By John Ikani
Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has explained why his vast supporters largely known as ‘Obidients’ are considered aggressive and uncouth in campaigning for him.
Speaking today on Arise TV’s Morning Show, Mr Obi said his followers and proponents of the ‘Obidient’ movement are mostly Nigerians who are enraged over the sorry state of the nation and therefore demand change.
According to him, while some of the uncultured social media behaviour by the purported followers have come from opposing camps who often disguise as his followers to perpetrate indecency, some of the firm views expressed by his followers have come from a place of distress and deep hurt due to the deplorable state of affairs in the country.
What Peter Obi said
“There is infiltration by opponents, and there are those who believe in me who are angry. I’ve served people faithfully. I have never raised my voice at anybody. You cannot go and say because your son shouts at people, that is you. I’m telling them please, but some of them are angry,” he said.
“Some of them have been out of school for the past ten years without jobs. You cannot control their anger. All I can do is an appeal.”
What you should know
Mr Obi’s clarification had become necessary following recent berations of the conduct of ‘Obidients’ by respected Nigerian columnist, professor Farooq Kperogi.
Kperogi had in a series of tweets on Friday, berated Obi’s supporters for their ways of engagements with people who had a different political opinions with them.
He said, “Obi-dients” are the new Buharists. Better get ready for their rank stupidity and pigheadedness should Peter Obi become president. They’re perpetually angry. They’re narrow-minded, verbally primitive, ignorant, tunnel-visioned automatons who think their illiterate trolling can stop people from expressing views that’re contrary to theirs. They constitute a risible horde of unthinking troll brigade on the Internet & are incapable of the most basic level of cognitive complexity. If you’re not one of them, you’re against them.
“If you don’t sacrifice your critical faculty on the altar of Peter Obi political idolatry, you’re against their idol. If you write any favorable article about Obi, you’re an unflinching patriot, but if you do the same for Obi’s opponents, you’re a paid supporter of their idol’s opponents. They live in a world of Manichean binaries.”
