The Obidient movement now reveals itself as a fragile personality cult. When a key contributor leaves, the response is not reflection, it is not gratitude, or strategy; it is insult, emotional blackmail, and the display of ignorance. The movement has traded substance for social media noise. When you swap an aviation engineer and campaign strategist for online urchins and content creators, the campaign is grounded, both metaphorically and literally.
There is a dangerous culture growing in Nigeria’s political space, one that is rarely discussed but deeply corrosive. It is the culture of selective memory, where sacrifice is quickly forgotten, and loyalty is only valued as long as it serves a moment. History, it seems, repeats itself for those who refuse to learn. As Aristotle said, “He who cannot be a good steward of small matters cannot be entrusted with great ones.” Leadership begins with honouring those who labour for you.
Nigeria witnessed one of the most underreported tragedies in its political history during the 2023 Labour Party presidential campaign. It is the story of Engineer Isaac Balami, a young man whose intellect, resources, and dedication kept Peter Obi’s campaign aglow — and whose sacrifices is said to have been with cold indifference, ingratitude, and betrayal.
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This is not just about one man. It is a case study in how movements rise on the shoulders of committed individuals, only to be discarded when convenience demands this. It is a lesson in leadership, moral integrity, and the dangerous consequences of personality worship over principle.
Mr Isaac Balami was not a spectator in the 2023 Labour Party presidential campaign. He was not among the social media enthusiasts tweeting slogans. He was part of the engine. Peter Obi, for all his media visibility, was just the passenger in a vehicle others drove. Balami was a solid part of the infrastructure. He was capacity. He was one of the pillars that gave the movement credibility beyond hashtags.
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As a renowned aviation expert and entrepreneur, Balami brought something rare into the Obidient movement. He came with technical competence backed by real resources. Campaigns in Nigeria are not powered by sentiments alone; they require logistics, mobility, security, and funding. These are not abstract ideas; they are expensive realities. Balami understood this, and he stepped in with solutions.
He leveraged his company to maintain and manage critical campaign vessels that ensured Peter Obi’s nationwide mobility throughout the campaign period. Balami was the silent force, the subsidy of silence, that allowed a candidate who “no dey give shishi” to comfortably gain a huge share of the mind of the public. Ensuring that campaign logistics were operational and mission-ready required immense dedication and personal investment.
Beyond operational logistics, his sacrifices became even more staggering. Engineer Balami is noted to have personally procured five Toyota Prado Land Cruisers and two additional Jeeps to support campaign operations across the country. These were not symbolic gestures but strategic assets deployed nationwide. He personally fuelled these vehicles throughout the campaign period, covering all 36 states and the FCT, without requesting for or receiving a dime from Peter Obi.
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At the time he joined the Labour Party, Balami’s aviation hangar is said to have been handling the aircraft of late President Muhammadu Buhari. Aligning with Peter Obi meant making a costly and deliberate decision to forgo that high-level patronage. And we must not forget, being a Northern Christian, it exposed him to the danger of being tagged as an enemy of the Muslim North for choosing Peter Obi over Buhari. It was a sacrifice of his safety, access, influence, and financial stability in exchange for belief in a political vision. That decision alone speaks volumes about the level of trust and commitment he placed in the movement.
Balami also bore the cost of campaign mobility beyond infrastructure. While others spoke about a New Nigeria, he was underwriting it. While others amplified the message online, he was funding its physical reality.
More so, he is said to have provided critical security assets, ensuring that Peter Obi’s campaign activities could proceed safely in volatile regions of northern Nigeria, where insurgency and banditry were daily threats.
Balami’s contribution was not just financial or logistical. He served as the National Deputy Campaign Manager for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, a position of strategic influence. He was a bridge-builder. As a Northern youth leader from Borno State, he worked tirelessly to sell the Obidient movement’s message in regions traditionally and historically hostile to a presidential candidate of Igbo extraction. His credibility brought legitimacy to a movement otherwise overshadowed by a cult of personality. Many young professionals, artisans, military personnel, and police officers gravitated toward the movement because of his influence. Balami was a convener, influencer, and problem solver.
I witnessed firsthand, as a former member of the PCC, how this man’s dedication mirrored that of the late Dr Doyin Okupe, the director-general of the campaign council. Okupe made huge and costly sacrifices. He abandoned his own people, business, and personal comforts to carry Peter Obi’s vision on his shoulders. Despite tribal opposition and immense pressure, he persisted in supporting Obi for justice and equity. The parallel with Balami is undeniable: both were sidelined as the movement descended into internal chaos after the 2023 elections. Despite monumental contributions, life savings spent, logistical and moral labour expended, Peter Obi became unreachable. The men who literally kept the campaign functioning were left in the shadows.
Compare this with historical political figures who understood the currency of loyalty. Bola Tinubu, for example, has long been criticised in Nigerian political discourse, yet even his harshest critics acknowledge his ability to reward and strategically deploy the loyalty and expertise of his key allies. Balami’s treatment under Peter Obi is the polar opposite. Where Tinubu builds and sustains networks of influence, Obi shuts out the very people who make his political survival possible. The contrast could not be starker. One cultivates loyalty as an asset; the other uses it as a convenience.
The tragedy here is not just personal; it is systemic. Movements that fail to institutionalise gratitude drift into arrogance. They forget the hands that built them and start acting as though momentum appeared spontaneously. It now seems that Peter Obi did not consider Balami a partner, but a fuelling station. Once the tank was full and the destination was missed, he drove away without a backward glance.
Where were the Obidients when Balami traversed dangerous terrains, from local government to wards, mobilising support for Peter Obi with his own resources? Where were they when he sponsored Obidient conveners’ meetings and took care of their logistics? Why do we continue attacking men who made strong sacrifices at the detriment of their own comfort? Where are Peter Obi’s strongest men today? Many are gone. Has anyone bothered to find out why they left? You cannot use and later ignore people and expect them not to move on.
The Obidients failed to see the history, the assets deployed, the risks faced, and the lives impacted that made the movement nationally and globally relevant. Many of those attacking Balami today contributed nothing to the foundation they now claim to defend.
This is the unacceptable morality of Peter Obi’s leadership. He creates dependence, draws loyalty, uses expertise, and, when convenient, withdraws without acknowledgment. As Plato said, “The measure of a man is what he does with power, not what he claims in rhetoric.” Peter Obi’s rhetoric was boundless; his actions toward those who served him faithfully were barren.
The Obidient movement now reveals itself as a fragile personality cult. When a key contributor leaves, the response is not reflection, it is not gratitude, or strategy; it is insult, emotional blackmail, and the display of ignorance. The movement has traded substance for social media noise. When you swap an aviation engineer and campaign strategist for online urchins and content creators, the campaign is grounded, both metaphorically and literally.
A real movement honours its builders. A real political leader protects and celebrates those who make their success possible. Mr Balami acted with courage, intelligence, and integrity. He chose life, principle, and vision over exploitation and ingratitude. Those who cannot understand this are blinded by the noise of online zealotry.
In the end, the true measure of any political movement is not how loudly it shouts, but how faithfully it remembers those who built it. Nigeria has seen enough packaged deception. It is time for leadership that remembers, leadership that respects, and leadership that honours sacrifice.
Meche Oswald is a preacher, social commentator, and advocate for good governance. He is a passionate writer with a deep interest in politics, religion, and the moral foundations of leadership.
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