On the occasion of the 61st birthday of the former governor of Anambra State and the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Nigerian renowned writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has celebrated the celebrant in a rather nostalgic style.
It happens that Adichie and Obi are not just from the same state, but are also close family friends for many years now.
Adichie, through her verified Facebook page, went memory lane on how the former governor has been good to her and her family, both at home and abroad.
‘I will never forget your kindness to my beloved parents,” Adichie recalled. “Thank you for the respect you showed them, for your many visits to Abba, where you gave to Daddy and Mummy the most precious gifts: your time and your attention.”
She remembered how Obi regaled her father and mother with his stories until they started joking about his (Obi) obsession with the “GDP of Malaysia.”
“But your obsession spoke of hope: your hope for Nigeria, your belief in what Nigeria could be. A belief that has always been practical, grounded in numbers and in reality,” she added.
Adichie also remembered when Obi came to support her when she was honoured by the United Nations Foundation in New York, and she teased him about the inexpensive hotel he was staying in, and he shrugged and said, “it’s just a place to sleep, why do I need to be in an expensive place?”
The writer said she has always admired Obi’s humane pragmatism, how he is willing to talk to almost anyone if it will bring about a good outcome, and also how he believes in certain ideals without being an ideologue.
“And how you see people as people, knowing that human value is not measured in material terms,” she added. “And how you are able to laugh at yourself, and laugh when I tease you about your ‘one shoe and one shirt.’ And how you have always been consistent in the core of who you are.”
She noted that sometimes it is the simplest of language that captures the most complex of things and added, in simplicity, “You are a good man. You are loved. You are appreciated.”
Adichie said her mother called Obi her ‘first son,’ and her siblings and her call him their “big bro,’ and that she cannot wait to call him “My President.”
“I cannot wait for February 25, 2023, when I, with personal pride in you and with hope for what Nigeria can become, will cast my vote for you and your running mate, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed,” she concluded.
and then