Why I refused to speak at Bishop Kukah’s book presentation in Port Harcourt

Labour Party Presidential Candidate in the February 25, 2023, election, Mr. Peter Obi, has explained why he declined the opportunity to speak at the presentation of the Most Rev. Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah’s new book in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Friday.

Mr. Obi, former Governor of Anambra State, said in a tweet, that he ended up not speaking at the high-profile event “due to a protocol mix up,” which required him to speak after President Olusegun Obasanjo had spoken at the event, which also had in attendance other dignitaries, including retired Justice Kumai Akaahs of the Supreme Court and outgoing Governor Nyesom Wike, who was the host.

Mr. Obi said: “I ended up not speaking at the event due to a protocol mix up, which required me to speak after President Obasanjo had spoken, which I naturally declined,” noting, however, that his “compelling reason for attending the event was in part to acknowledge and further underline the overwhelming imperative of reconciliation processes in our country, Nigeria, today.”

The book is titled Witness to Reconciliation – My Personal Journey Towards Reconciliation, and Mr. Obi stressed further that “what is happening in the South-South, and indeed all over Nigeria, requires adequate attention and reconciliation in order to engender sustainable peace and progress.

“The environment blight which Ogoni people have experienced and the unfulfilled promises, which by extension pertains to the larger South-South and indeed the entire nation, continue to be a source of deep-seated mistrust, agitations, civil unrest and tribal division; I thank Bishop Kukah for the painstaking efforts of putting together his experiences in this literary piece. I also urge the government to do more in the area of reconciliation, pacific settlement of disputes and promotion of national unity and development. -PO.”