By Rt. Hon. Linus Okorie,FCA
There are moments in a people’s journey when history pauses, takes a deep breath, and realigns its course. December 31, 2025, in Enugu, the capital of the old Eastern Region, was one such moment. Peter Obi’s official joining of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was not merely a partisan event; it was a symbolic, strategic, and profoundly consequential act that resonates far beyond party structures or electoral arithmetic. It spoke to memory, identity, justice, and an unfinished national project called Nigeria. This was aptly captured by the Chairman of the event and former Chairman of the of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Chief Simon Okeke.
Enugu is not just a city. It is a repository of collective memory for Ndigbo and a metaphor for resilience, industry, and sacrifice in the Nigerian story. That this decisive step occurred in Enugu is neither accidental nor cosmetic. It reconnects today’s struggle for good governance with the historic aspirations of a people long committed to fairness, productivity, and national progress, yet persistently marginalized in the political settlement of the federation. From this soil once arose an Igbo-led vision of enterprise and self-reliance; from this same soil now rises a renewed call for inclusive leadership and a New Nigeria that works for all.
Peter Obi’s entry into the ADC, flanked by eminent leaders from across Igboland and beyond—former governors, senators, intellectuals, national figures from the North, South-South, and Southwest—sent an unmistakable message: this is no ethnic enclave, no sectional gambit, no regional protest. It is the deliberate construction of a national coalition anchored on competence, character, conscience and compassion. The presence of Senator David Mark, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Oserheimen Osunbor, Pat Utomi, and other non-Igbo leaders reinforced what many Nigerians already sense intuitively—that Obi’s appeal transcends tribe, faith, and geography because Nigeria’s pain itself has become universal.
At its core, this development significantly strengthens the Nigerian opposition movement. For too long, opposition politics in Nigeria has oscillated between elite bargaining and transactional alliances devoid of moral clarity. What happened in Enugu reintroduced conviction into opposition politics. It infused it with ideological coherence, national spread, and emotional energy. It reminded Nigerians that opposition is not merely about replacing faces but about dismantling systems of failure and impunity. By choosing the ADC as the platform for a broad coalition, Obi and his allies signaled seriousness—about structure, about inclusivity, and about avoiding the pitfalls of fragmented resistance that have repeatedly gifted power to an entrenched ruling elite.
For Nigerian youths, especially those who powered the Obidient Movement in 2023, this moment feels like a reawakening. The magic of 2023 was not superstition; it was sociology. It was the spontaneous convergence of young Nigerians around values—prudence, empathy, transparency, and productivity. What Enugu did was to reassure that generation that their sacrifice was not in vain, that their energy still has a home, and that their movement has matured rather than dissipated. The Obidient Movement is no longer just a campaign phenomenon; it is evolving into a civic force with memory, lessons, and renewed strategic direction.
Within Igboland, both at home and across Nigeria, the psychological impact is profound. For decades, Ndigbo have oscillated between political exclusion and forced accommodation. The result has been a class of local elites who derive relevance not from the consent of their people but from proximity to distant power. Obi’s move, and the crowd it attracted, disrupted that arrangement. It reminded the Igbo political class that legitimacy flows upward from the people, not downward from Abuja. It reignited a collective confidence that an Igbo presidency is not an act of charity by others but a democratic entitlement earned through competence, coalition-building, and national service.
Predictably, this development unsettles the ruling elite; particularly those in the Southeast who have invested heavily in selling an unpopular ruling party and an underperforming presidency to a people who remain victims of marginalization, insecurity, and economic despair. Their strategy has relied on voter suppression, fear narratives, transactional inducements, and the cynical argument that alignment with power, no matter how unjust, is better than principled resistance. Enugu exposed the hollowness of that argument. When the people move with clarity and unity, elite collaborationism becomes politically dangerous.
Such elites must be advised, candidly and without malice, that standing against a people’s movement is historically unwise. Nigerian history is replete with examples of leaders who mistook temporary access to power for permanent relevance. When the people finally assert themselves, those who stood in their way are often swept aside; not out of vengeance, but out of irrelevance. The Southeast does not need more political middlemen; it needs representatives who can look their people in the eye without shame.
To the people themselves, the lessons are equally clear. Hope must now be disciplined. Passion must be matched with organization. Voting must be preceded by registration, followed by vigilance, and protected by collective action. Communities must take ownership of polling units. Youths must train as lawful observers, digital reporters, and first responders to electoral malpractice. Technology must be used wisely, but not naively. Above all, unity must be guarded jealously. Division is the oldest weapon of bad governance; solidarity remains the most potent defense.
Peter Obi, too, must draw sober lessons from 2023. Moral clarity alone is not enough in a system designed to reward impunity. This time, structures must be deeper, alliances broader, and preparations more granular. The movement must penetrate rural Nigeria as effectively as it once captured urban imagination. Election-day logistics, legal readiness, and post-election response mechanisms must be treated as seriously as campaign messaging. Trust in the people must be complemented by preparedness for elite resistance.
Yet, despite these cautions, optimism remains justified. What happened in Enugu was not nostalgia; it was prophecy. It suggested that Nigeria is gradually outgrowing politics of despair and entering a phase of conscious choice. It affirmed Peter Obi’s own words: that Nigeria is not poor but looted into poverty, not incapable but deliberately misgoverned. It also reminded us that nations are not rebuilt by miracles, but by movements—patient, principled, and persistent.
In the annals of history, December 31, 2025, will be remembered as the day Nigeria chose optimism over cynicism, courage over fear, unity over division, and possibility over resignation. From Enugu, a signal was sent across the federation: the New Nigeria is no longer an abstract slogan. It is organizing, aligning, and preparing. And for the first time in a long while, the future feels negotiable after all.
Rt. Hon. Linus Abaa Okorie, FCA
Former Member, House of Representatives
#TheSenatorForAll.
