Many admire Peter Obi’s ostentatious frugality, and agree with his brutally frank appraisal of Nigeria’s flaws. Plenty give him credit simply for not being either of his main rivals
hat do I offer you: coffee, tea, water?” asked Peter Obi, the minor-party candidate leading the polls to become president of Africa’s most populous country. Such hospitality is to be expected: in years of interviewing west African politicians, I’ve never known one not to offer refreshments. Usually the Big Man barks out an order, and a couple of minutes later a flunky shuffles in deferentially with drinks.
Half of Nigerians are 18 or under, but the presidential candidates of the two big parties are both of pensionable age. The 70-year-old Bola Tinubu of the incumbent All Progressives Congress is so dogged by rumours of ill health that he felt obliged to tweet a video of himself pedalling an exercise bike. Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party is 76 and is running for president for the sixth time.
Obi’s style wins him plenty of fans. Many admire his ostentatious frugality, and agree with his brutally frank appraisal of Nigeria’s flaws. Plenty give him credit simply for not being either of his main rivals. “The other ones, they are doing it for their own best [benefit],” says Salamatu Abdulaziz, an Obi fan selling stock cubes in a market outside the capital, Abuja. Both Tinubu and Abubakar have been accused of corruption by the American government.
Nigerian candidates typically shun scrutiny and stuff long dull speeches with panglossian promises. Obi, by contrast, took unscripted questions from the audience. “We are honoured to have you here. What is your motivation to stand now?” began one student. Yesufu jumped up, wrapped in a powder-blue hijab. “Don’t make it easy! Grill him!” she exhorted the students, grinning.
Before the day’s big rally Obi stopped to pay his respects to the local royals of the Akure kingdom. In a large red-carpeted room elderly men in white flowing robes sat on ornate wooden armchairs. In the middle a throne, upholstered in gold with its own curved roof and leopard-print footstool, was flanked by two enormous fluffy toy tigers. No one sat on the throne, however.
“We want to save Nigeria, we want to build a better place, where you will be proud to say you are Nigerian”
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