Only Revolution Through Presidential Candidate, Sowore Can Save Nigeria, Peter Obi Is Not Messiah – Okey Ndiribe

A former Vanguard Newspaper journalist, Okey Ndiribe, has said that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is not the messiah for Nigerians in the 2023 general elections as he is being presented.

Ndiribe, who was Obi’s supporter, made a U-turn on Monday when he made a post on his Facebook page, expressing his support for the candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, saying that only revolutionary system can save Nigeria from its present social and economic quagmires.

“Only a social revolution can usher in the change Nigerians so earnestly yearn for. A bourgeoisie who is still tied to the apron-strings of his class cannot introduce any fundamental change with power. He can only implement cosmetic changes that cannot transform our society into what the masses desire.

“He cannot unshackle Nigeria from the chains of neo-colonialism and international finance capital. The earlier Nigerians realize this, the better for all of us. For now Sowore, I think, most closely represents the symbol of the liberation movement that can start the process of implementing a national agenda that could guarantee freedom from imperialism and genuine progress for our people,” Ndiribe wrote.

Reacting to Ndiribe’s post, a Facebook user, Onome Amawhe, wrote, “I like this. Peter Obi is not the messiah,” to which Ndiribe replied and said, “He is not. My initial enthusiasm about his emergence was anchored on the hope that he could at least reduce Nigeria’s cost of governance which appears to be the most scandalous in the world.

“It is crazy that the ruling class does not want to make any concession in this regard despite the fact that Nigeria has become the poverty capital of the world.”

Meanwhile, with the fact that Ndiribe was Obi’s supporter, some Facebook users including Felix Abugu, asked the journalist to check his Facebook account as he might have been cloned.

However, responding, Ndiribe said, “I have neither been cloned nor hacked. This has been my position for decades. It took Peter Obi’s 2nd visit to IBB, to rouse me from my recent political slumber.”

On his sudden switch to Sowore, he said, “I knew him right from his student days. I knew why he had to travel to the US. However, I am more attracted to the movement he is presently leading and its ideology. It is closer to my own ideology.”

Meanwhile, it would be recalled that Ndiribe had supported Obi and once posted on his Facebook page that “Obidatti campaign organisation should as a matter of urgency translate all matters concerning Obi and Datti in Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo and other languages; both their campaign manifesto, the administration of Peter Obi when he was the Governor of Anambra State, the capabilities of Datti to make a positive change in the life of Nigerians, let the materials be used to reach the Northern, Western and Eastern parts of Nigeria for better understanding by the rural dwellers.”