Peter Obi didnt surprise me, by Ugo Egbujo

Obi and calculated ambiguities

He has been consistent on the issue

Consistently obtuse

That’s why everybody thinks he is pro IPOB

He has never managed to condemn the excesses of the group

I’m not convinced he is pro IPOB

But he doesnt want to rock that boat

Even if that subtract from his national appeal

I think Obi wants to keep the brid at hand tightly

While looking for the elusive one in the bush up north

Obi is too careful to the point of cunningness

Nobody should expect an old woman to learn a new dance in his old age

Nnamdi kanu calls him nwunye Alhaji

But he wont dare challenge Nnamdi kanu

Thats his idea of pacificism

A certain level of carefulness comes partly from cowardice

The bizarre idea that Buhari made Kanu mad is borne of weak spine

Obi believes Nnamdi Kanu , Simon Ekpa and all the IPOB’S unknown gunmen committed no criminal offences

And even if they did , they shouldn’t ge trued because they were shouting Biafra while at it

Somehow they were provoked to institute the the reign of murder , arson and cannibalism they instituted in Igbo land

He thinks all the atrocities committed in Orsu , Lilu , Okigwe, Orlu etc were justified by the fact of Nnamdi kanu and company masquerading as freedom fighters

Obi has been consistent

He is a very risk averse politician . He shys away from taking bulls by horn

He cant change now.

I doubt that he is convinced that the arrest and prosecution of Kanu and Ekpa were malicious , vexatious .

But that’s his official position

Yet he never proferred nor initiated any dialogues to solve the carnage in Igbo land. Never ever tried

But there is something else

None of the politicians in this ciubtry are innocent of rabid opportunism

Obi knows Tinubu will ultimately set Nnamdi kanu free

And try to use that release gain political advantage

Obi knows that the Federal authorities are playing a game

So he must position himself not to lose grounds to them in the southeast

When they finally release him then his bizarre positoon today will become wisdom

And any negative impact it might have had on him in the north will be blunted

Honestly I wish Obi were more blunt , more forthright , much bolder.

But you can’t teach an old woman awantilo in old age

Condemnation of IPOB/ESN excesses would win him applause in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna

But it could cost him dearly at home.

So he threads the needle with lawyerly phrasing and hopes the national audience eventually forgets or forgives

Obi will be Obi

A shrewd retail politician

A mortal man and his shortcomings