By Khaleed yazeed
A Rejoinder to Segun Dipe’s Sponsored Hatchet Job on Peter Obi
When a failing government has zero tangible achievements to present to a starving, traumatized, and impoverished citizenry ahead of a decisive election, its paid propagandists inevitably resort to manufacturing phantom controversies. Segun Dipe’s recent Sunday opinion piece, masquerading as a high-minded lecture on constitutionalism pand patriotism, is nothing more than a desperate, poorly disguised hit job commissioned to smear the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, and distract Nigerians from the catastrophic governance failures of the Tinubu government. By attempting to turn a routine town hall protocol transition into a treasonable felony, Dipe has insulted the intelligence of millions of Nigerians who are currently battling the worst cost-of-living crisis in the nation’s history.
Before Segun Dipe attempts to lecture anyone on patriotism, civic duty, or the rule of law, the reading public deserves to know the exact identity of the man behind the pen. Dipe does not write from the noble pedestal of an independent, non-partisan public intellectual or constitutional scholar; he is a card-carrying partisan mouthpiece and rabid defender of the Tinubu administration. His entire political relevance is tied to whitewashing a government whose ill-conceived economic policies have plunged tens of millions of Nigerians into multidimensional poverty, destroyed the purchasing power of the Naira, and turned basic daily survival into an agonizing struggle. When a partisan megaphone whose primary job is to defend executive incompetence suddenly discovers “constitutional morality,” discerning Nigerians immediately recognize the scent of political desperation.
In his frantic haste to crucify Peter Obi, Segun Dipe embarrassingly exposed his shallow, elementary grasp of the very Constitution he pretends to defend. Dipe boldly cited “Section 24(b)” of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as imposing a legal duty on citizens to respect the National Anthem. Had he bothered to read the document he quoted, he would have discovered that respect for the National Flag and National Anthem is actually domiciled under Section 24(a), whereas Section 24(b) speaks about enhancing the power, prestige, and good name of Nigeria. A self-styled commentator who cannot accurately cite a two-line provision of the supreme law lacks both the intellectual rigor and the moral authority to pronounce anyone guilty of a “constitutional infraction.”
Even more fundamentally, Dipe’s attempt to conjure “legal consequences” out of thin air exposes a total ignorance of Nigerian constitutional jurisprudence. The duties outlined in Section 24 fall under Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution (Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy), which by virtue of Section 6(6)(c) are strictly non-justiciable in any court of law. Furthermore, the National Anthem Act, 2024 a bill notoriously rushed through the National Assembly by the Tinubu government in a matter of days while urgent economic survival bills gathered dust, contains zero criminal penalty whatsoever for singing “Arise, O Compatriots”. By fabricating non-existent legal liabilities to criminalize a presidential candidate, Dipe has engaged in pure intellectual dishonesty designed to mislead the public.
Equally hypocritical is the selective amnesia displayed by defenders of the Tinubu government regarding the very history of the anthem they now treat as sacred scripture. “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” was written in 1959 by a British expatriate, Lillian Jean Williams, and composed by Frances Berda, a colonial relic discarded in 1978 in favor of “Arise, O Compatriots”, which was written and composed entirely by Nigerians to reflect indigenous national pride. For the Tinubu administration to unilaterally resurrect a colonial anthem without broad national consensus, at a time when citizens could barely afford a loaf of bread and then accuse a patriot like Peter Obi of treason over a crowd’s spontaneous preference for an indigenous Nigerian anthem is the peak of absurdity.
Segun Dipe’s theatrical claim that sitting down for a few seconds during a protocol mix-up amounts to “sitting on 230 million Nigerians” is the height of political gaslighting. Nigerians know very well who is truly sitting on their necks and crushing their livelihoods. Is it Peter Obi, or the Tinubu government that unilaterally removed fuel subsidies on day one without a coherent social safety net, triggering runaway inflation that has priced basic foodstuffs, life-saving medicines, electricity, and transportation out of the reach of the ordinary citizen? To equate momentary posture during a song with hatred for Nigeria, while ignoring economic policies that have driven millions into hunger, depression, and despair, is an unforgivable mockery of human suffering.
