Fani-Kayode gives APC ‘expo’ on how to defeat Obidients

In a statement titled ‘Who are these Obidients’?, Fani-Kayode described Obi’s supporters who now refer to themselves as Obidients as a very powerful and potent rising force.

The former minister of Aviation said the youths campaigning for Obi’s presidency “may not have structures or representatives in the legislative and executive arms but they have ideas and vision.”

He also said Obidients are dangerous to the collective cause of the ruling class, adding that the ruling APC and the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should not treat them with contempt. 

On how to defeat Obidients, Fani-Kayode said the ruling class needs to understand them and figure out how their minds work.

He said the youths championing Obi’s cause are armed with a vision and political ideologies that will endure for far longer than political platforms and structures.

He added that the youths would outlive and outlast the ruling class because they are not a political party.

The full statement: Let me make this clear from the outset. I am a member of the APC and a supporter of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

This contribution does not in any way derogate from that and my analysis is more of an academic and intellectual exercise than anything else.

I am NOT a supporter of Peter Obi and I have NO intention of becoming one. I am however interested on what his supporters represent and stand for and that is the subject of this essay.

They are worthy of my attention only because their rise and relevance in the political configuration of our nation, just in a matter of weeks, is meteoric and phenomenal.

In order to counter and defeat them or to keep them in their place we must at least attempt to understand them and figure out how their minds work.

The following are my findings:

Those that are the supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, are known as ‘Obidients’ and they are EVERYWHERE.

Those of us in the larger political parties like the ruling APC and the opposition PDP, treat them with contempt and ignore them at our own peril.

The truth is that they are far more dangerous to our collective cause as a ruling class than many of us can possibly conceive or appreciate.

Only the discerning can appreciate this and know precisely where this whole thing may be heading.

They may not have structures or elected representatives in the legislative and executive arms of Government but they have IDEAS and VISION coupled with a clear ideological and philosophical bent which can and will endure for far longer than mere political platforms and structures.

Unknown to them as well as virtually everyone else, therein lies their power. As they say, an idea whose time has come cannot be stopped.

Long after we are all gone they will still be here because structures and political alliances rarely endure but IDEAS and VISION last forever.

Again they will outlive and outlast us all because they are not a political party in the true sense of the word but rather a growing national movement which scales and spreads across ethnic, religious, political and regional lines and traditional boundaries.

They also represent a generational and paradigm shift which is increasingly attractive to many and they are bound tightly together by a common purpose, common cause and common objective: namely to rid Nigeria of the old order and usher in the new.

That is really what they want to do and that is the primary and strongest source of their inspiration and motivation.