OBI MUST NOT DIE !
By Emeka Obasi
When those who get carried away by leadership begin to play God, it signals the beginning of a new chapter for the opposition. Whoever chose Benin City as the place to frighten the hell out of Peter Obi must be a dunderhead. The timing was doomed, from the onset.
In July 2014, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, then preparing to challenge Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election, escaped death when his convoy was attacked in the Kawo area of Kaduna. It was a twin bomb blast that claimed many lives. Two of Buhari’s security details were injured.
Barely a year after that incident, Buhari was sworn in as president of the Federal Republic. The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) sent the ruling Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) packing from Aso Villa, after 16 years in power at the centre.
Ten years later, in July 2024, Donald Trump survived the assassin’s bullet while campaigning in Pennsylvania. It was a neat job by a young snipper. That attempt emboldened Trump’s supporters and the end was that he returned to the White House, relegating the Democrats to the opposition.
Obi and Benin City have come a long way. In July 2025, he was at St. Philomena Hospital. The crowd was excited. After making a donation of 15 million naira, those who failed to improve the facilities of the Roman Catholic Hospital were rabid.
Former governor Adams Oshiomhole claimed that the hospital belonged to the Edo State government. That is the man whose son is commissioner for Health. One could forgive the Afenmai senator because his brand of politics is coated with lies and propaganda.
Oshiomhole’s Boy, Monday Okpebholo, tried to surpass his master. The Edo State governor who has been unable to stem the tide of insecurity in the farms of Esan land and the highways of Etsako, suddenly began to bark at noon.
Okpebholo, started to play ball with the belief that the world would not see it as his master’s voice. You would think he was threatening terrorists who give his people sleepless nights, from Iruekpen to Iyamho. No, his direct target was Obi.
The governor said : “There is a new sheriff in town. He (Obi) cannot just enter Edo without informing me. His security will not be guaranteed. If anything happens to him here, he will have himself to blame.”
Okpebholo is wearing an over – size coat. And he showed it clearly recently when Obi landed in Benin City to welcome Olumide Akpata to the African Democratic Congress (ADC). In the bid to impress his phantom godfathers, the Edo State governor looked away while political criminals descended on ADC supporters.
That was a promise fulfilled since Okpebholo had warned that he could not guarantee Obi’s safety. Now, we may quarrel with the governor’s limited education but the gods will teach him a hard lesson.
While not protecting ‘persona non grata’ Obi, Okpebholo forgot that elder Statesman, John Odigie – Oyegun deserved some respect. How could an Esan man be chief security officer in a state while mad dogs fired at Oyegun’s house.
When the spirits declared ‘Esangbedo’, in the past, it meant a lot. An Esan person cannot hurt a Benin soul.
Oyegun, apart from being a renowned Federal Permanent Secretary and former governor of Edo State, was Chairman of APC when Okpebholo was still searching for his pseudo certificates, from Edo Central to the Federal Capital Territory.
I am close to the wonderful people of Esanland. That part of Nigeria once boasted of the highest number of State Police Commissioners in Nigeria. It still baffles me that the people were 419ed into producing someone who cannot distinguish million from billion.
The two professors that governed Edo State in the past were proud Esan men. Ambrose Alli, a professor of Morbid Anatomy could distinguish a dead occupant of Osadebay House, from a living dead, pushed like an Egyptian mommy, from Abuja to Benin City.
Oserheimen Osunbor, a professor of Law would argue that the one in power in Benin did not win elections. It is unfortunate that the comrade who relied on the judiciary to sack Osunbor from Government House, also relied on the judiciary to keep his candidate in power.
From two professors, it sounds like a curse that the Esan governor today can hardly give President Bola Tinubu full compliments while reading prepared speeches. We must either begin to recommend a new set of reading glasses or query University of Abuja for awarding a degree to someone who ordinarily should be satiated with a Standard 6 certificate.
Osadebe House image makers tried to drag Distinguished Senator Roland Owie into this mess. The ADC top shot has since distanced himself from the shame that took place in Benin. I believe him because Owie is a Man of Honour, not a political house boy.
Obi and the Obidients are so visible in Benin that firing shots at them is like inviting Armageddon. Those who see Obi as a threat in 2027, should look for other means of threatening his ambition. There are men who appear once in a long while, like Halley’s Comet. And they bring about something new.
Those who think that the Fourth Republic will last forever must not dare harm Obi. The consequences will be multi dimensional. What led to the collapse of the First Republic was the treatment meted out to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Leader of Opposition. Awo did not die but the First Republic died. Obi is Face of the Opposition. Let sanity prevail.
About The Author
