The Arewa house engagement just gave Mr. Peter Obi the best platform to engage with the northern elite, assuage their fears, show his candor and clarify all the fake stories about him. Mallam El Rufai’s attempt to muckrake him actually fell flat and gave Obi an opportunity to rise and shine more brightly. Obi’s plan for agricultural revolution in the north excited everyone so much that even I began to look towards investment in the north if Obi wins.
The engagement also revealed that Obi’s popularity is not only amongst churches and southerners. The man exhumes honesty, humility and courage. The applauds and excitement as he walked into the hall showed that the north has been following on social media unlike what Atiku said. As a show of strength and affinity, he almost walked round the hall shaking hands as almost everyone wanted to shake hands and take photos. The hall almost became rowdy as the organizers quickly started the national anthem so everyone will stand in one place.
Then when the time came to mount the podium. Obi gave the speech of his life. He spoke from the heart. As usual he didn’t read from any script . He even went far by exposing northerners whom he had worked with in the past. From the northerner who nominated him to be chairman of Fidelity bank, to the biggest rice mill in the north which he financed. He talked about his ADC who was from Kano and bonded with him like a brother. He called El Rufai his brother but went ahead to expose that El Rufai clearly lied against him.
But he wasn’t propitiating. He went ahead to tell them how poor the north has become over the years. He told them that they had the biggest out of school children. He linked the poverty, un-education and unemployment in the north to the insecurity and clearly stated how it will be addressed in clear measurable steps.
He told them that the north versus south and Muslim versus christian dichotomy was a strategy of the elite to subjugate the people and keep them poor. He gave instances of places like Dubai where an Emir built the biggest church and England where the Christian queen built the biggest Mosque.
He talked about IPOB and how he will treat all agitators. He responded to the allegation of giving northerners ID cards by challenging them to produce just one ID and he will stop campaigning.
The audience were held spellbound and the applause kept thundering.I’m beginning to wonder how Peter Obi won’t win this election with a wide margin. The man has gradually sold himself to the north.
But on the other hand, Bola Tinubu just lost the 2023 election completely at the Arewa house. The northerners are wise. They wanted to see the candidates one on one and feel them.
Bola Tinubu clearly showed the opposite, The hall looked like a hall filled with people listening to a dirge. He struggled to hold the papers that his aides kept sending to him. You could see that those around him were bored silly. One or two people struggled to clap,. Then he gave a lot of unrelated anecdotes and proverbs . Which one is Idioms and synonyms? What has Almajiri system to do with a good banana without the peel? What is financing got to do with skinning a cat ? What was he even saying about holy communion and poison in a question about climate change?
Ken Agala
Then when the time came to mount the podium. Obi gave the speech of his life. He spoke from the heart. As usual he didn’t read from any script . He even went far by exposing northerners whom he had worked with in the past. From the northerner who nominated him to be chairman of Fidelity bank, to the biggest rice mill in the north which he financed. He talked about his ADC who was from Kano and bonded with him like a brother. He called El Rufai his brother but went ahead to expose that El Rufai clearly lied against him.
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