By Valentine Obienyem

In his essay of March, “Obi’s Transition From Serious Contender to Mascot,” veteran journalist,  Mr. Azu Ishiekwene launched a scathing critique of Mr. Peter Abel Obi, arguing that his post-2023 political trajectory – marked by legal battles, party switches and strategic realignments – had squandered valuable momentum and reduced him to a political mascot. Ishiekwene also contended that Obi and the broader opposition lacked the organisation, structure and long-term planning necessary to translate public enthusiasm into political strength.

I responded that, whatever merit Ishiekwene’s broader commentary on political strategy might have, applying it to Peter Obi was, in my view, a fundamental misdiagnosis. Indeed, the tone of the article left me wondering whether he was genuinely offering Obi advice on the way forward or working in tandem with some of the increasingly vocal anti-Obi elements around President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, such as Reno Omokri, Femi Fani-Kayode, Daniel Bwala, Kenneth Onuku Okonkwo and Bayo Onanuga. We have what I regard as their Anambra variants in characters such as Ejimofor Opara, Izuchukwu Adichie and  the Omasi born sexual pervert expelled from three seminaries for homosexualism, Dr Chukwuma Kpontus Okafor.

The furore generated by that article simmered for a while. Yet, beneath the controversy, I remained convinced that the essay had clearly overlooked, in my view, a disciplined and resilient leader who had challenged an electoral system he considered deeply flawed and who remained a significant voice in Nigeria’s political conversation. I therefore concluded that Azu’s write-up was “a mischievous essay clothed in hyperbole and paradox.”

Again, Azu Ishiekwene was a central figure at the meeting on September 25, when Mr Peter Obi attended the Nigerian Guild of Editors’ conference in Enugu. The conference, held under the theme “The Ballot, The Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive,” brought together editors and other prominent Nigerians to discuss democracy, elections and the role of the media. 

Prof Chinyere Stella Okunna had earlier impressed upon me the importance of Obi’s attendance. Beyond being a paper presenter, she explained, the gathering of some of the country’s most experienced editors offered Obi an important opportunity to engage directly with veteran journalists on the search for a better Nigeria. Distinguished figures, including His Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe and John Cardinal Onaiyekan, were also expected.

Unfortunately, I could not accompany Obi because I was representing him at another important engagement. Several editors, however, later contacted me to recount how well the session went. They spoke particularly of his address on the challenges facing Nigeria, the need for free and fair elections, his relationship with Governor Charles Cain Soludo and the performance of the presidency. They described his presentation as mature and statesmanlike. Obi himself publicly urged editors to hold politicians accountable, scrutinise their records and insist on issue-based campaigns. 

One editor also drew my attention to an intriguing exchange during the question-and-answer session involving Mr Azubike Ishiekwene. Obi had raised concerns about the lopsided allocation of public funds to healthcare, pointing out that, according to the figures he cited, the combined capital budgets of six leading federal teaching hospitals were less than the amount allocated to the National Assembly Clinic. Ishiekwene, in Reno-like manner, challenged the figures, saying they were false and that he had fact-checked them. 

The intensity of his scrutiny, according to my editor friend, was striking. Watching the exchange, one might almost have wondered whether he had come to the conference after breakfast with Governor Charles  Cain Soludo, whose conduct and politics I have often criticised as reflecting what I regard as shallow thinking, treachery and rebellion. His persistent attacks on Peter Obi have, in my view, increasingly appeared vindictive.

As I write, I have seen another release from Governor Soludo, issued through his Commissioner for Information, which, in my view, turns what should be serious public discourse into something closer to political buffoonery. I have often found his words and actions too reckless and impetuous for the office he occupies, too light-hearted to get to the essence of serious issues, and too influenced by those pliable to his needs he surrounds himself with rather than by a desire to choose the best as aides. You can see how public opinion is against Soludo, yet he moves on. One wisdom  he lacks is the ability to conceal, through external modesty, his universally recognized internal pride and jealousy. That is why, in my own metaphor, I call him Cain and Peter Abel.

Obi had earlier briefed me about the exchange  with Azu and subsequently sent his direct response to him. Since the message was shared on the Guild’s WhatsApp platform, it is no longer private. In the response, Obi thanked Ishiekwene for fact-checking his contribution and confirmed that the 2024 budget for the National Assembly Clinic was over ₦15 billion. He then provided the capital allocations for six premier teaching hospitals, one from each geopolitical zone: University College Hospital, Ibadan (South-West), ₦2,668,110,394; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (North-West), ₦2,460,670,299; University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Nsukka (South-East), ₦2,804,614,476; University of Benin Teaching Hospital (South-South), ₦2,384,604,252; University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (North-Central), ₦1,162,681,670; and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (North-East), ₦2,370,252,076.

