When some folks sought to ridicule Peter Obi’s choice of study at the university, I laughed. I laughed and scoffed at their screaming ignorance. Timeless truth is that philosophy is the calling and concentration of the ideal leader, the one Plato called the philosopher king.

In one of his seminal dialogs, The Republic, written as far back as around 375 BC, Plato argued that the ideal state, a state that ensured the maximum possible happiness for all of its citizens, could only be brought about by a ruler who possessed absolute knowledge, and that such knowledge could only be acquired through philosophical study. Plato went on to propound the philosopher king as a hypothetical ruler of a just city-state who combined political skills with philosophical knowledge.

Socrates, a leading character in Plato’s Republic, was even more emphatic: “Until philosophers rule as kings, or those who are now called kings and leading men, genuinely and adequately philosophize; that is, until political power and philosophy entirely coincide…cities will have no rest from evils…there can be no happiness, either public or
private, in any other city.”

Obviously, this is where Nigeria comes in at this moment of existential crossroads. When you substitute Nigeria for the Roman Empire, what Socrates is saying is that until Peter Obi becomes the President of Nigeria, Nigeria will have no rest from evils, the likes of Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu, and there can be no happiness, public or private in the streets of Maiduguri, Enugu, Lagos, Eket, and elsewhere.

So, vote wisely. Vote the philosopher king, except that in Peter Obi’s case, you will be voting for the philosopher servant-leader. We have a historic opportunity to inaugurate a philosopher as the President of Nigeria, one who combines deft political skills with deep philosophical knowledge. Peter Obi as a philosopher appreciates the philosophy of collective pain and suffering, the philosophy of a just city-state, and the philosophy of just leadership. Peter Obi is not just the scriptural disciple, the Rock upon which Christ built his Church, he is also the philosopher king who will build the Nigeria of our dreams. Vote Labour!

Labour Party | Labour of Love | Love of Country