El Rufai's visit to the South East. The Needless Noise.

By Ike Abonyi.

When a bad vehicle conveys a good message, will you refuse both the message and the messenger? A wise person will pick the message and leave the messenger.

Late Maverick politician Senator Arthur Nzeribe, knowing his negative reputation in the public space whenever he wanted to pass a strong message, dropped his release with a caveat: look at the message and not the messenger. And his message is always strong and strategic.

Since the voter registration started, the South East has been behind, and our politicians in the South East, former and serving Governors, Ohanaeze, etc, have all done nothing to improve the situation.

Former Kaduna state Governor Nasiri El Rufai found a platform at the weekend in Owerri, Imo state and carried out a strong campaign in this regard for Ndigbo to come out and vote, a strong civic duty from a perceived enemy, but instead of picking up the message, we are busy fighting his coming. The reality is that political dynamics entail that even yesterday's enemy might be today's friend if we want to go far politically in national politics.

When Bola Ahmed Tinubu set out for his grab-and-run journey to Aso Rock, Nasir El-Rufai was not in his camp. In fact, El Rufai had said publicly that Tinubu is not the type he relates to. But Tinubu ignored all that because he needed El-Rufai to do certain fights nobody else could do.

He not only embraced El Rufai but gave him a star status in his team. Took him to Chatham House, London, and publicly and internationally declared him the star boy in his team. He helped him sway his colleague governors and made him the adjudant of his campaign in the North.

Today, Peter Obi and some patriotic Igbos are seeking to end the endless marginalisation of Ndigbo at the Presidential level. Obi is making an effort to dine with both the devil and saints, to reach out to all in the spirit of dynamic politics, but the noise from people, even Igbos, is deafening.

When Tinubu embraced Elrufai in 2022, no Yoruba questioned him for going to somebody who had berated him publicly; they saw it as a political strategy.

Anybody who sincerely loves Peter Obi and wants him in Aso Rock should not encourage him to make enemies but to court friends even from the devil's group.

If we are unanimous that the criminal gang holding power in this country is enormous we should be strategic in our approach. Anybody encouraging Peter Obi to use only the saints to do a battle in the devil's den does not want his victory, more so that the saints, having secured heaven, are not anxious to do the fight.

This is just appealing to all those desirous of a new Nigeria that is POssible to bear in mind that the space is shared by both man and mamon and each needs to score the desired goal. Whether you like it or not, Peter Obi needs El Rufai going forward, just as El Rufai needs him to achieve his own goal. If Ndigbo really wants to play in this big game and score they must not only come out and register to vote, but carve out time for national politics. 'Sidon look' hardly delivers food to the table. A word is enough for the wise. God help us.

 _Ike Abonyi, a politically Exposed journalist based in Abuja