The combined capital allocation for the six hospitals, according to the figures Obi supplied, was ₦13,850,933,167 – still below the more than ₦15 billion allocated to the National Assembly Clinic. More revealing, however, was how Obi concluded his response. After explaining the delay in responding, he made what was, in my view, a remarkable appeal: “My respectful request and appeal is that you and your colleagues continue to fact-check me and other candidates.” He was not asking for exemption from scrutiny; he was inviting more of it.

This is the part of the encounter that deserves attention. In a political culture where public figures can regard brazen scrutiny  as an attack, which it is in some cases,  Obi did the opposite. He checked the figures, responded to his critic directly and made his response available to him. More importantly, he did not ask journalists to spare him scrutiny; he invited more of it. That, to me, is the real lesson.

If Azu Ishiekwene’s concern is genuinely the quality of leadership and public accountability, this episode provides a valuable opportunity for reflection. The same scrutiny should be extended to others, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The same pen that described Obi as a political “mascot” could also examine what this encounter reveals about how a politician responds when his claims are challenged by a journalist.

A journalist does not serve the public merely by exposing the errors of politicians. He also serves the public by recognising conduct that deserves commendation. In this case, Obi demonstrated that scrutiny need not produce hostility, that correction need not wound pride, and that a public official can engage a critical journalist with facts, courtesy and humility.

When Mr Peter Obi talks about education, healthcare, pulling people out of poverty and the provision of infrastructure, he is talking about what he has done in the past. He has the statistics, probably as no other person does. In terms of healthcare, which led to the scrutiny at the Guild conference, what he did in Anambra State is still there for everybody to see. As governor, he inherited a state without a single accredited health institution; however, before he left, more than 12 institutions had gained accreditation.

His administration built, equipped and secured accreditation for the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital and College of Medicine, alongside rehabilitating 15 General Hospitals across the state’s three senatorial zones. To expand grassroots access, his administration constructed more than 120 Primary Health Centres and Cottage Hospitals, built 10 remote Maternity and Child Care Centres and distributed more than 60 ambulances, among many others. 

Additionally, he spearheaded a special intervention scheme that partnered with the Church to equip missionary hospitals and helped achieve the eradication of poliomyelitis, earning the state the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s first prize for polio immunisation in the South-East.

Regarding his assistance to missionary health institutions and hospitals, he did so with the understanding that those facilities also serve the people of the state. Today, two of the hospitals he supported – St Charles Borromeo and Iyienu – have grown into teaching hospitals, with their proprietors acknowledging Obi’s contribution to their development. Furthermore, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Ihiala  and Regina Ceali at Awka are on the verge of becoming teaching hospitals as well, while the prospect of St Joseph, Adazi-Nnukwu, and the Diocesan Hospital at Amichi achieving teaching hospital status in the future remains a possibility.

All in all, the editor concluded that Obi gave a good account of himself and showed, once again, why Nigerians believe that he is the most qualified to become the President, both in knowledge and temperament. “The intensity with which he spoke mesmerised all present.” We find in him “the old Roman qualities of solid judgement, executive ability, and quiet courage”, he told me. 

The editor further told me that  having observed Obi over the years, that there are “four deadly human traits” that he is entirely free of: “he has no foregone conclusions, is always open to learning, possesses no obstinacy, and has no egoism.” “Many of us were delighted as he spoke.”  I watched the reactions of my colleagues and it was  “as if they had seen some saving divinity become man.”

Indeed, Peter has a tremendous capacity for work because he has surplus energy. He has the perseverance and patience required of men that govern states, with an uncluttered mind which can reach the heart of any issue and coherently analyse even the most complex of problems. 

If Azu takes up his pen to chronicle this episode, he may yet give the public something more enduring than another political polemic: a practical lesson in how journalism and leadership can meet at the point where truth matters more than ego. But the same principle of scrutiny should apply across the political divide. His expected write-up should, for instance, interrogate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the need for greater transparency regarding records about his past that remain the subject of public interest and controversy, including the release of relevant USA records as well as his educational certificates. If the press is to scrutinise Peter Obi’s figures with such intensity, it should apply the same standard of scrutiny to President Tinubu and every other public office seeker.

That, after all, is the essence of journalism without fear or favour. No politician should be above scrutiny, and no politician should be singled out for scrutiny. The question is not whether a journalist should ask difficult questions; it is whether the same difficult questions are asked of everyone. Azu has demonstrated that he is willing to interrogate political claims. The next test of that principle is whether his pen will also insist on transparency from those in power, including PBAT, wherever legitimate questions about their records remain unanswered.

As for all those being sponsored to bring Peter Obi down, know ye all men, in the old language of law, that Peter Obi is an eagle whose wings have grown; you cannot keep him in the nest nor hinder his flight – “Nemo potest impedire volatum aquilae.”