Analysis: There is just one reason why young Nigerians adore Peter Obi…

Despite the strident criticism of Peter Obi’s predecessors, which some political observers claim cannot survive thorough inspection, a variety of variables can be ascribed to his stratospheric surge in popularity among Nigerian young.

However, a sizable portion of the electorate — the Nigerian youth — have been captivated by his penchant for demagoguery and his fumbling of the truth throughout his campaign as the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the impending 2023 elections.
The start of the political season has coincided with months of uncertainty and limbo due to the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has seen an increase in the number of hitherto disinterested adolescents hoping to exercise their right to vote.

While not everyone of this vibrant segment support Peter Obi, a major percentage of the youth with the tag “OBIdients” are in vociferous support of the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, as evidenced by a rise in his popularity on social media, especially Twitter.

While Peter Obi is not the most popular politician in Nigeria on social media, his followers are some of the loudest, according to a rigorous investigation of the causal subtleties between social media and its effects on the electoral process.
Peter Obi would not be in the top three if the results of the presidential election were determined by the number of followers on social media.

Atiku Abubakar is the social media king, especially on Twitter, which is the fastest and most trustworthy news source that every politician or company attempts to use to expand their reach.

According to StatiSense, Atiku had 4.29 million more social media followers as of the end of June than President Buhari, who had 4.14 million.

Nonetheless, Peter Obi’s media presence is growing rapidly and it added 357k new followers in June, which is why he has inherited an army of critics who seek to fact-check his ‘Chinese’ statistics.

Criticism against ambition, alleged false claims

His name appeared in the leaked Pandora Papers, which revealed the wealthy and powerful’s hidden fortune in 2021, prompting critics to question whether he genuinely represented a change from the corruption he so frequently denounces.

He wasn’t charged with theft, but he didn’t disclose family members’ assets and offshore accounts due to ignorance.
He was also accused of using his position as governor to invest state money in a business he owned stakes in. He asserts that the investment’s value has since increased while rejecting any wrongdoing.
Ironically, Obi regularly claims that he is not motivated by a desire to become president, while having switched parties three times since 2002.

He left the PDP just days before the party’s May presidential primary, and Atiku Abubakar, a 75-year-old former vice president, was selected as the party’s nominee.

His supporters also believe that he was chased from the PDP as a result of his refusal to pay off party primary delegates, and they created the catchphrase “We don’t give shishi” to describe his renowned frugal nature and his prudent use of public funds in a nation where public officials have a history of wasting money.

He is viewed by them as a political outsider willing to compete against the PDP and APC titans, whom they view as opposing sides of the same coin and whom they charge with dipping their hands into the public coffers.

Furthermore, detractors continue to point out that Peter Obi depends on his capacity to captivate an audience by reciting obscure facts regarding the state of the economy. Given the complexity of the Nigerian environment, an extensive fact-check by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting during his 2019 campaign as the PDP’s vice presidential candidate made a dent in his toolbox.

Despite these flaws, the young population has been drawn to him due to his reputation for thrift and good administration with accusations of cyberbullying for saying that everyone who does not support him in the election next year is an enemy of the state.

Little was done to calm them down by his tweet in response, which urged his followers to “imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship.”

They are anxious to refute anyone who asserts that elections are not won on Twitter by citing the enormous turnouts at the offices of the electoral umpire in Nigeria, where they have been swarming to register as first-time voters.

This apparent show of support can only imply one thing… Any politician can use such discontent to their advantage with brutality, which is what Obi does. However, it is now his responsibility to uphold goodwill for the advancement of our democracy. The youth are weary and dissatisfied with the status quo.