Still on Peter Obi’s politics of civility
By: Arowolo Abimbola
Peter Obi’s politics of civility may not always look like the kind of politics that wins in Nigeria. In a political culture where aggression is often mistaken for strength and thuggery confused with strategy, restraint can easily be mocked as weakness.
What happened in Benue today should trouble every Nigerian, irrespective of party affiliation.
Peter Obi’s convoy was blocked by a group of youths, amid allegations that they were acting at the instance of the state government under Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
Whatever the truth of those allegations, one principle should concern us all: a mob should never become an acceptable instrument for determining where a Nigerian citizen or political opponent may or may not go.
We must raise the quality of our politics. Political disagreements should be fought over ideas, policies, records and competing visions for the country, not through thuggery and intimidation.
What happened in Benue represents yet another low in our politics, and it is deeply embarrassing.
Sometimes, I confess, one is tempted to wish that Obi would respond to this political environment with a little more fire of his own. His restraint can be frustrating, especially to those of us who have watched Nigerian politics repeatedly reward men who shout louder, threaten harder and deploy greater force.
But then I ask myself: if the leadership we say we desire is different from the leadership we condemn, why should we demand that a different kind of politician become more like the very political culture we want to change?
Peter Obi has repeatedly been called weak, timid and even cowardly because he often refuses to answer provocation with provocation.
Perhaps history will ultimately decide whether that temperament is politically effective in Nigeria.
Every time I watch the way Obi conducts himself in our increasingly hostile political environment, I am reminded that the answer to bad politics cannot simply be to produce better men who have mastered the methods of bad politics. We need a different political culture altogether.
And so, whatever his imperfections, whenever I watch Peter Obi’s conduct, my prayer remains simple:
May his kind multiply in our politics.
May God continue to preserve Peter Obi and all meaningful Nigerians working with him.
Nigeria will be OK
