Dele Farotimi, a lawyer and political analyst has said that the candidacy of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) has given hope to Nigerian youths.
Farotimi who spoke on Arise TV on Monday also warned of anarchy if the 2023 general election is manipulated, stressing that the candidacy of Obi is the only thing that has energized the youths and if that hope is truncated there could be reasons to be worried about the forthcoming election.
He said, “Nigeria has become a hopeless state over the past seven years. The youths are completely hopeless. Buhari’s administration has sapped all the energies and hope of the Nigerian people. We are not going to run away, but we have to be given hope in one form or the other.
“The only candidate that has energized the youths and given them hope in this season is Peter Obi. If that hope is dashed, if the Nigerian state contrives to take away that, because this hope appears to be the only reason that Nigerian youth wakes up in the morning with hope in his heart, then there will be a reason to be afraid.
“There would be several reasons to be afraid because hope denied provokes violence. Nigeria is already violent in the way it is and if they now take away the hope that there might be some changes at the end of this process, that is to be feared.
Talking about his concerns about the coming election, he said, “I absolutely fear nothing. I am excited about the coming election. I am excited about the energy of the youths, who have been given hope by Peter Obi’s candidacy.
“I am not sure that Nigeria will be ready for what will happen if the mandate is stolen or if their will is discounted. EndSARS was essentially a protest of the hopeless.
Farotimi added, “The only thing that has appeared to have energized the people who were largely involved in that struggle is the candidacy of Peter Obi. They have been silenced in terms of noise making, everybody is facing the election. You see a bit of the exuberance that has been mistaken in some quarters for the obi-dient movement being combative but that is because they have been rendered hopeless and this is the only thing that they are holding on to.
