From Obedience to Obidiocy, By Semiu Akanmu

Obedience was an understandable social response to the culminating problems of youth unemployment, police brutality, biting economic realities: aspirations for this change that have remained continually elusive.

But this agitation must remain articulated on the democratic ideals of freedom of choice and thematic debate. For a movement that comes with a claim to moral superiority, this is an irreducible minimum.

Unfortunately, recent events clearly show a massive metamorphosis from Obidience to Obidiocy. From hope to illusion. Mental acuity in hypnosis. Impressionable youths and self-indulgent adults became the engine oil to run Obi's political engine. Loss can truly be a devastating experience.

Let's start with the illusion that Obi's mandate - the third position - has been stolen. No political analysis, based on our historical voting pattern and the elements of national election victory, would ever place a victory for Obi. The math isn't just there.

But its popular appeal, justifiable or not, was evident in its impressive performance, if we are to think about data-driven prediction. Now to extend that to the “stolen mandate” is delusional and blatantly ambitious.

To put this in proper context, Obi's party had agents in all voting units. This means that they should now have irrefutable evidence, based on the results uploaded to iReV, to prove that there are sufficient irregularities to nullify the election. It is now a pure legal battle.

But Obi's fascist mob boss, running mate Datti, said the only acceptable judgment was theirs. And instead of sticking to the issue of inflammatory language hurled by Wole Soyinka, supporters of the Governor of Panama, who also lacks basic conflict of interest ethics and makes no apologies for having used state resources to improve the equity of his company, want to question Soyinka's morality. Because he is a friend of Tinubu. Not because he hasn't called Buhari's government in the past. He's a friend he didn't campaign for and he didn't approve of either. He's a friend he indirectly referred to, in the same interview, as the "other moves" - the moves Kongi isn't interested in.

Do the Obidients look in the mirror? Consider your candidate, even though we discount his association with Atiku and all members of the establishment to this day, he still continued to be baptized by Obasanjo. Can you really stop this moral demagoguery? Can you question someone's morality because they have a history with Tinubu?

Kongi's action in 1965 - arguably an equally fascist trend - and APC's "parallel government" declaration were drawn to justify Datti's reckless words. Although I leave the introspective hindsight of the 1965 event to Soyinka, don't we still know clearly that the APC standard is not an acceptable standard?

Assuming this is a true equivalence, does one poorly justify the other and if really the so-called movement breathes new life, the past that we want to reject should never be a benchmark for accountability. Of what value does one oppose APC to support LP if the reprehensible action of the first will become acceptable because it is committed by the second? These are introspective questions for Obidiots who have not yet completed their metamorphosis into Obidiots. They need to revise their standard.

Well, Wole Soyinka called for a debate to stretch that the fascist label is justifiable. This is an O call, and that says more about Soyinka's belief in Datti's intellection. The ball is now in Obi-Datti's court.

The second part of the transition to Obidiocy is the volte-face of the fans in the face of the "Yes, dad" clip. A supposedly idealistic movement would prefer to shut up, admit and apologize, or worse, deflect and let events overwhelm it. Rather, they attempted to obfuscate with some amateur forensic analysis. Denials insulting to public intelligence. And when these don't work, they appropriate and arrogate it, turn it around to applaud and some print and wear T-shirts as symbols of solidarity with a "religious war" that Obi wants to continue.

Obi's policy is an instrument for the crusaders at the national level; an instrument for Catholic supremacy in his state. This conversation with Oyedepo — a clergyman known for his hateful sermons toward Muslims and outright assaults on hijab-wearing women — is not a breath of fresh air. It's more stinky.

The potential victims of Obi's religious war, who still have the presence of mind to wait in line...