If Segun Dipe is genuinely looking for acts of defiance against the Nigerian Constitution, he need not look beyond the daily conduct of the very Tinubu administration he defends. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution unequivocally declares that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. Under the watch of the Tinubu government, kidnapping for ransom, banditry, terrorism, and mass killings have become routine daily occurrences across both northern and southern Nigeria, turning federal highways into death traps and rural farmlands into killing fields. This administration’s chronic failure to protect Nigerian lives is the ultimate constitutional breach, not which stanza of a song an opposition leader sings at a political gathering.
Furthermore, those who live in glass houses should never throw stones when it comes to constitutional obedience and respect for democratic institutions. Under the Tinubu government, Nigerians have witnessed blatant disregard for court orders, the weaponization of state security agencies against peaceful protesters and critics, and the systematic strangulation of opposition voices. For apologists of an administration with such a troubling record on civil liberties and institutional independence to suddenly pose as self-righteous defenders of the rule of law because of an anthem transition in Lagos is an insult to every right-thinking Nigerian.
True patriotism is never measured by superficial pageantry, forced salutes, or standing at rigid attention to recite a colonial relic while over 18 million Nigerian children remain out of school and public hospitals lack basic diagnostic equipment. Patriotism is defined by prudent management of public resources, transparency, fiscal discipline, and a relentless commitment to lifting citizens out of poverty. While the Tinubu government splurges scarce public funds on luxury presidential jets, bloated ministerial cabinets, endless foreign trips, and opulent renovations amidst unprecedented economic hardship, Peter Obi’s entire public life has been anchored on frugality, accountability, and productive investment in human capital.
What transpired in Lagos and the suspiciously synchronized outrage from appointees and ministers of the Tinubu government like Nyesom Wike and Festus Keyamo is clearly part of a wider, coordinated campaign of intimidation aimed at demolishing Peter Obi’s integrity ahead of the 2027 general elections. Notice how rapidly government officials abandoned pressing national emergencies, collapsing power grids, soaring food prices, and worsening insecurity to issue ultimatums and press statements over a two-minute video clip. This coordinated hysteria reveals a government that is deeply unsettled by Obi’s growing moral authority and nationwide appeal.
Indeed, this anthem distraction is merely the latest chapter in an ongoing campaign of harassment against Peter Obi by state actors aligned with the Tinubu administration. Whenever Obi travels across the country to donate to schools, nursing institutions, and vulnerable communities, officials aligned with the Tinubu government panic and issue veiled threats against his security, attempting to abridge his constitutional right to freedom of movement under Section 41. Whenever he presents verifiable economic data exposing government waste and borrowing binges, state propagandists dodge the facts and launch coordinated personal insults against him and his supporters.
The reason for this relentless witch-hunt is obvious to every objective observer: having searched his past with a fine-tooth comb and failed to find a single scandal of treasury looting, certificate forgery, drug forfeiture, or abuse of office, the Tinubu government machinery is desperate to manufacture a moral blemish against him. They deliberately ignored the fact that the current national anthem was eventually performed at that very Lagos town hall, choosing instead to weaponize a brief, spontaneous crowd transition to paint a man of impeccable character as an outlaw. This obsession with tearing down Obi’s reputation only confirms how terrified the ruling establishment is of a free, fair, and issue-based contest in 2027.
Ultimately, no volume of sponsored Sunday articles by Segun Dipe or manufactured outrage by ministers of the Tinubu administration can erase Peter Obi’s unassailable record of integrity and competence. As Governor of Anambra State, Obi left office without owing a single kobo in worker salaries, pensions, or contractor debts, while leaving behind billions of Naira in verified savings and investments for his successor, a standard of fiscal responsibility unmatched in modern Nigerian governance. Nigerians know who looted the commonwealth, and they know who possesses the character to rescue it. You cannot starve citizens into submission and then police which anthem they sing; until the Tinubu government confronts the hunger, corruption, and insecurity ravaging the land, its propaganda will continue to collapse under the weight of reality.
Segun Dipe thinks Nigerians are blind enough to mistake a paid party publicity secretary for an objective Sunday columnist; the only thing ‘independent’ about his writing is how completely independent it is from facts, logic, and shame.
–Khaleed Yazeed, Founder, Wakilin Yamma Youth Development Network, Katsina State, Nigeria
