Nigeria – first, stop the bleeding and stabilise the patient. Indeed, if in two years, as he promised last Sunday, he was able to end the massive theft of Nigerian crude in the Niger Delta alone, think of what that feat could lead to.
It means ramping up production and ploughing back the revenues therefrom into the national till. Indeed, if the magnitude of stealing is as high as many project, it means more than 100 per cent of the revenue that hitherto went into private pockets would be recovered.
Picture what it means when Nigeria is able to double its current oil revenue by just plugging the holes to the massive pillaging. Think of what it is capable of achieving. A fraction of it might be all that would be required to create the magic Obi has been trumpeting about the North. He has not failed to tell anyone who cares to listen that the new Nigerian wealth and prosperity would come from the North, given the massive arable land in the region.
Imagine just 10 per cent of the land in Niger alone transformed into an agricultural hub, not to talk about the entire North on full scale, producing food and processing raw materials therefrom for local consumption and export. I believe him when he says that these things are not rocket-science, but simple things that only a focused and caring government could achieve.
An Obi that took education from the state of nadir to the number one in the country, where it sat long after he left will be capable of ridding the streets of children and youths recruited as feed-mill for banditry, terrorism and all other manner of crimes. He will be capable of transforming a gigantic illiterate society to massively educated society is the vortex of economic and social development.
In all, a governor, who resisted all temptations and pressures to leave a whopping N75billion in bank accounts for his successor when his colleagues and counterparts were pocketing the same or even far higher amounts, is a man to be trusted with the commonwealth of Nigeria, not only to warehouse it, but apply it in the right places and at the right time.
Such man can be trusted to create and enthrone a tamper-free electoral system that would enable the people elect their leaders freely without official interference. Of course, once Nigerians are able to eradicate the grab, snatch and run with it, electoral model and capable of choosing their leaders in free and fair elections, more than half of their problems would be solved.
A governor who, in today’s Nigeria, where greed and avarice struggle for small space, could turn his eyes away from N75billion sitting in the bank and which he could easily pocket, is not only unique but a man of his words. So, when he tells you that he would do one term, trust him, he will.
Instead of sitting tight and plunging Nigeria into a fresh wave of crises, which could consume him ultimately like former President Goodluck Jonathan, he is more likely after stabilising the country, cleaning the Augean Stables and redirecting the polity, help in enthroning a successor of like mind that would continue where he stopped?
Now, here are other scenarios, which makes the one-term tenure the most attractive. One is for Obi to run with Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and wait for 2031 to start his own process, meaning that the former VP himself would once again usurp the South.
Would that option work? Can Nigerians afford the pain of waiting? Would Nigerians invest their trust on Atiku using the scale of integrity measurement compared to Obi? Again, would Atiku fix Nigeria and redirect it the way Obi would?
Not a few people see the Atiku-Obi ticket as not only dead on arrival, but a sure way of handing Tinubu a second term on a platter. The question then is, would Nigerians prefer another four years of Tinubu and endure or risk the dangers of the galloping drive to perdition such as Nigeria is witnessing today?
In other words, are they willing to allow Tinubu crash Nigeria finally in the next four years? If they survive that crash, what will remain of you and of Nigeria thereafter? These are the abiding questions. If no, the quick answer lies in the Peter Obi presidency – even if for just four years!
My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!
Key Management staff of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Seplat Energy Plc met with principal officers of the Delta State University (DELSU), at Abraka, Delta State, on Monday to deliberate on critical processes toward the take-off of a Centre of Excellence in Gas Development, approved for the institution by the Board in 2024.
The project, which is the latest among similar ones at Niger Delta University, Amassoma, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, and Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, is the outcome of an NCDMB-commissioned research undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to provide a 10-year road map for research and development (R&D) for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Speaking at the event, the Director, Corporate Services, of the NCDMB, Dr. Abdulmalik Halilu, who represented the Board’s Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, recalled that personnel of the Board and Seplat have held a series of engagements since 2024 to ensure they achieved a scope that clearly outlined the essence of what a centre of excellence is supposed to deliver in terms of infrastructure, equipment, capacity development, research policy and most importantly, sustainability of the project.
