Similar to how Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate for Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, was interpellated by Chatham House in 2022, Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party was similarly drawn to the House on January 16, 2023. The two used the podium in the House to deliver speeches outlining their plans for governing Nigeria.
Our analyst has previously stated that Chatham House’s podium interpellates Nigerian presidential candidates every election year. Interpellate/interpellation is an ideology attributed to the work of French philosopher Louis Althusser that explains how ideas get into our heads and have an effect on our lives, so much so that we believe cultural ideas are our own. As a result, rather than political parties and candidates participating in national debates from their own podiums, foreign think tanks and their podiums are prioritized. Our analyst observes that foreign political debates or symposia are becoming more common in the country’s election campaign discourse.
In the current piece, our analyst looks explicitly at how Mr Peter Obi used “Nigeria” as an object of his good leadership and governance discourses. Our analyst found that Mr Peter Obi portrayed “Nigeria” as an object needing significant improvement in every facet of her life. He contends that development is dependent on strategic and purposeful public sector leadership.
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Following Mr Peter Obi’s lines of argument, our analyst observes that he used “Nigeria” as a nodal point for establishing his numerous arguments about the elusive nature of good leadership and governance. However, because they are still up for debate by other candidates, the elements he used to represent leadership and governance status during his presentation at the House, such as globalization, performance, the global platform, poverty, and governance, remain floating pointers to the constructed status.
Exhibit 1: Frequency of 10 dominant words in his speech
Nigeria as a Nodal Point
- …engagement with Nation building in Nigeria. In providing this global platform to interrogate the vision of those seeking to lead Nigeria, at this time when clear existential threats as I will discuss shortly are pervasive across our dear country, this Chatham House event challenges us to new thinking.
According to this excerpt, Mr Peter Obi appreciated the House’s effort in making its podium available to presidential candidates and challenging their vision. Mr Peter Obi believes that the House is a global platform where critical threats to the country’s survival can be discussed because the podium allows for strategic thinking.
- …political fraud that has rendered Nigeria a failing state with a worsening leadership crisis.
With this submission, Nigeria has been governed for many years by people who came to power through deception. According to our analyst, this could be related to a variety of irregularities in the electoral and legal systems, as well as illegal activities by some security agencies that aided and abetted politicians during election periods. However, the claim that it has rendered the country a failing state may be challenged by other candidates, citizens, and other interested non-political organizations because the term “failing” cannot have a fixed meaning, as Mr Peter Obi presented to his House audience.
- …and the diminished opportunities in Nigeria in an age of globalization.
According to Mr Peter Obi, Nigeria has missed out on various socioeconomic opportunities in the age of globalization due to poor national leadership. While he was able to establish that Nigeria must capture emerging opportunities around the world through good leadership and governance approaches, his claim that the country’s ability to capture opportunities is diminishing in the age of globalization could be contested. Our analyst observes that many Nigerians and organizations have reaped benefits from international trade and business.
- How did we (Nigeria) plunge into such economic decline…
Mr Peter Obi emphasized the role of bad leadership in the country’s economic misfortune once more in this extract. ‘Such economic decline,’ like the previous knots, could be challenged. Another candidate or individual could question the Labour Party candidate’s interpretation of the dwindling economy, asking which aspect of the economy has truly plunged a large number of citizens into multidimensional poverty.
- India is about 16%, that of Nigeria is about 63% with about 133 million Nigerians…
This extract was taken from a rhetorical context Mr Peter Obi provided, which questions the failure of previous administrations to create an environment that would prevent identified poor citizens from being placed above Indians, who are also experiencing multidimensional poverty. Again, Mr Peter Obi would have some individuals and groups who would concur with his assertion that Nigerians’ poverty is a result of poor governance and leadership.
- What Nigeria needs is a Great Escape…
As a result, good leadership and governance are required elements for the poor to escape their current multidimensional poverty. However, viewing the elements as ‘Great Escapes’ may be contested on the grounds that if followers do not take advantage of the opportunities provided by good leadership and governance, they may not be able to escape poverty.
- as Governor of Anambra State, Nigeria and led to our much-commended performance…
True, he has served as a governor. Nobody can deny this. However,’much-commended performance’ may be contested because performance cannot have a fixed meaning, as he presented it using ‘much’.
- to serve in a New Nigeria! The answer lies in an understanding of Leadership, Institutions and Demographics.
He also believes that his previous leadership style as a governor is exactly what Nigeria requires to become a ‘New’ country. As a result, his leadership style could make a difference. His previous leadership style, like his performance, could be contested, and he is likely to struggle to defend it, especially if he is given the opportunity to participate in a political debate with other candidates.
- at the global scene that Nigeria is blessed with some of the most entrepreneurial youths in the world, in science, in business, in art and entertainment…
- Nigeria today is at a critical juncture…
Both extracts 9 and 10 highlight the fact that Nigeria is at a point where she must seize opportunities using her human resources while continuing to explore her natural resources. If other candidates in the opposition parties agree that Nigeria is in a critical stage and that the failure of the country is due to issues with leadership and governance, he is unlikely to face harsh criticism from them. However, members of the ruling party and their supporters are likely to contest the knot with him on the grounds that their party has performed well over the past seven years.