It is Sunday and two words – Yes Daddy – are trending like they have got fuel and fire with them. People now put their firewood together and pour these words on them, forcing a wild spread.Â
Being Sunday, we will begin with a scripture and then go down to share the lessons from the ‘Yes Daddy’ audio conversation.
First, “Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he falls’.
Nigeria is indeed an amazing country. When it comes to religion, people pitch tents, especially when it draws political battle lines.
Since February 25 presidential election full of flaws, Nigerians have remained on the edge, waiting for what is to come. They look to the Judiciary.
Indeed, this teetered election offers the judiciary, which is largely independent, an opportunity to exercise its checks and balances on the executive giving the people succour.
Since March 1, there is this uneasiness that forces political parties to seek avenues to discredit an opponent and make him lose some level of support.
This is one of the reasons we have now seen a ‘Yes Daddy’ audio conversation causing uproar.
However, this situation is a pointer to four different lessons that every Nigerians should learn.
We will explain them as short as they could be.
1.   An Enemy Is Always Within
One thing we see is that there is an enemy within. That enemy could be in the camp of the candidate of the Labour Party, the camp of the opposition or the network provider’s building.
Two things are possible. For the conversation to hold, Obi was in a quiet place. Also, there could be a third party listening to the call and recoding the conversation. That persons is likely not in the same room with the ‘OBidient Movement Marshall’.
Also, that individual is likely to have had access to his telephone conversation, tapping his line.
This is not likely to be a member of the OBidient, family, except it is someone planted by the opposition for a time like this.
In fact, the Labour Party had said that a prodigal brother from Nnewi released the audio conversation. This confirms an enemy within. Nnewi is in Anambra State.
Furthermore, the issue of telephone line tapping brings us to the next lesson learnt.
2.  How Safe Is Your Telephone?
You see, from all observation and logic, one that stands out is the chance that someone tapped the Labour Party candidate’s phone line.
Another possibility is that someone has obtained a right to look into his past conversations to find something incriminating.
Get hold of anything that will lower his popularity, must have been the order.
Unfortunately, the more you talk about a man, the more that man takes hold of the heart of people.
The principle of mere exposure in marketing teaches us that; as you expose a person to a particular thing over and over again, the individual will begin to find reasons to get the item.
Well, Obi could be enjoying that exposure from the Yes Daddy trend.
But this tapping of line should also, bring worry to Nigerians about how safe their phone lines are.
Is it likely, that someone could just go and tap your line without a security agency giving a backing to it? There must be a legal document to back that decision in situation that the owner of the line must not know.
Who gave the backing?
A few days ago, the DSS raised alarm about plot to force an interim government and here we are, days after, with a leaked audio conversation of Mr Peter Obi.
So many things come to mind.
Who authorised the tapping of Mr Peter Obi’s line and for what reason? This should be one question Nigerians should be asking as well.
We expect more leaks and not just the Yes Daddy audio conversation.
3.   The Force In Peter ObiÂ
Earlier, we mentioned that the popularity of Mr Peter Obi is likely to grow more with this Yes Daddy trend.
Why will he be the target of the ruling party. The man who is at the 3rd place in an election.
It beats imagination.
Why not Atiku Abubakar. Or is he also being scrutinised for such incriminating information?
Well, we will find out as the election Tribunal commencement draws near.
Indeed, there seem to be this campaign of calumny to make Nigerians look away from the petition that is coming.
One will expect that a team that has won an election, clean and clear, will go to bed and wait for the Tribunal. But this appears not to be the case.
Why is there a desire to damage Peter Obi’s political career at this time?
4.   Religion And PoliticsÂ
Again, this is the final lesson we have learnt in this whole saga.
Different questions come to mind at this point, being that an influential Christian is involved.
Is there a place for religion in politics?
Is a pastor deprived of involvement in politics by law?
Does being influential prohibit a person from expressing his political views or even expressing an opinion around a candidate of choice?
Nigeria’s Constitution
You may not know that there is a section of the Nigerian Constitution that could be referred to when the issue of religion comes to the fore in matters of politics.
In section 221 of the Nigerian constitution (1999), it is stated that: “No association, other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at an election”.
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As much as people could cling on this section of the constitution to discredit the involvement of Bishop David Oyedepo in politics, that section says an association and not an individual.
Well, in Nigeria we have seen Drivers’ association and others campaign for politicians, printing flyers and flex banners for these candidates, and branding these materials with their names.
This expresses their support for the political party. Are those not association?
We have seen several of such associations brandishing support for different political parties during the election and issuing warnings of different sorts, yet no one spoke up against them.
The lawyers should tell Nigerians if it is totally wrong for a Christian to seek a Christian’s support to occupy a political position.
Do other religion leaders not even tell their followers who to vote for?
These lessons are there for all to learn from the Yes Daddy audio conversation between Bishop David Oyedepo and Peter Obi.
