Atoyebi, Trailblazer or Leading Us Astray?
By Phebe Obong
It is an aphorism that we sift men from the boys, substance from chaff when the jungle matured which therefore has necessitated this assessment. In recent months, Comrade Bamidele Atoyebi has distinguished himself from the usual wining and dining grassroots political mobilizer. He has been championing a focused and purpose driven movement tagged the BAT Home-Cell, a sub political movement under the BAT Ideological Group.
The core purpose of this adroitly driven and purpose directed sub political movement is to achieve the manifesto objectivisation of President Bola Tinubu which mantra is to ensure that no Nigerian goes to bed hungry. Also, it brings with it a new form of participatory politics. It is modeled after a religious fellowship structure where people meet in the smallest cluster possible to get to know one another better and in a crocosm setting, meet pressing needs.
The idea is simple; Atoyebi believes that if you can reach each family, you can shape the entire nation, making everyone feel carried along. The home-cell is designed as the smallest political unit of localized clusters of people living in the same area. This way, the minutest issue plaguing anyone becomes by extension, the problem of the sub group to address.
They’ll gather occasionally to learn about President Tinubu’s aims, objectives, larger national ideology, and style of leadership. A movement also aimed at establishing the belief that Tinubu is an institution that should be studied.
It is also a more effective way of sustaining a political movement beyond elections, shifting emphasis from winning votes to nurturing loyalty.
This system doubles down on fostering a communal lifestyle within these cells. Atoyebi envisions neighbours knowing each other’s names, personal struggles beyond just identifying faces as another person I see around. In this system, home-cells become support networks where families can seek help, whether it’s academic assistance for stranded children or basic welfare needs.
This sounds noble especially because Nigeria’s social and community support systems have weakened over the years. A structure like this that strengthens solidarity could, indeed, make families, neighborhoods, and eventually entire cities more stable.
However, should political power reach deeply into family spaces? Because once politics becomes a weekly home-cell activity, it stops being just governance and becomes a lifestyle, that tend towards ideological grooming.
Well, Atoyebi argues that if every family in a community thrives, the entire city will thrive. And on that point, he is not wrong. Stronger social ties do create more resilient societies.
But the question is not whether the community should be strengthened. The question really is; Must community strengthening be tied to political ideology?
Phebe Obong is a Journalist, event host and social media news analyst.
