In the events leading to the January 13 impeachment of the Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was not spared of criticisms from the presidency.

However, several media outlets reported that Sanwo-Olu, a godson of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, fell out with his godfather following his alleged role in the whole drama that ensued at the Lagos Assembly.

According to a report in a national daily, Tinubu snubbed the governor and urged him to ensure that the speaker was reinstated after the former felt slighted that Obasa was removed without his knowledge.

Consequently, the lawmakers, who had orchestrated Obasa’s removal on January 13, reluctantly accepted the resignation of their preferred Speaker, Hon. Mojisola Meranda, amid tears.

Obasa, in a successful counter-move, reversed Meranda’s election as the first female Speaker of the Lagos Assembly, reportedly with the backing of Tinubu, who allegedly deployed security forces and other state institutions in his favor.

DAILY INDEPENDENT gathered that Tinubu viewed Obasa’s removal as an act of defiance against him and reportedly warned party leaders, including the governor, that such action carried severe consequences, at some point insisting that the punishment for coup was “death”.

Sources further revealed that Tinubu took the matter so personally that he refused to meet with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu or listen to his perspective, thereby denying him a fair hearing.

It was gathered that the president was incensed that Mr. Sanwo-Olu mismanaged the increasingly fragile Lagos politics when he failed to contain the lawmakers before Mr. Obasa’s January 13 removal, vowing to punish not just the governor but all those who co-opted the scheme.

Consequently, it is said that there is no love lost between the governor and the president, a situation that has made their relationship a bit fragile.

However, Governor Sanwo-Olu has also not hidden his desire to mend fences with the president and the recent attack on Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the last election, is seen as one of the moves to appease the president.

During his remarks at Johns Hopkins University, Obi compared Nigeria’s poverty level with that of China and Vietnam.

He stated, “The question then is, what exactly did these countries do to be able to achieve the desired growth and development?

“That is where political leadership comes in. These comparable nations, and, indeed, other progressive nations, unlike Nigeria, have a leadership with character, capacity and compassion, committed to prioritising investment in critical areas of developmental measures: education, health, and pulling people out of poverty.”

Meanwhile, political watchers, some of who believe the former Anambra State governor was even mild in critically presenting the true economic and political situation in Nigeria under Tinubu, admitted that Obi’s John Hopkins University speech was a direct indictment on the current administration of Tinubu which has failed to even leave the country at the abysmal level it was after Muhammadu Buhari left the scene, as Nigeria has presently seen dip in fortunes at a level unprecedented in the country’s history.

So, according to an Aba-based political commentator, Dr. Ifeanyi Kanu, Peter Obi’s Johns Hopkins speech was a good ground for the Lagos State governor to reinstate his loyalty to President Tinubu, thus his attack on the former presidential candidate.

“Peter Obi didn’t say anything not known to Nigerians,” he told our correspondent on the phone.

“Nigeria is worse than what Peter Obi said; was Nigeria this bad in 2014 when even their hired pastors took to the streets?

“Truth is that Governor Sanwo-Olu saw Obi’s speech as a way to pacify his godfather after the role he played in removing his speaker which didn’t go down well with the president.

“The governor knows the truth but chose to hide the same because he must appease the gods,” he said.

Governor Sanwo Olu, while replying to the Labour Party presidential candidate, failed to attack the issues raised by Obi, but chose to attack the governor who left office almost two decades ago.

In a statement titled, ‘Factually Addressing Mr. Peter Obi’s Criticism of Nigeria at Johns Hopkins University’, Sanwo-Olu alleged that Obi’s tenure as Anambra State governor witnessed a significant rise in poverty, failing to confront the main issues raised by the former governor.

Sanwo-Olu said; “He made unflattering remarks not just about the incumbent Nigerian Government, but also about Nigeria. I also found Mr. Obi’s pattern of behaviour disturbing. When prominent Nigerians go overseas, they ought to project Nigeria positively.

“They do not have to do that for the government. But we all owe a duty to market Nigeria on the global stage rather than de-market her. That is what true patriotism is about,” he said.

The Governor emphasised that poverty alleviation demands serious investment in education, healthcare, and economic empowerment, questioning Obi’s record in these areas.

“Now, I find it somewhat ironic that a man like Mr. Obi, who did not build a single school or a stand-alone hospital throughout his eight-year tenure as governor of Anambra or sustainably provide credit facilities, would criticise the government of Nigeria, which is actively doing that,” he said.

In what looked like pacifying the president, whose administration Obi’s speech directly made reference to, Sanwo-Olu reeled out what he considered the achievements of President Tinubu.

“The president of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is my predecessor, and as governor of Lagos and now President of Nigeria, he has built over 200 schools and provided student loans to more than 200,000 undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions.

“In less than two years, he has provided over half a billion dollars in credit facilities to small and medium-scale enterprises.”

