by Kingseyi Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:12 pmToday, the 19th of July, 2018, Mr. Peter Obi, the
former Governor of Anambra State turns fifty-
seven. Besides Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-
Ojukwu, whom I did serials on his birthdays, he
is the only other person I have rashly laid upon
myself the task of writing on in commemoration
of his birthdays. He is one of the few in Nigeria
whose lives a keen observer can look at and
proclaim how good they are.
From Ojukwu to Obi is justified because the two
great Igbo sons are coins of the same mould
and mint, however different in dates. This is
especially evident in their understanding of
service to the people as revolving around two
foci: selflessness and integrity. Both are
geniuses in their own rights and by Nigerian
standards. It is notorious that geniuses accord
with one another as harmoniously as dynamite
with fire, even when some little tigers being fed
with milk tried to put a wedge between them.
Ojukwu in his wisdom recognized those little
tigers and often advised Obi to watch them to
know when they grow teeth.
The prisms of hard work, governance, integrity,
astuteness…
If people like Obi are subpoenaed before the
judgement-seat of reason for follies of life we
shall sue for the return of our money. If, on the
contrary, we consult them for the lessons of life,
they shall offer us more than we shall bargain
for. In the past, I tried to look at Obi from the
prisms of hard work, governance, integrity,
astuteness, single-mindedness and stubborn
adherence to principles. Today, I include his
odd quirks. We shall see some of those things
he did while growing up. O yes, we can say of
him having in mind the famous Terence
paragraph in Self Tormentor: “Homo Sum,
humani nihil a me aliennumputo” (I am human,
and nothing human is alien to me). Obi is
human and nothing human is alien to him.
He was born in the commercial city of Onitsha,
where he obtained his primary and secondary
education; except for an interlude at Father
Joseph Secondary School, Aguleri, where his
uncle served as Principal. His precocity
manifested in the area of business. Looking at
the trajectory of his life, one can submit that he
was born naturally with the business vigour of
the Obis running in his veins. He was first and
foremost a businessman, before other features
–diplomacy, parsimony, conciliation and
governance – took turns dominating his busy
life.
He often tells us how his teacher at Kellogg
influenced his entry into politics. Anyone who
has not heard the tale will most probably think
that from his Uncle, Hon. Nwabo-Alor, he
derived by a kind of avuncular heredity an
inclination towards radical politics. Radical not
in terms of hot volcano erupting now and then,
but in being driven by an independent spirit that
has seen him in trouble a lot of times by
insisting that the right thing must be done in
spite all odds.
Obi is a thoroughbred Igbo son. Early in his life,
he showed signs of what the future has in stock
for his life. Barely out of diapers as a pupil of
Santa Maria Primary School, Onitsha, he
engaged in varied trading. First, was wholesale
purchase of kerosene and retailing same in
bottles. His loving mother saw the unusual
business inclination and early experience with
money as likely to have undue negative
influence on his growth and development. Like
all fond parents, his mother – known during her
time as a matron of dignity and wisdom who
sedulously trained her children after the husband
bowed early to the supreme arbitrament of death
– was not comfortable with his early exposure
to the science of making money. She tried to
stop him, but gifted in native intelligence and all
known principles of persuasion, Peter Obi
convinced his mother to allow him. But one of
the ironies of his life is that despite early
exposure, money does not have any charm for
him.
From marketing of kerosene in primary school,
Peter Obi moved on to the sale of eggs from
Olikeze and Onwuka Farms in Agbor and Awka
respectively, while he was a student of Christ
the King College (CKC), Onitsha. Thenceforth he
ventured into fashion. Apart from academics, his
past-time, as with successful entrepreneurs,
was watching and gauging people’s reactions to
trending fashion as copied from the attires of
famous singers and sportsmen. This was how
as a secondary school boy, he designed foreign
shoes like the one his excitable friend, Mr. Benji
Uba called “three layers”, and “flanner” and
went to Enugu for the mass production.
