Peter Obi: Protest or Perish – The Crossroads of Nigeria’s Opposition Leadership

Peter Obi must either lead the charge through protests and fierce opposition or resign himself to the paralysis of his presidential ambitions.  I have not seen any political figure with immense youth support and nationwide appeal who is as clumsy, laid-back, and afraid as Peter Obi, Okwute Ndi Igbo, the former governor of Anambra State and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Nigerian presidential election.

One of the most intriguing qualities of any political change agent is the ability to appreciate and lead fierce street protests. Protests worked against colonial masters between 1950 and 1960, and they remain the best approach against the neocolonialists of present-day Nigeria, across West Africa, and beyond. Even Donald Trump supported his protesters, and today he is America’s president. Therefore, leaving such an important political instrument as protests to a Mephistophelian individual like Omoyele Sowore or civil society groups alone is nothing short of absurdity.

It was because Peter Obi could not lead protests against INEC, the APC, and the blatant rigging of the 2023 election that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains in power today. This failure is also why staunch supporters like Kenneth Okonkwo, Aisha Yusuf, Dele Farotimi, and many Obidients have become disillusioned and discouraged. Peter Obi does not understand the times and seasons. Instead of encouraging night vigil participants and strategically inspiring them to join political protests against the real demons behind their challenges, he often chose to castigate the power of persistent prayers. Yet, protest is also a form of prayer—a public plea to the government to heed the people’s desires.

Sometimes, Peter Obi’s logic appears ambivalent. How can he not realize that a man who influenced INEC from the market square will also influence the judiciary from Aso Rock for his own purposes? How can he be so afraid of power-drunk neocolonialists and yet aspire to wrest power from them? How can he challenge the institutions they have used to entrench despotism, totalitarianism, and abject poverty across Nigeria without protests and fierce opposition?

In 2014 and 2015, Nigeria experienced significant political movements, particularly in the lead-up to the general elections held in March and April of the latter year. Opposition leaders, including Muhammadu Buhari, Bukola Saraki, Aminu Tambuwal, Nasir El-Rufai, Adams Oshiomhole, Rotimi Amaechi, John Oyegun, and even the current president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, protested from dusk to dawn against then-President Goodluck Jonathan. These figures were central to the opposition’s efforts to challenge and ultimately upstage the PDP-led government. Their activities included protests, political rallies, and extensive campaigns to highlight the perceived failures of the government and mobilize support for the APC.

Is Peter Obi more strategic than these political heavyweights who swept Goodluck Jonathan out of Aso Rock, even with the support of their American allies, through relentless protests? Now that he has the support of the youth, should he not engage in fearless opposition protests? The worst Bola Ahmed Tinubu can do is arrest him, which would only elevate him to the status of Nigeria’s Nelson Mandela. Nigeria’s current political climate demands a level of resistance that makes life uncomfortable for despots, thieves, buccaneers, and godfathers.

The deepening poverty following the removal of fuel subsidies, the floating of the naira, the government’s refusal to adopt Qatar’s welfare strategies focusing on citizens’ basic Maslowian needs, excessive taxation, the absence of infrastructure development, the neglect of agriculture, and the tolerance of graft are immense challenges that a strong political opposition should protest against.

Nigeria’s greatest challenge in 2025 will be the pervasive scourge of systemic exploitation, which has crippled governance, eroded public trust, and stifled national development. This situation is even more tragic than in 2015 when the APC relentlessly protested and harassed the PDP-led government. The economic crisis, fueled by plummeting oil prices and over-reliance on petroleum revenues, has plunged the nation into fiscal instability and stagnation. Insecurity, particularly banditry, incessant kidnappings of politicians, travelers, and Catholic priests (Peter Obi’s primary constituency during his tenure as governor of Anambra State), and Boko Haram’s insurgency in the northeast have displaced millions, devastated communities, and threatened national cohesion. Crumbling infrastructure, including power, transportation, and healthcare systems, highlights the government’s failure to meet citizens’ basic needs. Youth unemployment and disillusionment have reached alarming levels, fostering social unrest and creating fertile ground for criminality and radicalization. INEC directors have allegedly been paid billions in preparation to rig the 2027 elections. Ultimately, the crisis of leadership and the lack of visionary governance leave Nigeria grappling with existential threats to its unity, progress, and stability.