He added that Tinubu, during his tenure as Lagos governor, reduced poverty by over 46 percent, arguing that “the best predictor of the future is the past.”

Sanwo-Olu further challenged Obi’s credibility, stating, “But let us examine the messenger, not just the message, and look at the issuer as well as the issues. Mr. Obi talks a good game.

“But was he able to reduce poverty while he governed Anambra? Perhaps we can let the facts speak for themselves. Under Peter Obi as a two-term Anambra governor, poverty in Anambra increased. It did not reduce.

“Before Peter Obi became Anambra governor on Thursday, June 14, 2007, the poverty rate in Anambra was 41.4 percent. But after only two years in office, the poverty rate in Anambra jumped to 53.7 percent.

“But the interesting thing is that five years after Peter Obi left office, his successor, Willie Obiano, reduced the poverty rate in Anambra from almost 60 percent to 14.8 percent.”

Concluding, Sanwo-Olu said, “As such, I am not sure that Mr. Obi is morally well placed to make the alarming claims he made about Nigeria at Johns Hopkins. Mr. Obi contributed to the increase in poverty in Nigeria.

“Governor Tinubu, as he then was, was responsible for lifting millions out of poverty. Being that that is the case, who should criticise who?

The narrative by the governor is replete with non-facts on the performances of Peter Obi while he was the governor of Anambra State. Saying Peter never achieved success in the health and education sector is very misleading as facts say otherwise.

For instance, while fact-checking Peter Obi’s pre-2023 election claim that he was awarded the best governor on health, TheCable, in 2023, reported that in 2013, Obi bagged the best performing governor on the eradication of polio in the South-East from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

TheCable said during the presentation of the award in 2013, which came with a cash prize of N120 million, Mohammed Pate, the then Minister of Health, said the award was deserving, adding that Obi had distinguished himself in the health sector.

The former minister described Obi’s exemplary leadership as a total package, noting that the state had remained polio-free in the past five years, while he was the governor.

Sanwo-Olu also erroneously claimed Obi never built a single hospital as governor but last month, a US-based man, Mr. Sabinus Nweke, took to social media to thank the former governor for building a hospital that saved his life while in Nigeria last Yuletide.

In the report, he said he would be doing a disservice to himself and the country if he failed to appreciate Peter Obi publicly for building the Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital at Awka, and Amaku Hospital the state capital.

When asked why, Chief Nweke said “If that hospital wasn’t a teaching hospital, I may not have been alive today. I was in Awka for Christmas on the 10th of December 2024, and by the 15th, I was rushed to Amaku Hospital for treatment of diverticulitis. I was there until the 30th of December. I returned to the US two weeks ago.

“Obi’s wise decision saved my life. I hope to have surgery here in the States anytime soon,” he said in a report that is still available on social media.

Also, Obi’s successor, Willie Obiano, in the ThisDay Newspaper of February 9, 2017, said nobody would fathom by what magic the former governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi, achieved in the health sector, especially his contributions to the upgrade of mission hospitals, including Queen of Rosary Hospital, Waterside, Onitsha.

Obiano made the remark through his representative, the then Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Josephat Akabuike, at the Maiden Convocation Ceremony and award of certificates of the Holy Rosary Specialist Hospital and Maternity, Waterside, Onitsha.

Also quoting The Nation Newspaper of December 13, 2020, the chairman, Onitsha Archdiocesan Hospital Board, Rev. Fr. Patrick Omuta, narrated how the former governor of Anambra, Peter Obi, has, over the years, uplifted the Anambra health sector with many signature projects.

Fr. Omuta, who spoke of Obi’s many investments in Anambra health sector, during the pastoral visit of Archbishop Valerian Okeke to Holy Rosary Hospital, Waterside, Onitsha, praised Obi for understanding the overwhelming importance of health in national development.

He said Obi was committed to the development of the health sector in Anambra State as the then governor of the state.

“When you go to Holy Rosary Specialist Hospital, Water-Side Onitsha, you will see the gigantic structures erected by Peter Obi. You cross over to the School of Midwifery, in the same hospital, his signature projects are all over the place. You move to Charles Borromew Hospital and their School of Nursing Sciences, his many projects will be staring you in the face. He even built a Doctor’s Quarters for them. The Joe Nwiloh Heart Centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Adazi-Nnukwu, which carries out open heart surgeries, was built by Peter Obi.

“Visit other hospitals like Iyi-Enu Specialist Hospital, Nkpor; Diocesan Hospital, Amichi; St Anthony’s Hospital, Ugwuagba; and see his laudable foot prints,” Fr. Omuta eulogised.

In education, Governor Sanwo-Olu also distorted the fact.

From ThisDay Newspaper of October 7, 2023, the Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, praised former Governor Peter Obi for the significant educational contributions he made during his tenure.

