Agunze Azuka Onwuka
Tinubu has brought in ethnicity, religion and now death wish into the 2023 campaign. It portends grave danger.
1. Ethnicity – He was the only presidential candidate who said “It is my turn. It is Yoruba’s turn.” Governor Sanwo-Olu and others accentuated it with their ethnic comments and actions.
2. Religion – He was the only one who disregarded the religious plurality in his choice of running mate, thereby making religion a talking point in this campaign season.
3. Repeated reference to death – He was the one who said that Labour Party will labour in vain to their death. Now he has published a full-page article in his newspaper (The Nation) referring to #PeterObi as “OBI-TUARY,” another reference to death. In that same article, he also engaged in the demonization of the Igbos, a clear attempt to set Igbos up for hate and attacks.
Let nobody say that Sam Omatseye wrote the article. If Tinubu did not sanction that article, it would not have been published in his newspaper. If he did not sanction it, by now Omatseye would have been sacked.
Such an article would not have been published against an opponent in a newspaper owned by Peter Obi or any person that is not desperate for power. If anyone published that, the owner of such a media house would immediately penalize the person.
The Tinubu camp is obviously desperate and ready to fight dirty in this campaign. But this is not 2015. The people are ready to meet them squarely.
The only advice I have for Peter Obi is to beef up his security because nobody can clearly say what desperados can do. He could move around freely before when he was not seen as a threat to the ambition of some people. But now that it is obvious that he is the frontline who will scuttle the ambition of some people, he needs to take extra care of his security. Some political opponents have been taken out in Nigeria without anybody held accountable.
