TDFact: Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, recently lamented that the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, has become “the next big thing after God” in Nigeria.
Apparently, in an attempt to mock the one man that quakes Aso Rock to its foundation, Onanuga inadvertently expressed frustration that Obi is still standing despite all the physical and spiritual efforts to have long forced him out of the race.
The orchestrated tactics are, indeed, speaking volumes about the ‘master strategist’ slogan President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is associated with.
There is a simple philosophy in politics: when you cannot defeat an opponent by performance, you try to diminish him by propaganda, in this case, outright lies.
But when the attacks continue and the opponent keeps standing, the attackers themselves begin to reveal the depth of the fear behind them.
Onanuga sounded utterly frustrated that all their efforts have yielded negative results for the Presidency.
First, having rigged the Labour Party presidential candidate out of his mandate in the 2023 presidential election, the ruling party started, from the day of Tinubu’s inauguration, to stop Obi from being on the ballot for 2027 election.
First step: Cripple the Labour Party and frustrate any other party Obi joins with the courts to stop him at all costs.
Then fact-check everything he says. Make bold headlines to call him a liar, even when it is a very obvious slip of the tongue.
Call him a liar every minute, in every media space, so that he will be seen as exactly the same as every other Nigerian politician.
Investigate him, his family, including brothers, sisters and past family history. Exhume any plausible scandal. Manufacture one even when there is none.
Peter Obi must be called all names ranging from liar to incompetent, unintelligent and a desperado. Make caricature drawings of him, distort his photographs to appear monstrous, and generate anything negative from any interview, statement or expression.
Nigeria has seen the All Progressives Congress, APC, propaganda before, but there has never been anything like the one presently being unleashed against Peter Gregory Obi.
It clearly shows that this unusual politician truly won the last presidential election with a large margin.
If he did not, a party with over 33 governors working to deliver the President would not spend so much taxpayers’ money trying to bring down this man.
They use magnifying glasses on copies of his certificates. No matter how clean they are, the attempt is to dig up any fabrication that will keep him busy trying to dispel it.
Fabricate anything against his wife, son and daughter. He must be made to look like other Nigerian politicians. ‘After all, the man is not a saint’, they would say.
Make use of his state governor who, quite evidently, hates him out of uncontrollable envy. Manufacture all wicked lies to portray that he failed in many aspects as a governor and magnify them to unprecedented levels.
Attack his unprecedented feat of leaving over N75 billion behind for his successor in order to puncture one of his strongest legacies as a public servant.
Do everything to attack him every time with falsehood. Use governors to try to intimidate him with security scares. Instruct others to deny him entry into their states. After all, “all is fair in politics.”
Meanwhile, the 2027 election was deliberately fixed for January 16 to completely destabilise Obi’s strongest voting bloc from easy participation, as the Yuletide season has a unique structure for the Igbo man.
But guess what?
Peter Obi’s popularity continues to grow day by day. His organic support continues to astound. The people do not appear to be listening to their falsehood.
As the saying goes, “You can attack a man’s reputation, but you cannot manufacture his irrelevance when the people continue to find relevance in his message.”
All Tinubu and his government should have done was deliver people-oriented governance, and the people would have forgotten about PO.
But the ruling party has no clue about quality governance. They are all self-centred, only using the people to get to their selfish targets.
And therein lies the irony. The more attention the government and its officials devote to Peter Obi, the more they remind Nigerians that he remains a force they cannot simply wish away.
If his political relevance were truly as insignificant as his traducers portray it, there would be little reason to devote so much energy to attacking him.
Truly, Onanuga has inadvertently revealed more than he intended. Peter Gregory Obi is not next to God in real application, but he certainly is the man to beat in the coming election.
And with an equally competent and popular partner in Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, this assurance is a solid banker.
A New Nigeria is POssible and will be OK.
This is POEM.
We report. We analyse. We project. No noise! No spin! No propaganda. No slander. Just facts. Stay with the Truth.
