Nigerian-born international writer, Chimamanda Adichie has explained why she supported Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, for the February 25 presidential election.
Chimamanda disclosed this on Tuesday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s programme.
Meanwhile, Chimamanda clarified why she supported Obi, recounting how she got to know him years ago when he came to pay homage to her parents.
“Why I very much admire Peter Obi, respect him, there are many others out there whom I admire and respect, and I will never vote for them for president because I don’t just think they will make the president.
“And so my support for Peter Obi is deeply rooted in real things; it is rooted in my faith in his ability. Actually, I got to know him years ago when he came to pay homage to my parents because he had heard my father was the first professor of statistics in Nigeria and that my mother had retired as the first female registrar of the University of Nigeria.
“And so this man just sort of arrived and said he just wanted to pay homage, and I was very impressed by that because he showed me how much he values education. – Chimamanda.
“And then, he became governor of Anambra State, and he took Anambra State to number one in education. I remember being very impressed by the story of how he had given his personal phone numbers to all of the senior prefects in secondary schools in Anambra, which I think also showed me he is interested in what ordinary people think.
“He does not just want to hear from the administrators; he wants to hear from them; he wants to hear from the students about what is really happening.
“And his focus on security, he really tackled kidnapping in Anambra, and I also remembered that he used to clash with the Anambra elites when he was tackling insecurity and kidnapping and that showed me he is quite decisive; he is just very focused on things. And that is really why I support him.”
Chimamanda Criticises ‘Two-Facedness’ of US Government In African Politics
Award-winning author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, addressed the recent article she wrote on the conduct of the 2023 presidential election which has since gone viral.
Titled ‘Nigeria’s Hollow Democracy’, she described the election as “a slap to the face of the Nigerian people and an insult to collective intelligence of Nigerians.”
“This was an election that was unforgivably flawed and there’s evidence for that. The statement about technical glitches being the cause is unconvincing?” Chimamanda said.
Speaking on her intervention, she said, “I wrote the letter to preserve this truth and call out the United States for what I consider two-facedness when it comes to Africa.
“Nigerians deserve the respect of an institution that is supposed to shepherd a democracy. So nobody has come out to explain to Nigerians how that happened.
“There’s a statement of technical glitches; it’s unconvincing and knowing how much hope and trust Nigerians invested in this election, knowing that nigeria is a low-trust society means that if people are sincere and there’s nothing to hide, then you make an extra effort to go out and explain to Nigerians what happened.”
When questioned on her stance on the statement from Wole Soyinka who accused Yusuf Datti of making fascist statements, she said that rather it was INEC and the government who were fascist for disenfranchising people of a fair election without an explanation.
She concluded by stating that though the judiciary may have made questionable adjournments in some cases which may bring worry to the minds of the people, she still has faith in them for a fair hearing and a just ruling from the tribunal.
