WHY I ADMIRE AND SUPPORT PETER OBI CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE

Chimamanda Adichie

Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian-born worldwide writer, has stated why she backed Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, in the February 25 presidential election.

Adichie stated that her support for Obi stems from her belief in his abilities and his interest in regular people.

She further stated that Obi dealt with insecurity in Anambra, which led to his confrontation with the state's elites.

Adichie said this on Tuesday while answering questions on Arise Television's show.

Remember that the award-winning author wrote a letter to Joe Biden, the president of the United States of America, US, expressing her serious concern over the election results.

In her letter, she argued that the election was marred by anomalies and the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to follow the presidential election standards.

Adichie cautioned that recognizing Tinubu's presidency would "tarnish America's self-proclaimed dedication to democracy and lend legitimacy to an unlawful process."

In the letter, the famed author also stated her support for Obi for the nation's top office.

Nevertheless, Adichie explained why she backed Obi, recalling how she met him years ago when he came to pay tribute to her parents.

Obi, she claims, came to their house because he heard her father was the first professor of statistics in Nigeria and her mother retired as the University of Nigeria's first female registrar.

"Why I very much admire Peter Obi, respect him, there are many others out there whom I admire and respect, and I will never vote for them for president because I don't just think they will make the president..

"And so my support for Peter Obi is deeply rooted in real things; it is rooted in my faith in his ability. Actually, I got to know him years ago when he came to pay homage to my parents because he had heard my father was the first professor of statistics in Nigeria and that my mother had retired as the first female registrar of the University of Nigeria.

"And so this man just sort of arrived and said he just wanted to pay homage, and I was very impressed by that because he showed me how much he values education.

"And then, he became governor of Anambra State, and he took Anambra State to number one in education. I remember being very impressed by the story of how he had given his personal phone numbers to all of the senior prefects in secondary schools in Anambra, which I think also showed me he is interested in what ordinary people think.

"He does not just want to hear from the administrators; he wants to hear from them; he wants to hear from the students about what is really happening.

"And his focus on security, he really tackled kidnapping in Anambra, and I also remembered that he used to clash with the Anambra elites when he was tackling insecurity and kidnapping and that showed me he is quite decisive; he is just very focused on things. And that is really why I support him."