Supporters of Peter Obi are experiencing a public meltdown after news emerged that the Secretary of States of the United States of America, Anthony Blinken, spoke yesterday with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, seeking stronger partnership between both countries as the latter prepares to assume power in a matter of days.
The US Department of State confirmed the engagement with a statement that read, “Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke this morning with Nigerian President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emphasize his continued commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.”
“The Secretary noted that the U.S.-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under President-elect Tinubu’s tenure. Secretary Blinken and President-elect Tinubu discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians, continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth.”
It was a significant blow to Obi’s supporters who, like Trump-inspired insurrectionists that stormed the US Capitol, refused to accept the outcome of the election and continue to target innocent civilians and institutions, both local and foreign, for abuse and intimidation through various tactics, including physical assault and death threats.
They had invested hopes in the controversial letter of Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie, a famous author and self-declared Obi-dient, to President Joe Biden of the United States of America in which she urged the country not to acknowledge the democratic process and its outcome. According to them, the letter would prod an interference in Nigeria’s local elections by international bodies, forcing a re-run.
But news of Blinken’s call, which underscores the preparedness of the US and its global allies to move forward with the Tinubu-administration, has dashed their hopes and exposed the insignificance of Chimamanda’s letter which was widely criticized as more an exercise in fiction than an accurate account of events that took place during the election.
Indeed, Chimamanda was in the US during the election and based her criticism of the election on stories she was fed by members of her immediate family who all sided with Peter Obi and are thus inclined to offer a biased perspective, according to independent reviewers.