He disclosed that the Managements of NCDMB and Seplat Energy have endorsed the scope and were ready for the take-off of the project, with a team of technical experts already assembled to manage the entire process. He reiterated that the Standing Committee of the Board that has been managing the project since conception has been further reinforced with the inclusion of new personnel of general manager cadre to ensure that expectations of the project are met.
“We wish to reassure you,” Dr. Halilu declared, that “the Executive Secretary is fully committed to the project, not just at the project development phase but even during execution,” and has accordingly deployed the full complement of staff covering quality assurance, research and development, and related operational units to achieve the best results.
In his own remarks, the Nigerian Content Manager of Seplat Energy, Mr. Simeon Ogari, said his company, which operates the 300 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) ANOH Gas Processing Plant, a 50/50 Joint Venture with the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), chose Delta State University, Abraka, for the Centre of Excellence project because of its proximity to his company’s major operational base.
While underlining the commitment of the company’s Management to timely completion and sustenance, he pointed out that the Research Centre in Gas Development would be beneficial not only to the institution but to the oil and gas industry and the country at large as a centre for advanced research and technology incubation.
He, however, emphasised the importance of collaboration, pointing out that “There is nothing as good as looking at the Triple Helix Model,” as every research centre in the world has government, institution, and the private sector working together in critically important roles. He said he expected same for the upcoming Centre.
Giving the background to the project, the Chief Executive Officer of GOSHEN, the management firm in charge of the project, Mr. Leonard Okafor, noted that the research work undertaken by PricewaterhouseCooper showed that Nigeria is “operating an enclave economy,” without adequate intersectoral linkages, and that “there was need for entrenched local content in the oil and gas industry.” The Research Centre, he explained, was one of a number of initiatives designed to address the deficits.
The PwC research, he stated, also identified five areas where R&D would enhance local participation in the oil and gas industry, namely, Collaboration, Infrastructure, Capability, Commercial/Legal Framework, and Funding. He emphasised that “Finding the right collaboration is critical,” noting that academics with sound research backgrounds and who are well-published are particularly required for a project of this nature.
Explaining further what he titled as “Standard Requirements from Host Institutions,” the management consultant listed availability of research staff for secondment to [the Research] Centre, availability of non-research/administrative staff for secondment to the Centre, essential policy documents (Existing MoU for any existing research centre/collaboration between DELSU and other parties], Research Policy, and Finance and Procurement Policy).
In his own response, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Samuel Oghenovo Asagba, thanked NCDMB and Seplat for the world-class research facility they have decided to build at DELSU, assuring them that he would do his best to meet all requirements for successful take-off.
In regard to collaboration, he said the University, which was rated by Times Higher Education in 2026 as “The best state-owned university in Nigeria,” has very competent academics, renowned for their research output, to fulfil the requirement of collaboration. “In science and engineering, DELSU has high-flyers,” he declared.
Also speaking, the General Manager, Quality Assurance, of the NCDMB, Mr. Chris Osuji, said his department was involved in the project to ensure top-notch finishing. According to him, “From inception to completion, NCDMB Quality Assurance is to be actively engaged,” he stated.
In a vote of thanks, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, of the NCDMB, Mr. Silas Ajimijaye, expressed appreciation to Seplat for providing the required funding, while urging the University Management to use the project to etch its name in gold.
In a similar vein, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Professor Douglason Omotor, thanked NCDMB and Seplat for the initiative, while assuring that the project executors would find technically competent academics and seasoned administrators to provide effective collaboration.
NLNG has disbursed a total of ₦250 million in grants to 51 entrepreneurs following the conclusion of its 2026 Vocational Innovation and Business Empowerment Scheme (VIBES), which commenced with the induction of 103 participants from its host communities in Rivers State.
The grants followed a competitive pitch-a-thon that brought the programme to a close, with participants presenting their business ideas and funding requirements before a panel of judges. Selections were based on the viability, scalability, and sustainability of each proposal.
