Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
The official call on Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike by members of the Grassroot Democratic Initiative (GDI) Worldwide to run for the office of president in 2023 has further cleared the coast for the Obio/Akpor-born politician to occupy Nigeria’s highest office.
The GDI had, on Saturday, November 6, 2021, at a historic sensitization programme held at the Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, and witnessed by thousands of supporters, passed a vote of confidence on Governor Nyesom Wike following what they described as his excellent performance and then, in a unanimous vote, enjoined him to run for the presidency.
The endorsement is, no doubt, another boost for Governor Nyesom Wike as he gradually but wisely clears the ground for his higher political aspiration.
Although political permutations might not accord him robust chances of making any meaningful impact in the 2023 presidential race, given the more favoured interested higher forces and the ethno-centric leanings and complexities tending to shape the 2023 political race, keen watchers of the political odyssey of Governor Nyesom Wike strongly believe that he is not a man to be dismissed with a wave of the hand when he sets out to pursue any goal he is passionate about.
Antecedents
A fast-track of his antecedents, such as the epic battle for the soul of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the subsequent race for the Brick House between 2014 and 2015 as well as his recent role in the change of the national leadership of the PDP, will attest to this. Hate him or love him, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike remains a smart, proactive, charismatic and foresighted politician.
Should he therefore heed his supporters’ calls to run for the 2023 presidency, the impact he’s capable of making won’t be in doubt to those conversant with his political antecedents.
And as pointed out earlier, the ‘go-ahead’ nod given to him by his supporters to run for the 2023 presidency has further brightened his coast and chances should he accept the call.
Traditional Significance
The endorsement of Governor Nyesom Wike by the GDI and his mammoth crowd of supporters to run for the office of president has some traditional significance. Prior to that endorsement, many Ikwerre people – including traditional rulers and chiefs – have been calling on the Rivers governor to make himself available for service at the highest level.
The official consent given to him by his supporters on Saturday, November 6, 2021, to join the presidential race thus marks the climax of that call. It could therefore be said that the call represents a mandate from his people.
Africans believe that charity begins at home, and with it, success. Hence, when a man is sent on an errand by his people, it is believed that his people’s blessings and the anointing of the ancients will accompany him for success.
This could therefore be an advantage for
Governor Nyesom Wike should he accept his people’s calls to run for the presidency in 2023.
Political Significance
The call by Governor Wike to run for the presidency, as championed by the Grassroot Democratic Initiative, also has a strong political significance worthy of note. The GDI is Governor Wike’s political structure. It is the platform he used to wrestle power from then ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government in Rivers State in 2015. Six and half years later, the group has remained active, relevant and undivided. It has retained its pioneer national officers for sustenance and consolidation. That speaks volumes. It shows that the group’s founder knows what he wants and where he’s going. It smacks of insight, foresight and hindsight.
Anybody taking such a man for granted might be doing so at his own peril. As a strong political structure, the GDI has what it takes to further its principal’s cause if they can successfully sell such a cause, first to the grassrooters – the local electorate – and then to the larger frontier electorate. This will require liaising with their political party, the PDP, at both the state and national level, to reach out to the Nigerian voters.
That move will require making positive inroads to other states, geo-political zones and regions, since the presidential race is a national affair.
Favourable Party Structure
The recent emergence of a new national leadership for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should be a plus for
Governor Nyesom Wike if he decides to run for the 2023 presidency. This is because the biggest hurdle he would have had, from available permutations, is emerging as the presidential candidate of the PDP had Uche Secondus remained as the national chairman of the party. It is viewed as politically impracticable, at least in this part of the world, for a party’s national chairman and presidential candidate to come from the same state. That could have technically disqualified Governor Nyesom Wike from participating in the 2023 presidential race, perhaps, from the stage of primaries.
But with the emergence of a northerner, in the person of Senator Iyorchia Ayu, as national chairman of the PDP, Wike has successfully evaded the possibility of such a technical knock-out, a development that has helped to clear the coast for him to run for the office of president.
Given his contribution to the sustenance of the PDP since former president, Goodluck Jonathan, left office in 2015, his rising influence and pedigree in the party and wide acceptance among the PDP faithful, it is likely that the current national structure of the party might naturally tilt towards aligning with his presidential cause on sympathy grounds should he decide to run.
Conclusion
The unfolding events have simply set the ball rolling for Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike to join the 2023 presidential race when the time comes. Although he has not categorically said he will run, political watchers are convinced that his body language and innuendoes suggest that he might not turn down his people’s calls to make himself available to serve Nigerians at the highest level come 2023. His alleged response to a question during an interview on a popular television recently lends some credence to this thinking. Governor Wike was said to have been asked if he would contest for the presidency in 2023, to which he replied that he is qualified to run for the office.
It appears that as calls for Governor Nyesom Wike to run for the 2023 presidency get to a peak, the coast for the race also gets clearer for him. However, only time will definitely tell if he will finally heed the calls or not.
