On Peter Obi and the Igbo Voter: The Lazy Libel of Ethnic Bigotry
By Tai Emeka Obasi
When some Yoruba voices dismiss Igbo support for Mr. Peter Obi as “ethnic bigotry,” it borders on the exceedingly ridiculous. The charge collapses under the weight of history, logic, and elementary political arithmetic.
The question is then forced: Where were these self-appointed custodians of nationalism when Professor Humphrey Nwosu, an Igbo man, staked his life to conduct Nigeria’s most transparent election in 1993? Where were they when, with a gun to his commission’s temple, he insisted on continuing to announce results that showed Chief MKO Abiola winning? By their current logic, Professor Nwosu must have been an “ethnic bigot.” So too must the millions of Easterners who gave Abiola his mandate.
For clarity: Abiola ran with a Northern Muslim, Baba Gana Kingibe. His sole opponent, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, chose an Igbo man, Dr. Sylvester Ugoh, as running mate. Yet Ndi Igbo ignored “their own” and voted M.K.O. Abiola