Students and young traders fell over one
another buying the products. He did the same
for “bongo” trousers that was in vague at that
time. When you hear that he had taxis running
for him as a secondary school boy, do not be
surprised. His is a living story as opposed to
fairy tales of those who claimed they started
making money from their mothers’ wombs. As a
student in CKC, he was already travelling to
London with older friends and importing goods
in containers.
As an undergraduate at the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka (UNN), Peter Obi was a big-time
importer of five and more containers of various
wares in one order. Among his several
customers, the well-known Awusaku of Onitsha
at the time marketed tiles from him. He also
ventured into property. It was during that period
that he built the houses rented by the then
Savannah Bank in Omor and Nsukka. Indeed, the
present Sultan of Sokoto was his tenant as a
young military officer serving in Nsukka area.
Best club and party dancer
As a young man, Peter Obi was fully human and
enjoyed his life to the fullest. Seeing him today,
you would not even know that he was the best
club and party dancer among his many friends
and contemporaries. He also indulged in
tangents to the curve of love. From what we
hear from those close to him, we may presume
that where there is still so much smoke there
was once a flame. Take a sampler: Once he was
driving his friends, including a girlfriend, in his
newly-acquired Peugeot 505 car. They got to a
place and met some people who passed from
admiring the vehicle to pricing it. Because Peter
Obi had a business he wanted to explore, but
did not have enough money to do so, he offered
to sell the vehicle to the people and there and
then. His scandalized friends, including the
young lady, had to continue their trip in public
transport. Two days later, Peter Obi was off to
London and as soon as he concluded the new
venture, he bought a brand new BMW!
There are many interesting stories about him
and each is parked with lessons of life. At the
wedding of one of his cousins in Enugu, many
people saw him waiting for public transport to
the reception. Most of them stopped to give him
a lift, which he declined. In fact, a girlfriend to
one of his friends remarked that they should
leave the man (Obi) who appeared to be
enjoying his poverty. When they later talked
about the event and it was revealed that the
three most-graded vehicles used for the
wedding were owned by Peter Obi, the young
woman sought Obi’s hotel room ostensibly to
apologize to him but actually to woo his
friendship.
Peter Obi lived a normal life that characterizes
all stages of human development. One of the
interesting things about him is that he did not
remain becalmed in any of the stages. That is
not say his life is devoid of follies; after all, as
Cicero said: “There is nothing so absurd, but
that it may be found in the book of
philosophies”. He once angrily retrieved what he
bought for his girlfriend on discovering her
liaisons with other men.
Obi’s transition to one of Nigeria’s most
successful politicians in terms of performance
was not by accident. He is a perfectionist who
puts in 100% efforts in whatever he chooses to
do, even if it does not yield the maximum result.
His friend, Benji Uba tells a story of sometime in
the 1980s, when he and Obi stayed in the house
of Ike Nwabunike: “Each time we travelled to
London, Ike would always give us money to run
errands for him and ask us to keep the change.
In 1987, Peter bought his own house. When Ike
heard it, he was so amazed that he dropped the
plate of food from his hands. Ike was rightly
perplexed that the young man he
accommodated was able to buy a house in
London without a mortgage! Ike was very happy
and thereafter used Peter as an example for
others. In the same year, Peter started investing
in London and Nigerian stock markets unaffected
by the bedlam of politics”.
Obi’s venture into politics was with the same
spirit of perseverance. How many Nigerians
would undergo what he experienced in politics
and remain visible with his work largely
speaking for him? He has stayed tranquil,
friendly, sociable, self-critical and occasionally
favouring his “enemies”. He is a man of his
words and never offends a rival, never
disappoints a patron, except those that are
inordinate in their expectations.
As the Governor he found Anambra State
buffeted by forces of under-development and
self-inflicted curse. The State’s finances were in
chaos; most of its revenue was lost in transit;
and lawlessness was the order of the day. Rape
and rapine of public and private assets reigned.
