Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last election, has expressed concern over what he described as the deepening culture of transactional politics in Nigeria.
The former governor of Anambra State said this during an engagement at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C, United States.
He said some young people in Nigeria are being paid to shut down voices calling for reform.
He bemoaned the trend of political actors paying youths to troll and harass advocates of good governance, particularly on social media.
He said: “In the transactional politics of Nigeria, some people pay them to cause confusion. Go to social media, those that are being paid N20,000, N40,000 monthly to abuse you are the same youths you’re fighting for their lives because I am over 60 and I have a few years to go.”
While describing the development as both painful and ironic, Obi lamented that the same young people whose interests are being defended are used as tools to protect the faulty system that marginalises them.
He warned that the long-term impact of such manipulation could be destructive if left unchecked.
Mr. Obi urged Nigerian youths to rise above token inducements and reject what he called the politics of manipulation.
He also called for a generational shift driven by knowledge, civic consciousness, and a commitment to change.
“We must move away from politics driven by money and manipulation. Our youths must be empowered with knowledge, not stipends to insult those seeking change,” he added.
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