Nigeria, Aug. 5 -- When Peter Obi, the Labour Party's presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, began reiterating that he would serve only a single term if elected president in 2027, many Nigerians received it with mixed feelings. Some viewed it as a refreshing commitment to focused governance, a sign of selflessness rarely seen among Nigeria's political elite. But others, like this writer, more politically discerning and less swept up by populist sentiments, have begun to ask a deeper question: "Is Obi's one-term vow simply another way of declaring "Emilokan", "It is my turn"?

For context, "Emilokan" became synonymous with entitlement in Nigerian politics when it was popularized by Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the lead-up to the...