Obi fought the battle of his life and eventually
became the Governor of the State in 2006. His
every act and every word were designed to carry
out his single-minded purpose – to restore
Anambra to greatness. He, therefore, started
auspiciously by making himself a terror to all
incompetence and malfeasance and guarded the
treasury ferociously from all political raids. He
reduced his own staff strength, lowered taxes,
introduced agricultural reforms, and encouraged
industrial enterprise. Soon his probity,
economics, and efficiency brought a surplus to
the treasury to the tune of over N75 billion –
which he handed over to his successor in office
– the first of its kind in the history of Nigeria.
What was most perplexing is that he achieved
this after being acclaimed the Best Governor in
terms of infrastructural development and no
indebtedness to workers, pensioners,
contractors or creditors. Well-meaning Nigerians
love him today for so bold a violation of
precedence – bequests of debt.
Basic principles in life
Obi’s basic principles in life have not changed.
The other day, 6th of July, 2018, he requested
that I buy some bananas for him in Awka. I
called to inform him that I did not see good
bananas in Awka and could not go to Agulu
because of time constraint. He spent the next 30
minutes lecturing me on why I should not have
thought about going to Agulu because of
bananas: “What is the cost implication? How can
somebody think of going to Agulu to buy
bananas for somebody in Awka? That’s sheer
wastefulness. Was the banana recommended by
a doctor, for it is only on medical condition
should such course be approved, otherwise it
would be sheer madness”, Obi argued.
Today, after many years of leaving public office,
sedulous researchers have continued to rate him
high as a careful administrator and a far-sighted
diplomat. Under him, Anambra politics leaped to
heights, but suddenly resumed limping after he
left office, characterized by generous delusion
and a brand of propaganda falling over us like
the lava of Vesuvius. In the midst of increasing
taxes, their pockets are bulging with riches from
the poor. Rather than the aides helping him out,
they continue showering the leadership with the
flattery they know he loves to sip, some say
gulp.
As for mistakes in office, Obi made ample
varieties of them in underestimating the wicked
capacity of men. Because he meant well for the
State, he spent a lot of time working on a
transition that would be of benefit to the people.
Only God knows why he ended up supporting
the one that is painfully antipodal to him in
temper and ideas. Rather than look up to his
ideas and build on them, his and his successor
and his group are serenading him in mockery.
He was accused of demanding money which he
never did. They denied the money he saved and
paid all manner of characters to pour obloquy
on him. Those he raised from dust to become
something in life now talk and act to him
disrespectfully. All this has compelled him to
turn around and examine himself and have a
better understanding of man by understanding
himself first and foremost.
“Gnothiseauton” (Know thyself), said Socrates. It
is one of the wonders in the political history of
Nigeria that Obi did not become morose by the
intensity of indignities he has suffered, but has
boldly moved on; only considering the betrayals
of friends and those he has helped as little
wavelet in a ceaseless surf.
Obi’s pre-occupation is support for schools
Today, Obi’s pre-occupation is support for
schools. He has turned himself into a wandering
sophist giving lectures here and there to queasy
audiences. During his lectures, he reduces to
common understanding terms like Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), Per Capita, among
others, such that his speeches now serve as the
very sauce and flavour by which heavy dishes of
economic terms are made digestible for even
the unlettered. But, the irony of it is that those
simple, analytic speeches he always delivers
have contributed much to the intellectual
stimulation of the times.
Today, as he turns 58, we look at his life
comprehensively and dare to say that in its
systolic and diastolic movements over time,
history will be kind to him. His politics reminds
us that to get the best from governance, Nigeria
must devise a method of barring incompetence
and knavery from public office – this is the key-
stone of the arch of Obi’s political thoughts. He
also believes in some aspect of Chinese politics,
of not allowing people to hold high offices till
they have filled lower offices well.
He shall remain a lesson in perseverance. Many,
including the little tiger and his patron may
derive joy in castigating him, but time shall
come when history would probably retort as in
what, in the fables of Antisthenes, the lions said
to the hares when, in the council of beasts, the
latter began haranguing and claiming equality
for all: “Where are your claws?”