Nigeria’s inflation is taller than the Tower of Babel. The need for a solid opposition leader capable of convening national workshops, symposiums, and street protests has never been more crucial. Peter Obi fits the profile of such a national figure. No one takes the likes of Atiku Abubakar or Nasir El-Rufai seriously anymore. Even El-Rufai has admitted that Peter Obi won the last election—a leak that should be taken seriously, given El-Rufai’s role as a key member of the APC cabal. The people want Peter Obi. The All-Progressives Congress (APC) is a party of neocolonialists where virtually every officeholder has pillaged the nation’s wealth unchecked. Some have stolen over $2billion, many have been accused of stealing hundreds of billions. Another paid his children school fees with about $800,000. Accountant Generals of the Federation have been found to have collectively stolen over N200 billion.  The APC governments have awarded road construction contracts worth N15 trillion, yet the people have no universal healthcare, no pipe-borne water, no food, no jobs, no housing, subsidised energy and no safe places to farm. Are road infrastructure and flyovers more important than energy, food and water?

To conclude this engagement on the need for Peter Obi to lead protests against exploitation, hunger, fuel subsidy removal, and legislative, judicial, executive, and INEC-related impunity, I will draw instances from Ghana and India, from the colonial era to the modern day.

Peter Obi must emerge as an anti-neocolonial leader swiftly. He must understand, like the sons of Issachar, that this Kairos moment is the time to plant the seeds of change through fierce local and international protests.

Kwame Nkrumah’s words remain provocative and relevant:

• “We prefer self-government with danger to servitude in tranquility.”
• “Seek ye first the political kingdom, and all else shall be added unto you.”
• “The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent.”

If these quotes are not inspiring enough, the protests led by Kwame Nkrumah and Jerry Rawlings should serve as further motivation. Kwame Nkrumah (1909–1972), Ghana’s foremost anti-colonial leader, organized and participated in numerous protests during the struggle for independence, mobilizing the masses to challenge colonialism. On January 8, 1950, Nkrumah launched the Positive Action Campaign in Accra, Gold Coast, to pressure the colonial government to relinquish power. Such a protest against INEC’s leadership is urgently needed today. The colonial masters arrested him for protesting, but his defiance inspired a nation.

On February 28, 1951, citizens protested Nkrumah’s imprisonment in both Kumasi and Accra. The protests were so intense that the colonial government was compelled to negotiate with Nkrumah, leading to his release and eventual election victory. On June 12, 1949, during the formation of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nkrumah organized mass protests against exploitative colonial rulers. The CPP’s rallies and demonstrations, often held at the Arena in Accra, galvanized Ghanaians to demand “Self-Government Now” and laid the foundation for Ghana’s eventual independence. Even Nigeria learned from his defiance.

I recently watched a video by Chibuike Amaechi, a central figure in the protests against former President Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria’s South-South region. He stated that Bola Tinubu will not relinquish power unless the people seize it from him. Of course, phrases like “grab it” and “run away with it” are part of Bola Tinubu’s political strategy. This is the only strategy that can dismantle an exploitative power system.

Nkrumah and his supporters openly defied colonial laws and authority. To stop a runaway train, you need a bulldozer. Jerry Rawlings, one of Nkrumah’s successors, took a similar approach. This strategy was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance in India, a tactic that defeated the British in both India and Ghana.

After Jerry Rawlings’ failed coup attempt on May 15, 1979, he was imprisoned by General Fred Akuffo. However, his public speeches about the exploitation perpetrated by Ghanaian dictators resonated deeply. A group of soldiers who supported his call for reforms freed him from prison. By June 4, 1979, he led a successful uprising in Accra, Ghana, known as the June 4th Revolution, which overthrew the SMC government. Ghanaians, frustrated with corruption and economic hardship, joined the protests en masse, from churches to the streets. Rawlings established the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) to clean up the government and restore accountability. Today, Ghana has a higher Human Development Index (HDI) score compared to Nigeria, reflecting better access to education, healthcare, and overall living standards.

This is what Peter Obi must do now—or never.