By Austen Akhagbeme
Festus Egwarewa Keyamo, a renowned Nigerian Lawyer, a human rights activist, and the present Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Management, has offered to give an esoteric insight of how the much-awaited 2027 Presidential elections will go.
As a guest on Channels Television’s flagship program: “Sunday Politics” anchored by the articulate Seun Akinbaloye, the erstwhile minister of state for Labour and Employment succinctly alluded to possessing the “prophetic prowess” of the great Nostradamus of yore, “the man who saw tomorrow”.
Keyamo’s “gift” of sudden clairvoyance was aroused by a question that borders on the momentous rise of the opposition coalition which seeks to unseat the present APC arrangement of which the former EFCC Prosecutor is an integral part.
In an attempt to “allay the fears” of everyone and to reassure his romanticised confidence in himself and his beloved political party, Keyamo took a swipe at Peter Obi’s electoral capacity with a jaundiced and imaginary analysis.
To him, Peter Obi’s electoral feat in the 2023 Presidential elections was hinged on the block vote from the South East, the Christian vote across the country because Obi was the only formidable Christian candidate. He threw a jab by saying that Peter Obi was and still is politically invisible in the North. Wonderful!
Against this backdrop, he concluded that the above demographics will fail Obi woefully if he chooses to deputise Atiku or offer himself in the forefront of the 2027 slugfest. I would like to deliberately avoid going into the unnecessary discussion of the possibility of Peter Obi contesting on a joint ticket with Atiku. That was an old road long traveled which is not needed again in the present circumstance. At least, Obi has not indicated such defeatist and shallow interest as yet.
Festus Keyamo’s crystal ball may be blurry for him to restrict Peter Obi’s massive clout to ethnic and religious demographics. He’s playing the ostrich by refusing to acknowledge the deep seething discontent of the average Nigerian who is yearning for a change, especially the youth population.
He’s undermining the fact that in a political sense, Peter Obi is taxonomically different from his peers. Not because of his clan, creed or clout, but because of the peculiarity of passion, poise and perception of governance and his relentless search for economic freedom for a nation with a huge appetite for consumption and not for production. This has been his daily cry and daily source of hate and resentment for his detractors.
Let someone tell the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Management that Peter Obi didn’t get 6 million votes because he was a Christian. Christians equally voted massively for his fellow contestants. He got his votes from the organic quarters of the Nigerian population where his message of hope resonated and still echoed. He got his votes from those who were tired of being fed and manipulated with lies by a consensus political elite, masquerading as patriots of our collective hegemony.
This self-acclaimed Nostradamus should wake up from his self-induced slumber to the reality of the citizens desire for a change that is devoid of politics of personalities and individualism, to the selflessness of purpose that Peter Gregory Obi represents. This is the very crux of the matter.