History shall one day judge Nigerian politicians
according to their deeds and people like Obi will
occupy the temple of honour for persevering in
doing good in spite all odds.
former Governor of Anambra State turns fifty-
seven. Besides Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-
Ojukwu, whom I did serials on his birthdays, he
is the only other person I have rashly laid upon
myself the task of writing on in commemoration
of his birthdays. He is one of the few in Nigeria
whose lives a keen observer can look at and
proclaim how good they are.
From Ojukwu to Obi is justified because the two
great Igbo sons are coins of the same mould
and mint, however different in dates. This is
especially evident in their understanding of
service to the people as revolving around two
foci: selflessness and integrity. Both are
geniuses in their own rights and by Nigerian
standards. It is notorious that geniuses accord
with one another as harmoniously as dynamite
with fire, even when some little tigers being fed
with milk tried to put a wedge between them.
Ojukwu in his wisdom recognized those little
tigers and often advised Obi to watch them to
know when they grow teeth.
The prisms of hard work, governance, integrity,
astuteness…
If people like Obi are subpoenaed before the
judgement-seat of reason for follies of life we
shall sue for the return of our money. If, on the
contrary, we consult them for the lessons of life,
they shall offer us more than we shall bargain
for. In the past, I tried to look at Obi from the
prisms of hard work, governance, integrity,
astuteness, single-mindedness and stubborn
adherence to principles. Today, I include his
odd quirks. We shall see some of those things
he did while growing up. O yes, we can say of
him having in mind the famous Terence
paragraph in Self Tormentor: “Homo Sum,
humani nihil a me aliennumputo” (I am human,
and nothing human is alien to me). Obi is
human and nothing human is alien to him.
He was born in the commercial city of Onitsha,
where he obtained his primary and secondary
education; except for an interlude at Father
Joseph Secondary School, Aguleri, where his
uncle served as Principal. His precocity
manifested in the area of business. Looking at
the trajectory of his life, one can submit that he
was born naturally with the business vigour of
the Obis running in his veins. He was first and
foremost a businessman, before other features
–diplomacy, parsimony, conciliation and
governance – took turns dominating his busy
life.
He often tells us how his teacher at Kellogg
influenced his entry into politics. Anyone who
has not heard the tale will most probably think
that from his Uncle, Hon. Nwabo-Alor, he
derived by a kind of avuncular heredity an
inclination towards radical politics. Radical not
in terms of hot volcano erupting now and then,
but in being driven by an independent spirit that
has seen him in trouble a lot of times by
insisting that the right thing must be done in
spite all odds.
Obi is a thoroughbred Igbo son. Early in his life,
he showed signs of what the future has in stock
for his life. Barely out of diapers as a pupil of
Santa Maria Primary School, Onitsha, he
engaged in varied trading. First, was wholesale
purchase of kerosene and retailing same in
bottles. His loving mother saw the unusual
business inclination and early experience with
money as likely to have undue negative
influence on his growth and development. Like
all fond parents, his mother – known during her
time as a matron of dignity and wisdom who
sedulously trained her children after the husband
bowed early to the supreme arbitrament of death
– was not comfortable with his early exposure
to the science of making money. She tried to
stop him, but gifted in native intelligence and all
known principles of persuasion, Peter Obi
convinced his mother to allow him. But one of
the ironies of his life is that despite early
exposure, money does not have any charm for
him.
From marketing of kerosene in primary school,
Peter Obi moved on to the sale of eggs from
Olikeze and Onwuka Farms in Agbor and Awka
respectively, while he was a student of Christ
the King College (CKC), Onitsha. Thenceforth he
ventured into fashion. Apart from academics, his
past-time, as with successful entrepreneurs,
was watching and gauging people’s reactions to
trending fashion as copied from the attires of
famous singers and sportsmen. This was how
as a secondary school boy, he designed foreign
shoes like the one his excitable friend, Mr. Benji
Uba called “three layers”, and “flanner” and
went to Enugu for the mass production.