Speaking at the event, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall, said the grant component of VIBES is designed to ensure that participants are not left with just training, but are supported to take the next practical step in establishing their businesses.
“What we are doing with this funding is bridging the gap between learning and execution. Many small businesses struggle at that stage where they have the knowledge but lack the capital to move forward. Through VIBES, we are providing targeted support to help these entrepreneurs implement their ideas, stabilise their operations, and position their businesses for growth,” she said.
Horsfall added that the initiative reflects NLNG’s broader approach to sustainable community development, noting that combining capacity building with access to funding enables beneficiaries to make measurable progress, strengthen their businesses, and create real economic value within their communities. “It is about providing sustainable livelihoods”, she said.
In his remark, Manager, Community Relations and Sustainable Development, Yemi Adeyemi, commended participants for their dedication throughout the programme and the quality of ideas presented during the pitch-a-thon. He noted that the funding is intended to provide critical growth capital to enable beneficiaries expand operations, improve productivity, create jobs, and strengthen their market position.
He thanked all participants for their commitment and reaffirmed NLNG’s continued investment in enterprise development, and support for initiatives that build local capacity, promote entrepreneurship, and create sustainable economic opportunities in its host communities.
The pitch-a-thon marked the culmination of a four-week intensive business capacity-building programme, during which participants were equipped with practical skills in financial management, business strategy, marketing, and operations to strengthen their enterprises.
The programme, built on innovation, scalability, and sustainability, reinforces NLNG’s commitment to inclusive economic development, integrating capacity building with funding to help entrepreneurs grow, sustain their businesses, and drive long-term impact.
I bet you didn’t know Abike Dabiri. Two factors will make this possible. Either you were not around in Nigeria in the golden era of our Nigerian television girls – the era when being a regular face on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) gave you the golden key to open all doors – or you were somewhere in the villages very far and distant from civilization – many of us were – that included not having access to the television.
O! You didn’t know? You didn’t know a time was in this clime when seeing a television screen from a distance, was one of the biggest privileges one could get let alone watching it – that people clustered at the windows of homes with television sets to catch a glimpse of Village Headmaster, for instance.
You’re carrying shoulders because you probably met the time when carrying a Blackberry phone was all you needed to get that fine babe behind your sheets! Today, you thought that because you could now watch your matches on your phone – I watched all the AFCON matches on my phone, being on the road most times – there was no time men had to climb walls to turn television antennas to get some appreciable pictures. Chai! This changing world.
Bet you didn’t hear about Bimbo Roberts – later Bimbo Oloyede, Julie Coker and later Augusta Maduegbuna, Elizabeth Nze, Sienne Alwell-Brown, Ruth Benamesia-Opia, Eugenia Abu, Ronke Ayuba, Kehinde Young-Harry, Lola Alakija, in no particular order. No! You wouldn’t if you were not that privileged in the 1980s and even 1990s. They were the glamour of that era.
Glamour? Not in the sense of beauty – but glamour, because television made them so. For indeed, some of these television faces, were not that glamourous.
But beauty or no, Abike Dabiri was one of the discoveries of that era. Obviously not in competition with these others who were the newscasters on NTA News At Nine, she actually carved a niche for herself elsewhere on Newsline – the soft-sell edition of the station’s news programme aired every Sunday.
Abike Dabiri was a toast of that programme. She was a reporter’s reporter – traversing beyond the seven seas and seven wildernesses to bring to Nigerians those rare stories that either made Nigerians laugh their hearts out or cry their eyes out – a doyenne of human-interest reporting.
Then, suddenly – suddenly – suddenly – the serpent came with the forbidden fruit – the temptation of higher ground – the allure of high office – Tinubu’s tainted chalice that comes like glittering ornament but with hollow and rotten underbelly. She took, she ate and now everything scatter-scatter. Our dear Abike Dabiri accepted and ate the sour grape and now her teeth are set on edge! What a pity!
The breeze has blown to uncover the romp of the hen. Before now, whoever believed that our dear Abike Dabiri farts. But we now know that Abike Dabiri-Erewa not only farts, but her fart smells badly. At first, no one noticed the degeneration.
