The first time I saw President Obama on television was when he addressed National Democratic Party convention in 2004. And this was before he became the president of US. Then Obama was campaigning for United States senate and he was chosen by then Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry to deliver the keynote address at the convention.
After Obama finished his remarkable speech at the convention, I needed nobody to tell me that Obama would become the first Black man to live in the White House not as a slave or servant but as the president of United States of America. But the interesting thing, I was not the only person that saw it coming, most political observers, pundits and American people also saw it.
Now this takes me to the speech delivered by Peter Obi, the former governor of Anambra State at the annual public forum organized by Covenant Christian Centre in Lagos for Independence Day anniversary. Even before I could call my friends to ask them to see and listen to the speech on the youtube, it was already trending on the web. It was splendidly brilliant, intellectually reawakening and energetically captivating.
Before I continue with my commentary and analysis, if you have not seen the Obi’s speech please do so immediately and clicked at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LLHIgDOSfg .
For those who have not seen it, it was centered on austere management of our collective resources in the public square. Obi put a spotlight on his past governorship administration as a study to elucidate the fine arts of management resources at an optimum and zenith level.
But why was the speech such a hit and attracting the attention of jaded Nigerian citizens? For the first time since the emergence of democracy, we have not seen a Nigerian politician that understands the trenches and contours of austere managerial ability; the acumen to grasp the fundamentals of governance and its application for the amelioration of the downtrodden.
Peter Obi is probably among the rare of Nigerian politicians that loses sleep thinking on how to manage resources for betterment of his constituency. The words that came out of his mouth, together with passion, buttress a gifted, austere and disciplined individual that gets his priorities straight. Obi is an embodiment of seriousness and commitment that have eluded most of the contemporary Nigerian politicians.
When Obi spoke on the management of resources, he delved into numbers and statistics of the economy and made the vivid point of correlation between keeping good records, transparency and welfare of the society. Most Nigerian politicians speaking on wealth of a nation are devoid of the perspective due to lack of the rudimentary concepts of macroeconomics. Obi was able in his speech to speak on nuts and bolts of the economy with great emphasis on plucking the leaking holes of waste. He is a sound and prudent money manager with emphasis on savings for rainy day and investments on public capital for additional wealth creation.
Is Obi going to be Nigerian president someday? Only God knows. Nobody else knows including Obi himself. But like Obama after his speech at Democratic Party convention, many people including his party leaders encourage him to run for presidency. And the rest, as they say, is history. Will such be applicable to Obi?
One thing I want to make perfectly clear, for Nigeria to make headway in the 21st century; Nigeria needs men and women who understand that emerging 21st century’s fabulosity belongs to those who are willing to work hard and set a higher standard. Obi definitely meets and surpasses the threshold and he is the caliber of politicians that Nigeria desperately needs for 21st century.
Written by Emeka Chiakwelu, Principal Policy Strategist at AFRIPOL. His works have appeared in Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Forbes and many other important journals around the world.
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