From Innocent Curiosity to National Inspiration: Valerie Obienyem and Peter Obi
While she was still in primary school, she would often sit beside me, listening with fascination as Mr. Peter Obi spoke – tossing statistics and economic data into the air like a juggler, then catching and arranging them with remarkable precision.
One day, eyes wide with wonder, she turned to me and asked: “Was Mr. Peter Obi’s head operated on when he was a child, and calculators and all the data in the world inserted into it? How does he reel out those figures like that?”
I laughed but gave no answer. Instead, I promised her that one day she would ask him herself. That chance came sooner than she expected. One evening, I handed her the phone and said, “Go ahead, ask him.”
Nervously but excitedly, she asked the question. Mr. Obi chuckled on the other end of the line and responded warmly: “No, there was no operation. I just study hard. Which class are you in? If you take your studies seriously, one day, you’ll be the one people ask these kinds of questions.”
Today, that same little girl – now a student at St. John Vianney Science College, Ukwulu – welcomed Mr. Obi to her school. He had come not just as a former governor or national figure, but as a friend of the school, bearing good news and goodwill.
In honour of the school’s stunning victory at the international UK-Nigeria Debate Championship, Mr. Obi presented them with a ₦10 million donation to support ongoing infrastructural development. He congratulated the students and staff for their outstanding achievement and charged them to continue striving for excellence.
“Make Anambra and Nigeria proud,” he told them. “Your success today is a sign that you can compete with the best in the world. Keep going.”
For her, this was more than just a school event – it was a full-circle moment: the juggler of data she once admired from afar had come closer than ever, not only to inspire, but to invest in the greatness she and her peers are becoming.
