Renowned novelist Chimamanda Adichie has endorsed the former governor of Anambra State Peter Obi for the office of the president of Nigeria next year.
In a Facebook post to mark Mr Obi’s 61st birthday on Tuesday, the author of Half of a Yellow Sun said she has always admired Obi’s love for education.
“I cannot wait for February 25, 2023, when I, with personal pride in you and with hope for what Nigeria can become, will cast my vote for you and your running mate, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed,” she said.
Obi is the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the forthcoming presidential election.
Chimamanda also said she is inspired by Obi’s intellectual curiosity, his eagerness to learn and his “genuine love of education (which is why you sought out, and honored, Daddy all those years ago when you learned that he was Nigeria’s first professor of statistics).”
The best-selling author said she has always admired Obi’s humane pragmatism and how he is willing to talk to almost anyone if it will bring about a good outcome.
Chimamanda, who is set to release a new book Mama’s Sleeping Scarf next year, recalled how she teased Obi about the inexpensive hotel he stayed in when he went to New York sometime ago to support her while she was being honoured by the United Nations Foundation.
According to her, Obi’s response was that he didn’t need an expensive hotel to sleep in.