The time she was at the House of Representatives, was the golden era of Tinubu. That was when the Jagaban Borgu was the governor of Lagos State. She glowed along by tapping from glittering appeal of the Lagos show boy!
At that time, Tinubu was generally holding the golden trophy adorned with the beautiful calligraphy of democracy in Nigeria. That was before he drank from the poisoned chalice of Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor by joining him in the hatred for the Igbo man – a phenomenon that becomes the nemesis of some Nigerian leaders – Buhari’s major insignia. Then the desperation! Then the degeneration! Now the albatross!
Now, whoever hates the Igbo and remains the same? None! That was what sealed Buhari’s fate. And surely the snake that bit that braindead archeological discovery – that museum piece – has definitely whipped Tinubu with its tail and the rest is now history. If not, compare a Tinubu as governor when he was all cozy with Ndigbo and now he has turned 360 degrees.
And as long as the darkness will give way to reveal the sun breaking from the East, the sting of the snake’s tail will reach everyone who toes that line. You know why, the dominant culture of the Igbo man is ofo n’ogu – justice, equity and fair-play! Have you watched an Igbo man pray with colanut.
He wakes up and with his cola in his hands, beckons on his chi with these words – ndu mmiri, ndu azu, mmiri atanaa, azu anwuna – the life of the river, the life of the fish – may the water not dry and may the fish not die! Egbe bere ugo bere, nke si ibeya ebena nku kwaa ya – let the kite perch and let the eagle perch – whichever says the other should not perch, may its wings whither. Which other people say the same or similar prayer elsewhere?
Now, because the kid-goat watches when the mother-goat is chewing the cud, hating the Igbo has become a fad among those who want to please Tinubu. Obviously, the totem through which this sentiment find expression is Peter Obi. He has become the tree standing by the roadside that receives the strokes of the machete. Obi has remained the hieroglyph for expressing real and imagined pro-Igbo angst.
So, in 2025, when Babajide Sanwo-Olu wanted to mend fences with Tinubu, after allegedly falling out of favour with his boss, he launched an unprovoked attack on Obi, using the latter’s Johns Hopkins University lecture as a pad. Reno Omokri, has since made himself Minister of Peter Obi Affairs. Daniel Bwala, Femi Fani-Kayode et al along this line never end a line without Obi getting a slash of their machete.
Enter our dear Abike Dabiri-Erewa. The little birds flying around whistle that her tenure as Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiCOM) is coming to an end and she is eying a renewal or another job from the Jagaban. How else to go about it than the low-hanging fruit? – Peter Obi.
From nowhere, on Sunday, the media were suffused with the screaming headline – “Peter Obi has actually raised monsters.” As it were with syndicated stories, each of the medium used to transport the outing carried the same headline – well crafted – of course, using her journalism skill to make maximum impact.
After rambling some clearly obtuse and incoherent words in form of reasoning, she ended up with even more brainless, imbecilic and asinine submission – by the time it is Igbo turn to produce Nigerian President, Obidents – followers of Obi – would have destroyed his chances. Me paraphrasing. Chai!
Now, aunty Abike, whose turn is it now? Isn’t already the turn of Ndigbo and the selfsame Obi? Isn’t it part of the argument that the seat your Jagaban is occupying was stolen from Ndigbo? So, you know that Ndigbo also have a stake to it? Yes! You know. But now you have eaten Tinubu’s palm nuts, see how your teeth have all turned red.
But Ndigbo have another way of invoking justice – ochu nwa-okuko nwe ada ma nwa-okuko nwe nwenwe-oso! I won’t explain. Find an Igbo staff at NiMCOM – if there is one – because I hear you hate them so much that finding one near you might be impossible. But even a cleaner in your office could help or better still – ask your spare parts seller. He’s sure to be Igbo!
My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!
NCDMB, Seplat firm up plans for take-off of Centre of Excellence at DELSU
NLNG concludes 2026 VIBES Pitch-a-Thon, disburses ₦250m in business grants
Abike Dabiri: Did Obi raise a monster or you’re drunk on Tinubu’s poisoned chalice?
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