Peter Obi pledges to Listen to All Agitators for Nigeria Unity

Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said he will listen to all agitators and make necessary sacrifices to achieve national unity if elected president.

Speaking to Nigerians in Washington, USA, Obi said his approach would involve harmonizing grievances across sections of the country and finding common ground to bring Nigerians together.

“If I become President, I will listen to every section. To achieve the aim of unifying the country, I will listen to all agitators, harmonise them and make some sacrifices with a view to bringing the country together,” he said.

Ibrahim Umar, Spokesman of the Peter Obi Media Office, in a follow up said that Obi’s position represents a shift from what he described as the conventional, force-heavy approach to state security and national cohesion. The office said the philosophy positions dialogue, social justice, and inclusion as the primary tools for healing Nigeria’s geopolitical fractures.

In a statement on Saturday, Umar noted that Obi’s comments had been misinterpreted by some who singled out Nnamdi Kanu as one of the agitators in an attempt to attach ethnic motives to his stance.

“For decades, Nigeria has leaned heavily on military and security interventions to suppress regional grievances, whether in the Southeast, the Niger Delta, the Middle Belt or the North. Obi’s proposal suggests that agitation is often a symptom, not the root cause.”

Obi’s media office added that treating agitators as citizens with grievances rather than only as security threats could address issues rooted in economic marginalization, perceived injustice, and institutional neglect.

“True national unity cannot be coerced; it must be built,” the statement said. It outlined three pillars behind the dialogue-first model: identifying socio-economic disparities driving anger, ensuring regions feel included in the federal power structure, and restoring faith in democratic institutions through structured engagement.

“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice,” the office said, quoting the principle underpinning Obi’s approach.

“Peter Obi’s stance of listening to agitators is a pragmatic recognition that gun barrel diplomacy has its limits. For a multi-ethnic, multi-religious state like Nigeria, unity cannot be enforced by decree. It must be negotiated through shared prosperity, fairness, and mutual respect. A New Nigeria is Possible,” the statement concluded.