With Nigerian elections slotted for Saturday, February 25, Nigerian journalist and columnist Azubuike Ishiekwene penned down reasons why the West African country invited ODM leader Raila Odinga for the 2022 Leadership Conference and Awards.
He also compared former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit in 2022 during the Nigerian Government's ministerial performance retreat in Abuja.
In his submissions, Ishiekwene noted that it was not only Odinga’s defeat in the August election that made them invite him but also his leadership attraction too.
“Odinga has received several invitations to speak at major international forums in the US and Europe. There must be a lesson or two about his defeat that keeps the world wanting to hear from his experience. But the attraction for leadership was even more," he noted.
He further castigated Kenyatta on his quiet visit to Abuja in 2022 noting that he never made any statement concerning the August 9 election leaving behind tonnes of betrayal against his preferred candidate Raila Odinga.
“Uhuru Kenyatta was the guest of the Nigerian Government at a ministerial performance retreat in Abuja.
"Unlike when he came on a state visit eight years ago, Kenyatta made no public statements this time, leaving a heavy cloud of cynicism in some circles that the man who betrayed Odinga and paved the way for Ruto’s victory, was perhaps delighted to sneak into Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, like a thief in the night,” he added.
Ishiekwene noted that there was no better person to have addressed the forum other than Odinga given Nigeria's impending General Election.
"On the eve of Nigeria’s general election, with its attendant anxieties, tensions and concerns that violence could mar the outcome – or worse, upend it all together – who else is more qualified to share the valuable experience than a man who was a presidential candidate in the Kenyan general election in 2007," he observed.
He was however worried about inviting Odinga following his charged protest rally at Nairobis Jacaranda grounds and the diplomatic implications therein.
"Inviting Odinga carried its own risks, too. Just one day before he arrived in Abuja, he held a huge rally in Jacaranda, Nairobi where he insisted that the government was illegitimate,
"Giving Odinga, the leader of the largest opposition party, a microphone after his Jacaranda rally, was like providing a foreign staging post for attacks on the new government in Nairobi, still struggling. It could be seen as lending the 'enemy' a hand," he stated.
Odinga’s Azimio, on Thursday, February 2, revealed their planned series of protest rallies against Ruto’s government with Kibra and Machakos lined up as the next venues for the rallies.
After holding a similar meeting at Jacaranda, Nairobi, the Azimio team will be having another meeting this Sunday at Kamukunji grounds in Kibra, Nairobi, before proceeding to Mavoko, Machakos, next week.
According to National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi, the forum will be used to deliberate on how to push on President William Ruto’s administration to address the challenges facing Kenyans.
“We wish to inform our supporters, the general public and all Kenyans who feel for our country that our People’s Baraza is set to continue this week and the weeks that follow.
"On Sunday, February 5, we will hold a Baraza at the Kamukunji grounds in Kibra Constituency. This will be followed by another Baraza on Friday, February 10, this time in Mavoko, Machakos County,” read the statement.
