By Dr Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh
In the heart of Daura, where the late President Muhammadu Buhari now rests, the wind carries whispers of a legacy too powerful to fade. Mai Gaskiya “the honest one”was not just a name. It was a covenant with the poor, a promise to the forgotten, and a symbol of integrity in a nation gasping for truth.
For decades, Buhari stood as a moral compass for millions of Northern Nigerians. His 12.7 million voters didn’t follow him for wealth or charisma. They followed him for what he represented: simplicity, sacrifice, sincerity, character, and compassion. And now, with his passing, the question echoes across the Sahel and savannah: Who will carry the torch?
The answer, increasingly, is Mr. Peter Obi.
In a dusty village outside Sokoto, an elderly farmer named Musa sits beneath a neem tree, the radio crackling beside him. He listens not to the loud voices of career politicians but to the quiet conviction of Peter Obi. “He speaks like Buhari,” Musa says. “He speaks for people like me.”
This sentiment is not isolated. Across the North - from Zamfara to Bauchi, Obi’s message resonates. Not because he is Hausa, but because he is honest. Like Buhari, Obi has shown restraint in power, frugality in governance, and compassion for the poor. His record in Anambra is not just a Southern success story, it is a blueprint for national renewal. But the real story is told by numbers, not noise; by data, not emotion.
Let’s walk together...
- 12.7 million voters stood by Buhari through four elections.
- The Obidient Movement, born from frustration and hope, rallied over 10 million Nigerians (mostly youth, mostly first-time voters).
- In 2023, Peter Obi secured 6.1 million votes, despite running on a platform with no deep-rooted national structure.
Now imagine a coalition of Buhari’s Northern faithful and Obi’s youthful army. That’s nearly 23 million Nigerians: a force larger than any political base in Africa today. This is Mai Gaskiya reimagined.
In Mr. Peter Obi, the Mai Gaskiya philosophy re-awakens, not because Obi wears agbada with pomp, nor because he speaks in riddles or boasts entitlement. He walks lightly, speaks plainly, and governs with spreadsheets, not slogans. His adoption of the 170-point MDG governance matrix in Anambra wasn’t just technocratic, it was transformational. He built schools, equipped hospitals, and left office with billions in savings. That is Mai Gaskiya in action.
*And Buhari saw it. His reported words to Obi “never forget the poor” were not just advice. They were anointing. A recognition that Obi, more than any other, understands the weight of leadership and the dignity of service.*
*But the old guard, the gatekeepers of the old order, are fighting back. Tinubu says emi lokan “It’s my turn.” Atiku claims the North won’t accept a Southern leader. Kwankwaso asserts Tinubu governs for the Yoruba alone. But Obi says: Nigeria belongs to all of us. He does not insult. He does not divide. He builds. And that’s why, in the eyes of many, he is not just a candidate, he is a movement.*
Mr Peter Obi aligning with firebrand Northern disruptors like Mallam El-Rufai and Datti Ahmed, has sent the old order quaking. In response, figures like Wike and Tinubu are desperate to recreate a national agbero economy, designed to scare away the moderates, just as they did in Lagos. Abuja and Edo are already kitted and on the mark. The Supreme Court fortified Monday Okpebholo. Rev. Fr. Alia, turned politician, has already sent a loud message. A veiled Funso Williams-style message of threat looms large.
They fear the popularity. They fear organic movements like the Obidient Movement. They fear Buhari’s 12.7 million loyalists. They fear what will become of the old order if any harm comes to Mr. Peter Obi. But popularity is not measured by noise, it is measured by trust. Obi’s rallies drew millions before campaigns even began. His name trended globally during the 2023 elections. His movement, decentralized and organic, mirrors the youth-led revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Sudan. But unlike those, Obi’s movement is not just protest, it is proposal, it's a demand for something new.Not just anger, it is architecture. From Lagos to Kano, Accra to Nairobi, young Africans see in Obi a model of leadership that is principled, pragmatic, and possible. They see the rock upon which a New Africa will rise.
2027: The Year of Reckoning?
As Nigeria approaches another crossroads, the choice is clear: do we return to the politics of patronage, or do we embrace a New Nigeria where the son of a nobody can become somebody, without knowing anybody?
Peter Obi embodies that promise. He is not just the inheritor of Mai Gaskiya. He is its evolution. And with the combined strength of Buhari’s Northern base and the Obidient Movement’s youthful surge, he stands today as the most popular, and most consequential politician walking the African continent.
As the politics of coalition gathers momentum, the pendulum swings in PO’s favour. Forget the confusion brewing in the coalition. It is an intentional distraction. For the first time, APC and its paid propagandists are on the reactionary side. They dish out ethnic divisive rhetoric to a people held in a common grip by hunger and starvation. It’s a failed strategy, unmasking the emptiness of APC as a collective of people without compassion for the wreckage they’ve brought to Nigeria’s doorstep.
Nigerians are waiting at the threshold of 2027, and it won’t be politics as usual.
Dr. Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh, an Oxford-trained entrepreneur, trade policy consultant, and public policy expert, is a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Obidient Movement. LP 2023 House of Representatives Candidate for Abakaliki/Izzi Federal Constituency.
Contact: 📞 08037156007 | 📧 ezehezeh@gmail.com