Students and young traders fell over one
another buying the products. He did the same
for “bongo” trousers that was in vague at that
time. When you hear that he had taxis running
for him as a secondary school boy, do not be
surprised. His is a living story as opposed to
fairy tales of those who claimed they started
making money from their mothers’ wombs. As a
student in CKC, he was already travelling to
London with older friends and importing goods
in containers.
As an undergraduate at the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka (UNN), Peter Obi was a big-time
importer of five and more containers of various
wares in one order. Among his several
customers, the well-known Awusaku of Onitsha
at the time marketed tiles from him. He also
ventured into property. It was during that period
that he built the houses rented by the then
Savannah Bank in Omor and Nsukka. Indeed, the
present Sultan of Sokoto was his tenant as a
young military officer serving in Nsukka area.
Best club and party dancer
As a young man, Peter Obi was fully human and
enjoyed his life to the fullest. Seeing him today,
you would not even know that he was the best
club and party dancer among his many friends
and contemporaries. He also indulged in
tangents to the curve of love. From what we
hear from those close to him, we may presume
that where there is still so much smoke there
was once a flame. Take a sampler: Once he was
driving his friends, including a girlfriend, in his
newly-acquired Peugeot 505 car. They got to a
place and met some people who passed from
admiring the vehicle to pricing it. Because Peter
Obi had a business he wanted to explore, but
did not have enough money to do so, he offered
to sell the vehicle to the people and there and
then. His scandalized friends, including the
young lady, had to continue their trip in public
transport. Two days later, Peter Obi was off to
London and as soon as he concluded the new
venture, he bought a brand new BMW!
There are many interesting stories about him
and each is parked with lessons of life. At the
wedding of one of his cousins in Enugu, many
people saw him waiting for public transport to
the reception. Most of them stopped to give him
a lift, which he declined. In fact, a girlfriend to
one of his friends remarked that they should
leave the man (Obi) who appeared to be
enjoying his poverty. When they later talked
about the event and it was revealed that the
three most-graded vehicles used for the
wedding were owned by Peter Obi, the young
woman sought Obi’s hotel room ostensibly to
apologize to him but actually to woo his
friendship.
Peter Obi lived a normal life that characterizes
all stages of human development. One of the
interesting things about him is that he did not
remain becalmed in any of the stages. That is
not say his life is devoid of follies; after all, as
Cicero said: “There is nothing so absurd, but
that it may be found in the book of
philosophies”. He once angrily retrieved what he
bought for his girlfriend on discovering her
liaisons with other men.
Obi’s transition to one of Nigeria’s most
successful politicians in terms of performance
was not by accident. He is a perfectionist who
puts in 100% efforts in whatever he chooses to
do, even if it does not yield the maximum result.
His friend, Benji Uba tells a story of sometime in
the 1980s, when he and Obi stayed in the house
of Ike Nwabunike: “Each time we travelled to
London, Ike would always give us money to run
errands for him and ask us to keep the change.
In 1987, Peter bought his own house. When Ike
heard it, he was so amazed that he dropped the
plate of food from his hands. Ike was rightly
perplexed that the young man he
accommodated was able to buy a house in
London without a mortgage! Ike was very happy
and thereafter used Peter as an example for
others. In the same year, Peter started investing
in London and Nigerian stock markets unaffected
by the bedlam of politics”.
Obi’s venture into politics was with the same
spirit of perseverance. How many Nigerians
would undergo what he experienced in politics
and remain visible with his work largely
speaking for him? He has stayed tranquil,
friendly, sociable, self-critical and occasionally
favouring his “enemies”. He is a man of his
words and never offends a rival, never
disappoints a patron, except those that are
inordinate in their expectations.
As the Governor he found Anambra State
buffeted by forces of under-development and
self-inflicted curse. The State’s finances were in
chaos; most of its revenue was lost in transit;
and lawlessness was the order of the day. Rape
and rapine of public and private assets reigned.
