By Nana Kazaure
THE tendency of the Tinubu Administration to bury its head in the sand and play the ostrich has become one of its defining characteristics.
Its latest attack on H.E. Peter Obi, through a presidential spokesman, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, betrays a desperate attempt to muzzle free speech guaranteed to Nigerians by the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Mr. Onanuga responding to H.E. Peter Obi’s remarks during a colloquium marking the 60th birthday of Emeka Ihedioha, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, where H.E Peter Obi had decried the increasing despotic inclination of the Bola Tinubu-led APC Federal Government, confirmed this tyrannical cast of mind by issuing a veiled threat to H.E. Peter Obi.
Labelling H.E. Peter Obi as a disgruntled politician, Mr. Onanuga warned him to “watch his mouth”.
As a Movement, we take serious exception to the uncouth threat by this choleric presidential spokesman whose antecedents as an instigator of intolerance and division are well known, recorded and documented.
Having taken note of Mr. Onanuga’s threat, we ask him the question: “Watch his mouth.. or what?
What exactly is Onanuga’s plan for H.E. Peter Obi?
Or put more directly, what sinister plans has the Tinubu administration for its critics whose ranks swell daily on account of the administration’s cluelessness, and inability to provide sound and qualitative governance for Nigerians?
We submit that if the Tinubu administration had invested a quarter of the energy and resources
it expends in hounding and demonizing varying opinions through its intemperate spokespersons and numerous cyber Rottweilers, Nigeria would be a far more decent and conducive place to live in.
Unfortunately, we are stuck with a government high on talk but miserably low on action or any iota of progress.
As millions of Nigerians struggle to come to terms with the hardship, insecurity and dislocation foisted on the nation by ten years of APC misrule, the least that is expected of minions like Mr. Onanuga is to hide their heads in deep reflection on their pathetic complicity in bringing a once thriving country to its knees.
The threat issued to H.E. Peter Obi whilst completely in character, should not at all be discountenanced for as the 2023 elections showed, inciting words from highly placed APC officials including Mr. Onanuga himself helped to unleash violence, murder and destruction, as well as ethnic hatred from which Nigeria has yet to recover.
We are, therefore, putting Nigerians and the international community on strong notice that should any harm of any sort befall H.E. Peter Obi, his family or any of his associates, these culprits who have clearly identified themselves by their vitriolic speech, will be held entirely responsible.
•Nana Kazaure is the Director, Strategic Communications and Media of the Obidient Movement.
Eighteen-Eleven Media