The governor observed that those remarkable achievements had continued to serve as a foundation for ongoing educational development in the state.

Soludo, represented by his deputy, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim, expressed these sentiments at the funeral mass for Chief Alexander Ejesieme Snr., held at St. John’s Catholic Church, Agulu.

“I thank Mr. Peter Obi for his numerous legacies in the education sector, upon which we are building. Yesterday, Governor Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo allocated the sum of N1.5 billion to missionary schools in the state as part of his administration’s efforts to sustain the quality of education in the state,” he said.

Meanwhile, a report on Vanguard Newspaper of August 20, 2018 on Obi’s giant strides in education reads thus: During his tenure as Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi gave education a pride of place as the foundation on which societies are built and quality of life defined. As part of efforts to stabilise basic education in the state, he took the momentous decision to return the management of erstwhile mission schools to their initial proprietors, which a cross-section of stakeholders sharply criticised then – mostly out of ignorance of the implementation strategy.

Essentially, the mission-managers were re-empowered to do what they know best: Imparting Knowledge, Enthroning Moral Ethos, Instilling Discipline, Breeding Responsible Citizens and Fostering the Fear of God in Tomorrow’s Leaders, which are the hallmarks of sound education.

The transition went into operating grants to the missions subject to approval of their work plans. There was also the novel arrangement that the government will continue to cater for staff salaries/emoluments, while the missions will be in charge of general administration and management.

The report continued: Apart from investments in capital projects for the schools, the Obi administration donated buses, laboratory equipment, transformers and power generators, dispensary consumables, sports gear, computers and other ICT tools.

With admirable dynamism and foresight, the administration procured and distributed personal computers to post-primary schools in the state, along with professional ICT teachers, power generators and Internet connectivity. Included in the package was the setting-up of Microsoft Academies in designated secondary schools — the first state in Nigeria to embark on such a project.

With the provision of decently-equipped laboratories in public post-primary schools of Anambra State, many students from those institutions began to excel in national and international science competitions.

Tertiary education was also part of Peter Obi’s new deal for education – receiving boosts in structures, facilities, faculty, welfare, course accreditations and improved funding.

The Vanguard report went on: Invariably, Peter Obi’s new deal for education started yielding dividends even during his tenure as governor. Consecutively, in the last three years of his administration, Anambra State leaped from its previous 26th position among the 36 states of the Federation to 1st place in results of the NECO and WAEC examinations.

In 2012, an Anambra student emerged the Best Overall Candidate in both the NECO and SSCE examinations. Shortly after, Loretto Special Science School, Adazi-Nnukwu won the award of the Best Improved Secondary School in Nigeria. Furthermore, the state was adjudged the best in improved school infrastructure in the country.

The wide acclaim of the educational revolution in Anambra State will also bear telling: A World Bank study supervised by Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University, UK recommended the Anambra Model under Peter Obi for the rest of Africa and other developing countries.

On his part, renowned cleric, educationist, Rhodes Scholar and public affairs analyst, Catholic Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah urged Nigerian Governments at all tiers to emulate what he termed the “Peter Obi Education Model”. He noted that the sector was at its lowest ebb in Anambra State prior to Peter Obi’s far-sighted decision to return schools to the Church, backed with adequate funding, with the effect that the State is now doing well educationally.

Even after vacating Government House, Obi has been quietly undertaking a crusade to empower educational institutions to enable their staff and pupils/students adequately express their talents and potential, and ultimately excel in their chosen fields and add value to their society.

At every opportunity, Peter Obi raised funds from his friends, associates and positive-spirited corporate bodies to support one educational project or the other – in some cases beyond his home state. Very revealing is the July 2018 burial ceremony of his late eldest sister – Lady Bibian Adani – where he requested those who desired to support the event to monetise their contributions, which he would use to build a Health Centre and rehabilitating a school in her honour in the community she was married, the report read partly.

While rightly advocating for a good image for Nigeria from prominent citizens which is commendable, Governor Sanwo-Olu tord the path of social media influencers who continually failed to Fact-Check issues before going public.

Meanwhile, former Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, has defended Peter Obi after recent attacks from Sanwo-Olu, Soludo, Reno Omokri and others over the John Hopkins University speech. Amaechi said freedom of speech is an important part of democracy and explained that Nigerians, including Peter Obi, have every right to talk about the country’s issues, even outside Nigeria.

He added that the real problem is not Obi’s speech, but the suffering faced by Nigerians every day. Amaechi strongly criticised President Tinubu’s government and blamed the administration for high inflation, growing insecurity, and rising anger among young people.

He praised Obi’s courage for highlighting the truth about Nigeria’s economic and social struggles.

“Freedom of speech is fundamental in democracy,” he said.

“However, the real battle is Nigerians versus an administration that has plunged the nation into suffering. Tinubu’s administration has no credible achievements to defend,” he said. (Daily Independent)