By The Editorial Board
Politicians love to invoke Adolf Hitler’s name to smear and blackmail their political enemies or someone they deeply dislike. This disgraceful and dangerous practice is a dirty and lazy political ploy to dishonor, discredit, demonize and stoke fear; aimed to manipulate public perception against an emergent and popular opponent.
When Gov. Charles Chukwuma Soludo disagreed with the significant backlash he received after he panned Mr. Peter Obi’s economic performance as Anambra State governor, he chose to voice his displeasure and wrote an article: “History Beckons and I will not be Silent (Part 1)” to “set the record” straight, he claimed.
In expressing his disapproval of the negative and damaging criticism by Obi’s supporters, political experts and the general media, Soludo wrote, and we quote,: “At the outset, let me state that this exhibition of desperation, intolerance and attempt to bully everyone who expresses the slightest of dissent [to Obi’s candidacy] is reprehensible. ‘This is Hitler in the making’.”
In a sense, Soludo implied that Mr. Obi is potentially more dangerous than the German Nazi leader because he has the unwavering and passionate support of masses of Nigerians who are willing to go to any lengths to defend him and vote for him to become their president — a phenomenon never before experienced in Nigerian political history.
Gov. Soludo, Peter Obi is not Hitler in the making. The Labour Party is not the Nazi Party in the making. Obi’s supporters are not swastika-wearing SS or Nazis, with free rein to terrorize political opponents and those who disagree with Mr. Obi. Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Afenifere are not Nazi sympathizers.
We forcefully condemn Soludo’s inexcusable, reckless and repugnant blackmail. Playing the Hitler card is unimaginative, tasteless, lazy and inaccurate. It is cheap political demagoguery. Soludo’s toxic brand of political demonizing and character assassination has no place in a democracy, even one as bad as ours. His repulsive politics should be universally condemned. In comparing Obi’s meteoric rise to the rise of Adolf Hitler, little did Soludo know that he wrote his own political obituary.
For starters, we believe that Soludo has every right to voice his opinion and criticize Obi for any and all actions Obi took or didn’t take as governor of Anambra State. Equally, Soludo has the right (and he exercised it) to disagree with Obi’s brand of politics and choice of political party. In fact, Soludo is free to cast his vote for anyone not called Peter Obi.
We unequivocally condemn anyone who threatens harm to Mr. Soludo and his family for merely expressing his political views and preferences. Mr. Obi and the LP must condemn such people and practices if they haven’t done so already.
But what is unacceptable, no matter how you cut it, is Soludo typecasting Obi as Hitler in the making and insinuating that Obi is capable of committing the same atrocities Hitler committed. In short, Soludo’s attempt to blackmail Obi and reframe his emergence and popularity as an imminent threat to democracy is wrong and offensive.
Why Did Soludo Make This Unforced Error?
We conjure two salient explanations. First is to stoke fear of domination and retaliation. By linking Obi to Hitler, Soludo was insinuating that Obi, like Hitler, is likely to become a dictator and a psychopath, who will seek revenge against his political opponents, people he doesn’t like and citizens who did not support and vote for him. This is political gaslighting. Soludo is attempting to use the “Hitler” rebranding to manipulate public opinion against Obi.
Second, Soludo may have aimed to damage Obi’s brand, especially with the international community. Any politician rebranded as “Hitler” is automatically blacklisted by Western democracies as antidemocratic, authoritarian, antisemitic, racist, narcissist, fascist and murderer.
Soludo knew exactly what he was doing. This was designed to scare people and strike fear into the hearts of people globally and across the nation; people who are not yet Obi’s supporters.
We believe Peter Obi Has No Hitler Tendencies
Unlike Hitler, Peter Obi has never displayed a hint of wanting to create a ruthless and totalitarian government, if and when elected. He is no fascist. Contrarily, he is an ardent advocate for democracy, free speech, free markets, free press and free people. He believes in the rule of law and the equality of all citizens under the law.
Unlike Hitler, Mr. Obi is a compassionate leader and emotionally intelligent as evidenced in the way he talks to people at all levels of society, and the way he interacts with the press and people on the campaign trail.
Hitler was a divider, a hater. Obi wants to unite and heal the nation. He has made clear that his mission is to uphold all that we have in common and less of what divides us. He has shared his agenda to perfect the nation and free it from its tribal, regional and religious yoke.
Hitler was a political terrorist and arsonist. He burnt down the Reichstag (National Assembly) to overthrow democracy and engineer his political ascendency. Peter Obi has not threatened to set anyone or place on fire for political gain. What he has done is ignite the freedom fire in the hearts of long-suffering and oppressed Nigerians.
Soludo, may we remind you that Mein Kampf, Hitler’s manifesto, was written by Hitler, not Obi.
There’s nothing in Obi’s political manifesto to imprison and execute political opponents; to force people into labor camps; to exterminate those who don’t talk, look or worship like him; to purposefully murder mentally retarded people; to gas millions of people; and kill millions more in another destructive war, a war of racial (ethnoreligious) superiority and domination.
Hitler attempted a coup to overthrow the German government in 1923. Peter Obi plans to overthrow the ruling APC government not with bullets but with ballots.
Hitler was a psychopath, racist, an antisemite, a killing machine. Obi has not exhibited any or all of these tendencies. Mr. Obi has made clear that he neither condones violence nor court the support of the most extremist elements in society. He is a compassionate leader, a bridge builder.
Yes, Obi’s supporters are passionate, angry, sometimes with some in-your-face attitude – rightly so. They are angry against injustice, corruption and the tyranny of the political class in which Soludo is embedded. But the reality is that Obi’s supporters aren’t any more passionate or angrier than those of Tinubu and Atiku.
In sum, the unanswered question remains: Why did Mr. Soludo single out Mr. Obi as potential Hitler incarnate? Obi has shown no more megalomania tendencies than Tinubu and Atiku. We expect part 2 of Soludo’s article to provide the answer.
If he doesn’t, we will write part 2 for him.
