BY: Agency Report
It is remarkable that what was perceived as a brotherly advice to Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi on moderating his exposure to religion politics appears not to have been well taken by him and his minders.
The admonition from Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP vice-presidential candidate and incumbent governor of Delta State appeared to have particularly discomfited the former governor of Anambra State.
The admonition came in the wake of the circuit of the major church denominations in the country by Mr Obi. The visits by Mr Obi were surprisingly not to engage the church members and their congregations on his manifesto or ideas of governance.
Rather, he has surprisingly been appearing in church programmes that ordinarily he had never been seen before. From The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Dunamis to his Catholic base, Obi appears not to be keen to miss programmes of the major denominations in the country.
It was against this background of suspicion that Okowa in a measured tone last Monday in Kano cautioned Obi to restrain himself from toeing the path of religion politics.
Asked by reporters a question on the sidelines of the activities to welcome back Senator Ibrahim Shekarau back into the PDP as to the proprietary of his emergence as running mate despite hosting a summit of Southern governors to push for the presidency, Governor Okowa had responded thus:
“Now you begin to look at what is going on; the Peter Obi factor is as if he is trying to go through the church and make it look as if he is driving the Christians into politics. I do not believe that the church should actively go into politics because that is not their calling.
“But people are just hanging to anything they can reach out to even to the detriment of their fate. I don’t believe that’s the right part to go,” he said.
Coming from Okowa, some were bound to see a measure of rivalry or suspicion to what may have been an honest admonition to Obi to stop conveying religion as a factor in the forthcoming General Election.
Even though Okowa is from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the advice appears to be in line with the biblical admonition of being your brother’s keeper. Of course given the fact that by matter of geography or even of religion that Okowa is well positioned to offer the advice. After all, Okowa and Obi are from neighbouring states that have allowed indigenes live across borders.
The advice from Okowa was apparently logical. Well, some presidential candidates may have in the past consulted church leaders on their political aspirations,, but none has like Obi taken it to the extent of going from church to church trying to be seen. Remarkably, he has in almost every church he has visited remained mum, rather joining the church services by day and night to mark present among congregations he had never associated with before his emergence as Labour Party presidential candidate.
Of course, it appears unacceptable to many Christians who have in their perspectives seen Obi as trying to appear as what he is not. The advice of hypocrisy is one that has indeed shadowed the Labour Party presidential candidate for most of this campaign, to wit, portraying what he is not.
Okowa’s call for moderation is against the background of the fact that Nigeria remains a secular state and no one should for any reason compromise it.
The Obi Campaign appears not to have been happy with the counselling as he was quick to poohpooh the admonition and justified it.
Listening to advices, heeding correct advices are indeed crucial to self improvement but unfortunately Mr Obi has not taken this one innocuous and selflessly delivered as it were by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
Ekpe, a social commentator, wrote from Lagos
