By Bala Ibrahim
Since last week, when, pursuant to a question put forward to the National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Felix Morka, by the Arise TV, the media space in Nigeria and beyond, has been overwhelmed with the ugly and deliberately twisted comments of threats, threats to the life of a leading opposition member, Chief Peter Obi. The needless controversy arose from the statements of Chief Peter Obi and the subsequent response by Mr. Felix Morka, which, when properly and objectively perused, do not go any where near the claim of threats to life. No where near there.
I think the opposition is only smart mouthing by refusing to place the comments in their rightful perspectives. In his verified official X handle, Chief Peter Obi had alleged that “my New Year Message has now led to threats to my life, my family, and those around me. While I have received all sorts of messages, one Mr. Felix Morka has gone further to accuse me of “crossing the line” and has warned that I will face consequences.” It may interest the reader to understand how the drama started and what made Mr Morka to comment, in the manner that Mr Obi smart mouthed, and I would quote everyone verbatim, starting with the Arise TV, the interviewer.
ARISE TV : You have actually hit back with a volley of attacks, calling Peter Obi a prophet of doom. Some of you have said he is always embarking on voodoo economics that are not in line with current realities. Don’t you think that is a slingshot that has gone beyond normal politicking?
MORKA: No, he is the one throwing darts. Mr. Obi is shooting from the hip. He is not looking, he is not taking an aim; he just shoots wildly like what we used to see in movies back in the days in “Wild, Wild West.” He is not being rational, he is absolutely irrational in his thinking and in his commentary for a man who was Governor for eight years and left nothing to remember in Anambra State by way of legacy or transformation. But all of a sudden, he had served as Governor for eight years, he didn’t have the wisdom or the smartness to change Anambra State; to make Anambra the beacon, the example of governance in the country. But then he runs for President in 2023, and now that he didn’t win, he is sulking. Rather than get a perspective of what he did to lose so he can get better in future, he thinks that he can bring down the government by being maliciously deceptive. That is wrong. I’m not someone to go on the offensive in that manner. But Mr. Obi has crossed the line so many times. And, I think that, at this point, he has coming to him whatever he gets. He should manage it.”
At the risk of being misunderstood as an English language teacher, I would like to venture a little, into the ambitions of the phrase, Crossing the line and the idiomatic expression, Get what is coming. The dictionary says, when you do something that is outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour, you have crossed the line. So, crossing the line can simply mean, behaving against convention. If for any reason you choose to enter the room and leave through the window, when everyone is entering and leaving through the door, you are crossing the line of normal behaviour. If you distort facts, you have crossed the line of truth. As an opinion writer, I have been told many times, that some of my articles have crossed the line and the reader is disgusted. I’ve never cried about my life and family members being threatened. Doing so would have been smart mouthing.
The dictionary also describes the idiom, Get what is coming as receiving what one deserves or is due. Depending on what one does, the consequences can be unpleasant, such as a punishment or rebuke.
For example, When people accuse you of being a voodoo economist, they are simply saying you are prophesizing an economic doom. As a politician, it could come with the punishment of rejection. That is getting what is coming, it’s left for you to manage it.
In 1980, during the American presidential primaries, George H.W. Bush, then a candidate, described his opponent Ronald Reagan’s proposals to reinvigorate the U.S. economy as Voodoo economics. Bush was punished by the electorates, who rejected him and Reagan won that election. Reagan never shouted that his life was under threat and his economic policies came to be known as “Reaganomics.”
Many, including the National Chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, have expressed surprise at the manner of Mr. Obi and the members of his so called “Obidient” Movement. Alot of support and solitary have been coming the way of Mr. Morka, including one from the Tinubu Stakeholders Forum (TSF), who were quick to condemn the deliberate twisting of the harmless comments.
“While Mr Obi has a right of opinion on government policies, we urge him and his supporters to rise above inflammatory rhetoric and baseless accusations. Leadership demands responsibility, and public figures should focus on inspiring hope and unity, not amplifying division. The so-called “Obidient Movement” must understand that responsible governance requires rational debate and a focus on solutions, not sensational narratives that mislead the public. The Nigerian people deserve leadership that prioritizes facts over emotional manipulation, progress over pandemonium, and unity over discord.”-TSF