Opinion / Ope Adetayo
Taking the long view
The Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who came third in the recent Nigerian presidential election, has taken his grievances to a tribunal as he seeks to overturn the results. There is little faith in the court and it is likely to confirm Bola Tinubu as the winner of an election fraught with mind-boggling irregularities.
The question remains as to what will happen to the Obi movement: the supporters who propelled a fringe-party candidate to the brink of power. It was mostly young, urban and educated people who decided to vote for him and he amassed an impressive six million votes. This bloc – which includes myself – is frustrated at not seeing the fruits of democracy. We’re yet to witness a consistent electricity supply or a stable currency and we’re migrating to other countries in large numbers due to high unemployment and insecurity.
Nigerians know better than to expect a messiah after eight disastrous years under the 80-year-old president Muhammadu Buhari. And while Obi wasn’t seen as having all the answers, a vote for him was a rejection of the status quo and gave people the feeling that they had a voice. The future for the next four years is in the opposition, which Nigeria has traditionally lacked outside election cycles. The two dominant political parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress and the People’s Democratic Party – have often ruled unchallenged. That needs to change.
The fight to replace an entrenched political system will be a long one that will take many years. In a country dominated by career politicians, we need to maintain the anger that has propelled the movement over the last year, including the widespread protests against police brutality around the country. Now is our time to keep challenging the status quo.
Ope Adetayo is a Monocle contributor based in Lagos. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.