Ogiri John Ogiri

By Femi Fani Kayode Let me make this clear from the outset. I am a member of the APC and a supporter of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.  This contribution does not in any way derogate from that and my analysis is more of an academic and intellectual exercise than anything else.  I am NOT a supporter of Peter Obi and I have NO intention of becoming one. I am however interested on what his supporters represent and stand for and that is the subject of this essay.  They are worthy of my attention only because their rise and relevance in the political configuration of our nation, just in a matter of weeks, is meteoric and phenomenal.  In order to counter and defeat them or to keep them in their place we must at least attempt to understand them and figure out how their minds work.  The following are my findings.    Those that are the supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, are known as 'Obidients' and they are EVERYWHERE.  Those of us in the larger politica

Dear brother, Thaddeus Oche Ogiri,  January, 1988, you came into the world as a promising, very handsome boy. Mum and dad loved you. We, your eldest siblings, loved you too. We watched you grow up quickly. However, 11years later, mama died and everything changed. You became a man from age 11. You were not deterred.  From that very tender age, you had your dreams. You nursed your dreams. You wanted to be a medical doctor. I encouraged you to go for the pure sciences since I did not offer the pure sciences. You agreed. Yes, we needed to make mama proud wherever she was by not giving up. Going hard against the tides towards success would be the noblest way to honour the memory of our late mum, the young woman who bore so much pains and sacrificed so much of her comfort that she died in her prime. I did not have the wherewithal to finance both of us. You said I should not worry about you. Immediately after your primary education, you enrolled yourself in a private school to study the sci

By Ogiri John Ogiri. Today, the Church universally celebrates Christ the King. It is interesting that this celebration ushers us into the new calendar year of the Church as we hopefully look forward to the season of advent.  The implication of this feast is heavy on us. Even though, we tend to be carried away by the angelic processions that characterize the celebration as many of us hardly ever think beyond this ephemeral display of piety, yet, we should understand that the feast of Christ the King goes deeper than the fanfare we witness and celebrate. It places on us heavy burdens of responsibilities in a world in need like ours. We have the needy to feed, clothe and shelter. When we do this, they realize that Christ too is their King. Can we live out our faith in Christ's Kingship in a way that people should see and want to have a reason to go to Jesus Christ as one who holds the message of eternal life? This is a moral burden we have all been called to bear by virtue of our bapt

By Ogiri John Ogiri.  I wish my mother was alive.  Honestly, some things wouldn't have been like this.  I was just a child, a fragile, vulnerable SS1 student at St Joseph's College Ichakwu, near Ugbokolo, Benue State. She had taken me to the private school by herself in January 1999. I was the only one in a Secondary School. None of my younger siblings were in a secondary school yet. Some were too tender to be in school while others were in a primary school. The challenges were enormous. The survival odds were legion. But we had high hopes. We looked forward to a better future with her motherly presence and supports and sacrifices. Then by April, she took ill and died in December.  Before she died on that fateful day in December, she had said to me, " my son, when I'm gone, please don't cry for me. Just take care of your siblings." Then she called her mother, my grandma, who was in the kitchen preparing meals for the day being Christmas boxing day.

By Ogiri John Ogiri  If Barack Obama could win and become the president of America at a time when many people doubted his audacity of hope against all obvious odds, then Peter Obi can become the next president of Nigeria.   Never underestimate the power of a people who have become fed up with an unproductive and a retrogressive status quo ante. They can become the most formidable volunteer structure upon which a rejected stone can ride to become a cornerstone in the end.  As it stands currently, except for a misguided few, many of us Nigerian youths see the aspiration of Mr Obi as a golden opportunity to take back our country from a drowning ship. I share in this belief. There have been a shipwreck and it is unfortunate to admit that Nigeria has been involved in this self-inflicted shipwreck. It therefore becomes a duty for every Nigerian of good will to work towards raising a rescue team. This rescue team is headed by Obi assisted by Datti. It is going to be a long tortuous journey in

 By Ogiri John Ogiri. Enough of everything good but not enough for everyone in the hood. Enough to loot but not enough to solve our national problems. Enough to service the greed of our leaders but not enough to meet the needs of the masses. Enough to spend on medical tourism and other traveling jamboree abroad but not enough to fix our ailing health system Enough to squander on foreign education but not enough to fix the deteriorating health of our university system. Enough to cater for everyone around but not enough to go round. Enough to squander on Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) but not enough to fix our unproductive refineries Enough abounds in Nigeria but not enough to help us.

By Dr Sam Amadi The obi-dient movement is not much about Mr. Peter Obi, an inspirational character in his own right. It is about a social truth that Nigerian elite politicians have missed for too long. It is about the symbolisms of a government of the people by the people that Peter obi has embraced. It is about the public ethics (not necessarily the personal morality) of public leadership in a society that is extremely poor, not just in terms of very low household income, but also in terms of miseries and incapacities.  Mr. Peter Obi does not have a towering political profile. His developmental footprint is not out of this world. As a matter of fact, out of the three main presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar may have the best profile in terms of economic development as Vice President to President Obasanjo and the head of his economic team, whose administrative posted the most solid and enduring economic and social development (I disagree with the overly neoliberal bent of their eco

BY OGIRI JOHN OGIRI  I am an Idoma man. I am loyal to the wisdom, stool and authority of the Och'Idoma. But I do not support his proposed plan to tamper with the beautiful colours of the Idoma traditional attire. Red and black gives me pride as an Idoma man. Whatever reason may have prompted this decision by our father, His Royal Majesty the Och'Idoma IV, Pastor Odogbo, I think he should tread with a cautious wisdom here. This should not be his preoccupation for now.  Idoma land needs to be purged from invading marauders and land grabbers; he should prioritize the unification of all Idoma sons and daughters home and abroad, influence those in government to develop the Idoma land, create and expand more opportunities for the engagement and empowerment of our Youths so as to kill all social vices to which they are attracted among many other laudable reforms. These should be his concerns.  May our Father, the Och'Idoma succeed.  Long live Agaba-Iduh Long live the Idoma nation