Oola™ (Olasunkanmi Abimbola Olanihun)

Imagine making Peter Obi’s loss, assuming he loses, the thing you look forward to, because I know with certainty that suffering Nigerians will win the elections through Peter Obi, a banter. That shows how much of a less empathetic and unpatriotic fellow you are. Today at the airport, while trying to get our boarding passes to board our flight from Abuja to Lagos after our town hall meeting in Kaduna yesterday, two young ladies in their early 30s walked up to Peter Obi and requested to take a picture with him. He obliged, and I helped take the photo. One of them came back after a while, looking so unsure, and asked if she could talk to Peter Obi about something. I asked if everything was okay. She said, “I just came back to tell Peter Obi that I don’t have a job and I need one desperately.” I enquired about her qualifications and her area of expertise, and she said she’s into tech and specializes in product management. I asked further how long she had been in the field, and she said four years. She has been looking for remote jobs, but it has been hard finding one. Being Nigerian at this time has not made it easy, as foreign companies do not trust Nigerians because the image of the country has been damaged, courtesy of our government. She is a mother of two children from the North. I made her speak Peter Obi. He listened to her, asked that her number be taken and the conversation continued. Because of how broken I felt, I said I’d reach out to people to help her with a job placement, as she said she was in dire need of one. Yesterday, while in Kaduna, I had to pause and send some money to a friend who is married with three kids. “Esther, help me. My kids are hungry.” This is the country where the majority of young people like yourself can’t boast of a well-paying job. They try to work remotely but can’t easily land a good job because our image before others has been destroyed. Young men like yourself are finding it difficult to settle down and live a responsible life. Citizens are not sure of their next meal. Over 45,000 internally displaced persons are currently in Plateau. No food. No water. No security. Children are watching their parents being slaughtered on a daily basis. Mothers are carrying their dead babies, and cows have more value than human life. But you’d rather downplay an entire election that can make or mar the nation and make it about how much it would “bang” if Peter were to lose this election. And I ask myself, lose the election to whom? Tinubu? The same person who takes delight in the pain of the people he is governing? Regardless of colour, race, gender, or party affiliation, humanity is the only thing that keeps the world sane. I hope one day the cock won’t crow for your sake. In the end, you’re just a misled Nigerian, channeling your anger in the wrong direction.