Obi fought the battle of his life and eventually
became the Governor of the State in 2006. His
every act and every word were designed to carry
out his single-minded purpose – to restore
Anambra to greatness. He, therefore, started
auspiciously by making himself a terror to all
incompetence and malfeasance and guarded the
treasury ferociously from all political raids. He
reduced his own staff strength, lowered taxes,
introduced agricultural reforms, and encouraged
industrial enterprise. Soon his probity,
economics, and efficiency brought a surplus to
the treasury to the tune of over N75 billion –
which he handed over to his successor in office
– the first of its kind in the history of Nigeria.
What was most perplexing is that he achieved
this after being acclaimed the Best Governor in
terms of infrastructural development and no
indebtedness to workers, pensioners,
contractors or creditors. Well-meaning Nigerians
love him today for so bold a violation of
precedence – bequests of debt.
Basic principles in life
Obi’s basic principles in life have not changed.
The other day, 6th of July, 2018, he requested
that I buy some bananas for him in Awka. I
called to inform him that I did not see good
bananas in Awka and could not go to Agulu
because of time constraint. He spent the next 30
minutes lecturing me on why I should not have
thought about going to Agulu because of
bananas: “What is the cost implication? How can
somebody think of going to Agulu to buy
bananas for somebody in Awka? That’s sheer
wastefulness. Was the banana recommended by
a doctor, for it is only on medical condition
should such course be approved, otherwise it
would be sheer madness”, Obi argued.
Today, after many years of leaving public office,
sedulous researchers have continued to rate him
high as a careful administrator and a far-sighted
diplomat. Under him, Anambra politics leaped to
heights, but suddenly resumed limping after he
left office, characterized by generous delusion
and a brand of propaganda falling over us like
the lava of Vesuvius. In the midst of increasing
taxes, their pockets are bulging with riches from
the poor. Rather than the aides helping him out,
they continue showering the leadership with the
flattery they know he loves to sip, some say
gulp.
As for mistakes in office, Obi made ample
varieties of them in underestimating the wicked
capacity of men. Because he meant well for the
State, he spent a lot of time working on a
transition that would be of benefit to the people.
Only God knows why he ended up supporting
the one that is painfully antipodal to him in
temper and ideas. Rather than look up to his
ideas and build on them, his and his successor
and his group are serenading him in mockery.
He was accused of demanding money which he
never did. They denied the money he saved and
paid all manner of characters to pour obloquy
on him. Those he raised from dust to become
something in life now talk and act to him
disrespectfully. All this has compelled him to
turn around and examine himself and have a
better understanding of man by understanding
himself first and foremost.
“Gnothiseauton” (Know thyself), said Socrates. It
is one of the wonders in the political history of
Nigeria that Obi did not become morose by the
intensity of indignities he has suffered, but has
boldly moved on; only considering the betrayals
of friends and those he has helped as little
wavelet in a ceaseless surf.
Obi’s pre-occupation is support for schools
Today, Obi’s pre-occupation is support for
schools. He has turned himself into a wandering
sophist giving lectures here and there to queasy
audiences. During his lectures, he reduces to
common understanding terms like Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), Per Capita, among
others, such that his speeches now serve as the
very sauce and flavour by which heavy dishes of
economic terms are made digestible for even
the unlettered. But, the irony of it is that those
simple, analytic speeches he always delivers
have contributed much to the intellectual
stimulation of the times.
Today, as he turns 58, we look at his life
comprehensively and dare to say that in its
systolic and diastolic movements over time,
history will be kind to him. His politics reminds
us that to get the best from governance, Nigeria
must devise a method of barring incompetence
and knavery from public office – this is the key-
stone of the arch of Obi’s political thoughts. He
also believes in some aspect of Chinese politics,
of not allowing people to hold high offices till
they have filled lower offices well.
He shall remain a lesson in perseverance. Many,
including the little tiger and his patron may
derive joy in castigating him, but time shall
come when history would probably retort as in
what, in the fables of Antisthenes, the lions said
to the hares when, in the council of beasts, the
latter began haranguing and claiming equality
for all: “Where are your claws?”
History shall one day judge Nigerian politicians
according to their deeds and people like Obi will
occupy the temple of honour for persevering in
doing good in spite all odds.
