Prologue
Iron Mike Tyson, heavyweight champion of the world, once opined that “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it” and Iron Mike is right. The evidence abounds in social media as there is an obvious increase in online bullying in Nigeria twitter. Many have accused the ardent followers of Peter Gregory Obi, one of the leading candidates in Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential election, of online intolerance and mob mentality. The Obi followers have come to be known as the Obidients and Obidiots, depending on which side of the political divide you belong, and many are unhappy with their actions.
Background
In ‘normal’ times, the 2023 elections would be a straightforward fight between APC’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu and PDP’s Atiku Abubakar. The two Nigerian traditional parties are the long-time and established heavyweights in Nigeria’s political landscape. They have country-wide political structures, elected governors and legislators and very deep pockets – mostly ill-gotten wealth milked from State resources.
But these are not normal times. Labour Party’s Peter Obi has excited large swath of youthful Nigerians and attracted them to his campaign. This is a very important gain for a third-party candidate. Nigeria is a youthful population, and this demographic has yet to show its might having been an uninterested bystander in past elections.
Four events in the last 3 years have impacted and changed Nigeria’s youths. The October 2020 SARS protests, the very high and rising unemployment rates and associated economic slump, the 2021 twitter ban and the 8-month University (ASUU) strikes. Nigeia’s young people are now awake, restless, impatient and they want to (buzzword alert!) – #TakeBackNaija. This is all good. Obi’s campaign has managed capture the imagination of the youthful part of the electorate, an excellent achievement. The main parties are paying attention and re-strategising. However, whether the youthful electorate comes through for him or not in the 2023 election only time will tell.
Obi the candidate, his Obidients and Obidiots
It would be a major upset if a third-party candidate like Obi is able to win the presidential polls. Undeniably he has real strengths and some advantage. His followers are loyal and fierce, and more importantly he could do no wrong in their eyes. He is actually an insider, and not a fresh face having been a governor of the Southeastern state of Anambra between 2007 and 2014. In addition, he was recently the Vice-presidential candidate to Abubaker Atiku (in the 2019 election cycle) which they lost. Furthermore, Obi has been a long-time member of two of Nigeria’s traditional parties – APGA and PDP before joining the Labour party in May 2022. His pocket is also quite deep. A billionaire by his own admission and with extensive businesses mainly in banking, large retail chains and breweries.
Like the typical Nigerian politician, Obi has had his fair share of dipping in and tainted with corruption. However, he has done a better job of whitewashing this by posing as an advocate of good governance following his stint as Anambra governor. In 2021, he was outed by the Pandora Papers investigation as having (allegedly) undeclared businesses registered in tax havens of British Virgin Islands and Barbados.
He allegedly created Shell companies named after his daughter (Gabriella investments). Some of his actions appear to be a direct violation of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. He has said he was unaware of his obligation to declare these to Nigerian tax authorities. Ignorance is not bliss. He has never been charged.
He also famously invested state funds (when he was governor) into a brewery business in which he had a stake. His response to this allegation has been very unsatisfactory. He is definitely not alone in this, and the political class are not bastion of uprightness. Perhaps Obi can be forgiven?
Another strength is the not so discreet backing of the church. This is a big deal and may credit him with significant numbers of block votes. This situation has been helped by the Muslim-Muslim combination of the ruling party which has generated so much anger.
Generally, the young and disillusioned electorate appear to be very excited by Obi’s candidature – his relatively younger age and charm, and his frugal mien.
The Cheer leaders, Obidients
For the sake of analysis and clarity in this article, we will categorise Obi’s fans using two popular and frequently used terms – the Obidients and Obidiots.
The Obidients are the real people marching on the streets. The followership at spontaneous and organised rallies all over the country. Their excited youthful faces and optimism as seen broadcasted in major media outlets are infectious. They are energetic, believe fervently in their cause and appear to be largely voluntary and self-funded. They are out there in the streets promoting their candidate and generating good vibes around his proposed programs. Unfortunately, their zeal appears to have dampened in recent weeks as the rallies are now less frequent and recording lower numbers.
The Bullies, Obidiots
The second group, Obidiots, are the louder and probably larger of the two. They possibly include members of the Obidients group in their fold. Maybe split personalities with warm and cold versions. They are faceless and operate online behind closed doors in the comfort of homes or offices. Obidiots are bullies, openly rude and very disrespectful, and readily attack anyone with opposing views. It appears that ‘cancel culture’ is their main strategy. Their mob action is hard and merciless, friend and foe are fair game. Anyone with a question (deemed out of order), or an idea (not aligned to the herd) or God forbid – an outright opposing view is subjected to the worst types of online bullying.
The candidate, Obi, has at various times defended his group. In July, he suggested that paid saboteurs infiltrated the ranks of his Obidients and Obidiots and were responsible for the bullying. However, when in August Obidiots attacked Femi Kuti, a Nigerian and globally acclaimed musician and son of the legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and threatened his family and livelihood, Peter Obi went to visit him to make amends. Before Kuti, was Sam Omatseye, Nigerian novelist and journalist.
Femi Kuti, Peter Obi and Charly boy: rapprochement following online onslaught
Obidiots are still a rampaging lot, a true representation of groupthink and crowd psychology. They have attempted to run Reno Omokri, a social media critic and former presidential aide, out of social media for his opposing views. They also attempted to cancel Reuben Abati and Arise TV. Both were essentially in their good books until recently. Dr Reuben Abati, a celebrated journalist, moderated a presidential town hall meeting on 6th of November. He was subsequently bullied online and called vile names by Obidients and Obidiots. His sin was allowing a surrogate to represent Atiku Abubabar at the event. Abati was subsequently accused of lying on behalf of Atiku and being unfair to Obi.
Examples of abusive tweets from online Obidients and Obidiots
The mob can and has turn on itself. Obidients and Obidiots tried to ‘lynch’ their own member, a female twitter personality known as Rinu who briefly stepped out of line by demanding answers to questions she posed to Obi. The response of Obidiots was swift and merciless. They unearthed embarrassing and probably fake nude photos to shame her. Institutions are not spared their wrath either. Early in November, a banking institution, Keystone bank got caught in their crosshairs. Its crime was that it closed a bank account belonging to #TakeBackNaija, a group aligned to Obidients and Obidiots. Obidiots would not have it and have called for picketing the bank. They also started an online #boycottkeystonebank campaign advocating the mass closure of accounts in Keystone Bank.
Online attacks on keystone bank by Obidients and Obidiots, and Keystone bank’s response
Conclusion
Whatever happens to Obi in February, his bunch of followers would have played a massive part in it. They could carry their man to unprecedented victory or be responsible for a precipitous and self-inflicted flameout. The cumulative effect of all the online caustic behaviours of Obidients and Obidiots is that of pushing away many would-be supporters of their candidate. No one should want to be part of a mob or herd mentality. Conformity to groupthink at this time in Nigeria is neither appropriate nor progressive. A stitch in time saves nine, however a dog destined to be lost does not hear the hunter’s whistle.