Supporters of the Labour Party in Plateau State on Saturday trooped out in their large numbers for the two million-man solidarity march to drum up support for the LP presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi.
The crowd took off from the city centre of Jos and marched through the major streets, shutting down the city while traffic movements within the metropolis were paralysed for close to four hours.
The mammoth crowd simply tagged Obi Movement, adorned themselves in T-shirts with various inscriptions in support of Obi-Datti’s presidential bid, and took over the entire Secretariat Junction in the city centre, before escalating to other streets across the city.
The supporters, under the aegis of the Initiative for a Better and Brighter nigeria (IBBN), a group formed by over eighty groups of individuals from different tribes, terminated their rally at the State Secretariat junction where different personalities addressed the mammoth crowd.
Addressing the crowd, Prophet Isa El-Buba Sadiq stressed that a new nigeria was possible because nigeria is a nation that controls the black African countries.
He lamented that Nigerians have been oppressed for too long by those who feel they own the country.
“We are tired of what is happening in the country; our leaders can no longer defend us; we want to tell them that enough is enough; we want justice; we want fairness; we want equity, and we will speak out to let them know that we are tired.
“We can no longer sit back and SEE our children slaughtered by militia. We are devoting our personal resources to this movement; we are training over 40 million supporters and deploying them to ‘fight’ for this cause without violence; we shall be peaceful but tenacious to make sure we achieve our goal; the goal is Obi for President. ”
El-Buba Sadiq stated that this can only be accomplished if Nigerians unite with one voice, motive, and purpose to support Obi who will make nigeria a better place for all.
He insisted that Obi would be the one to redeem nigeria and give the people a life that Nigerians dream of – a life of purpose.
He added that “with or without Obi, a new nigeria is possible, but Obi is just an instrument and a stepping stone for us to have a better nigeria.”
He said, “The Chairman, Middle Belt Elders Forum, Dr Bitrus Pogu, had consulted with critical stakeholders in the Middle Belt and nigeria on how to achieve this goal before we embarked on this. After much deliberation, we decided to go for someone in the Southeast, and Obi surfaced as our ‘saviour’, and he will surely do that.
“This movement for Obi has just started and a new nigeria awaits us; a new nigeria full of possibilities and a home for all.”
A cross-section of the supporters, mostly youths who spoke with the Sunday Tribune stated that they were not induced by anyone to take part in the solidarity rally.
They claimed that the majority of them joined the movement out of the conviction that Mr Obi has the capacity to salvage the country from bad governance.