By Fred Chukwuelobe

Kenneth Okonkwo, popularly known as Andy, shot into the limelight in the blockbuster 1992 movie Living in Bondage. It was an iconic film and a must-watch in those days, helping to lay the foundation for what later became Nollywood. After a few other movies that did not enjoy the same level of success, he gradually disappeared from public view, only to re-emerge years later on the political scene.

Since then, he has tried his hand at various political roles, serving as a vocal spokesman and advocate at different times for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and later for Peter Obi. He undoubtedly possesses the gift of the gab and, like many people blessed with that talent, he frequently appears on television, twisting his mouth and regaling audiences with whatever comes out of it. He often seems more concerned with winning an argument than with presenting a coherent one.

As movie acting became less lucrative with the advent of social media and the rise of content creators, Andy appeared to discover a new trade: saying whatever he believes will make him recognisable, relevant, and useful to politicians. He joined the Labour Party and rode on the popularity of Peter Obi, whom he later abandoned to return to Atiku Abubakar, a man he had previously lampooned when it suited his political interests.

The problem is not that Kenneth Okonkwo changed political camps. In a democracy, every citizen has the right to support whomever they choose. The problem is that he still appears unable to distinguish between acting a role in a movie and engaging in serious political discourse. When he speaks on television, as he often does, one is left with the impression that he is more interested in conjuring words than in making sense.

In recent months, he has directed a barrage of attacks at Peter Obi, almost as though the politician personally took away his feeding bottle. His recent appearance on Channels Television, where he called Peter Obi names, accused him of criminality, and made a number of outlandish allegations, may have placed the actor-turned-politician in a bondage of a different kind, one from which he may struggle to free himself.

Peter Obi has now sued the loquacious former ally for ₦5 billion in a defamation suit. Whether the case succeeds or not is for the courts to determine. What is already clear, however, is that public commentary carries consequences. Television appearances are not movie sets, and political arguments are not scripts written by screenwriters.

Do not get me wrong. Kenneth Okonkwo is perfectly entitled to pitch his political tent wherever he wishes. What he cannot do is pretend that there is no difference between acting in a movie and speaking in real life. He has been prancing up and down television studios, opening his mouth and eyes wide like someone who had just been cured of madness.

As the Igbos say, you may cure a man of madness, but it will not stop him from murmuring.

Ironically, Kenneth Okonkwo became famous for portraying a man who lost his sanity in Living in Bondage after using his wife, Merit, for rituals. Sometimes I wonder whether that performance has followed him into real life, judging by the manner in which he spews nonsense on television.

By the time Peter Obi is done with him in court, he may turn to his lawyers and ask why they failed to explain the implications of his loquacity. Just as Andy asked Paulo in Living in Bondage, he may well ask his lawyers and political paymasters: “E kowasili m ife a ofuma?”

Perhaps then he will finally discover that he is still living in the bondage of irresponsible talkativeness.

By Valentine Obienyem

When I recently asked who the NDC candidate for the Anaocha 1 House of Assembly constituency was, many people celebrated prematurely. Without understanding my true motives, they simply granted their imaginations free rein. The more mischievous among them seized upon the question as though they had discovered a new route to India.

But let us be honest: the just-concluded primary elections across the various political parties were far from perfect. In my own constituency, for instance, the individual currently being projected for the House of Assembly seat is arguably the last person who should be considered. There is no convincing reason that can justify his anticipated emergence.

Beyond the widespread allegation that he is a mole planted by the state government, he is the same individual whom two of Peter Obi’s predecessors repeatedly used in their political battles against him in our hometown. He actively  worked and succeeded in the imposition of a caretaker arrangement in our town, a development that set us back considerably. Worse still, he remains one of the unseen forces behind over 90% of the local attacks on Obi by certain elements in Agulu. If those promoting him are genuinely searching for individuals who have never attacked Obi and have no history of working against him, then he ought to be their very last choice if they were sincere. This is precisely the type of political imperfection I am referring to.

However, the organisational frictions currently being experienced within the NDC are both understandable and entirely human. This is not the time for internal blame games. Rather, we must understand the circumstances that have produced the present situation.

Those currently in power have relentlessly pursued Obi wherever he turns. Their actions remind me of the lament of a frustrated trader who said that if he were to sell burial shrouds, people would stop dying; and if he were to sell candles, the sun would never set.” Yet the difference is that Obi possesses a resilience that defies frustration.

After engineering the destabilisation of the Labour Party, political forces moved to infiltrate and undermine the ADC. Had Obi not made the strategic decision to leave, that party might have become entangled in endless legal battles and certainly would have been excluded from the ballot altogether. Even the attitude of some of its leading figures suggested that they were more interested in exploiting Obi’s popularity to market the party in the interest of others  than in according him the respect he deserved. Mr Kenneth Onuku Okonkwo’s public utterances provide sufficient evidence of this disposition.

Ultimately, in a swift last-minute masterstroke, Obi found a political home in the NDC – a move reminiscent of the Igbo concept of “iku mbe”- strategic survival. Yet this decision came with its own structural realities. The NDC already had an established foundation, while Mr. Obi and Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso arrived with their own large and well-organised political movements. Given the compressed electoral timetable, there was very little opportunity for thorough harmonisation. The hurried integration of these different political structures lies at the heart of the current challenges.

This is therefore not a situation that should provoke panic or inspire endless epistles condemning the party. With time, the rough edges will be smoothed out and the structures will align more effectively.

For this reason, it is both unfair and deeply mischievous for critics to judge Obi based on internal imperfections that were practically unavoidable under such extraordinary circumstances. More puzzling is why supporters of the APC, APGA and ADC appear so distressed by these issues in NDC when similar imperfections within their own parties are far more pronounced.

As our people wisely say, “Agaghị eji  ngbagbu ghara ọgụ.” We do not abandon a just struggle simply because there are casualties. To retreat in the face of an assault is often to embrace defeat. The alternative, in some cases, is collective political suicide.

Nigeria today is a political battlefield. We are in the trenches, striving to rescue our nation from self-serving leaders who have captured its institutions and diverted its promise. The magnitude of this task demands unity of purpose and collective sacrifice. We cannot afford to allow local disappointments or temporary growing pains to distract us from the larger objective.

Yes, every political party has fallen short of democratic ideals in one way or another. But these are internal deficiencies that principled leadership, anchored on equity and justice, can address and correct. The more urgent challenge before us is the rescue and rebuilding of the nation itself. Achieving that goal requires the election of a leader with a proven record of competence, integrity and effective governance.

In all fairness, Peter Obi embodies those qualities. His record speaks for itself, and millions of Nigerians who yearn for genuine progress recognise that he remains one of the most credible pathways to the better future our country desperately seeks.