Tinubu, The kingmaker

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

AS Muhammadu Buhari receives the baton from President Goodluck Jonathan today, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will receive the adulation of a kingmaker.

Indeed, Tinubu will go down in history as the merger initiator, executor and consolidator.

Many commentators have described the former governor of Lagos State as a courageous and fearless political General, strategic thinker, risk taker, a crusader for change, and a great apostle of power, which, in his view, is never served a la carte. Always exuding charisma, the swearing in ceremony will be the crowing of Tinubu’s efforts as an indomitable opposition leader and the most colourful politician in the post-Awolowo era.

Thirty two years ago, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, predicted that progressive forces would  float a formidable opposition platform that would win federal power. Tinubu fulfilled the prediction. He argued that, if the leaders of like-minded parties could make sacrifice and float a mega party to confront the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigerians would celebrate power shift. He rejected the option of alliance or inexplicable coalition, saying that only the option of merger was viable.

Tinubu came up with the theory of the cow and the slaughter’s slab. It will be difficult for the cow to be dragged to the slab. But, once the cow gets there, it is a journey of no return. In Tinubu’s view, only a merger can lead to the natural death of the legacy parties. Once the scattered progressive platforms are collapsed into the APC, their leaders will not look back. They will either survive or sink with the mega party. On March 28, they survived as Buhari defeated Dr. Jonathan at the presidential election.

The road was laced with thrones. But, the leaders weathered the storm. Tinubu provided the inspiration. He sustained the tempo of political motivation till the end. He is acknowledged as a top party financier.

Tinubu’s role in the polity is consistent with his antecedent. Since he crossed the bridge from the boardroom to politics, he has not looked back. “He is the contemporary Awo of our time, who is destined to complete Awo’s unfinished business,” said a party elder from Lagos, Olorunfunmi Bashorun.  “History will not forget his contributions,” he added.

House of Representatives member-elect Olajide Jimoh, who described Tinubu as the Tutor-General of the Nigerian politics, said the party leader is endowed with mega capabilities. “He started the journey of liberation in 2007 from the Southwest. Today, the progressives are in power at the centre,” he added.

When the political earthquake swept across the Southwest in 2003, only Tinubu survived. PDP sharp shooters and hawks, penetrated the Alliance for Democracy (AD), at the instance of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Ahead of 2007 polls, AD was in ruins. But, Tinubu, a man of foresight, saw it coming. He spearheaded the formation of the Action Congress (AC), which later metamorphosed into the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Under the guidance of the quintessential soldier of democracy, the party reclaimed Ekiti and Osun States from the PDP in 2010. A year later, PDP was also sacked from power in Ogun and Oyo States. But, last year, PDP regained the control of Ekiti.

Tinubu grew up in a political family. His mother, the late Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, the Iyaloja-General of Nigeria, was a popular politician and women mobiliser in the days of the Action Group (AG), the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and Social Democratic Party (SDP). But, little did he guess that he would also become a political colossus.

Tinubu  attended St. John’s Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos and Children’s Home School in Ibadan. Tinubu went to the United States in 1975, where he studied at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago, Illinois and later at Chicago State University. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. Tinubu worked for American companies-Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, Haskins, & Sells, and GTE Services Corporation. After returning to Nigeria in 1983, he worked with Mobil Oil Nigeria.

When the auditor became a politician by accident, he took the polity by storm. It was in the aborted Third Republic. As a senator on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), he became a thorn in the flesh of the military.

The Lagos West Social Democratic Party (SDP) senatorial form was obtained for Tinubu by his cousin, Alhaji Kola Oseni, a grassroots politician. At the screening, the green horn dazed the screening committee headed by Chief Lanre Rasak when he scored the highest mark. He answered highly technical questions with immensurable wit from the panel. Old politicians on the panel, who had written off the new breed, had a re-think.

Lagos West District is the largest senatorial district in the country. During the historic contest, Tinubu defeated the National Republican Convention (NRC) candidate, Mrs. Kemi Nelson, with a wide margin. In 1999, Mrs. Nelson served as a commissioner in Tinubu’s Administration. Tinubu also scored the highest number of senatorial votes in the country. He was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance. He was widely acknowledged as a high flyer, prolific analyst and tactician. With the fall of the Third Republic, his career in the Upper Chamber was aborted.

Tinubu was the arrowhead of senators seeking an end to the military rule. The brave politician had objected to the annulment of the free and fair June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the SDP candidate, the late Basorun Moshood Abiola.  He was a pillar of support for the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). His dedication, courage and financial backing for the noble cause sustained the crusade.

During the June 12 crisis, Tinubu was marked liquidation. He escaped abroad. From there, he fired salvos at the military. He inspired many pro-democracy groups, whose activities led to the restoration of civil rule in 1999.

Tinubu made history as the governor of the Centre of Excellence for eight years. He was a model governor. He jerked up the internally generated revenue from the N600 million monthly to billions of naira. Tinubu fought the infrastructural battle. He constructed roads, built hospitals and schools, created opportunities for employment and re-energised the transport sector. He initiated the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The judiciary reforms he introduced were legendary.

The former governor also created additional 37 local councils, based on popular demand. When the allocations to the councils were seized by the Federal Government, he invented a creative financial engineering that made the councils to survive.

When Tinubu’s tenure was about to expire in 2007, he groomed a competent successor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), who also won re-election in 2011.

In politics and private life, Tinubu is reputed for philanthropy. He is a cheerful giver, benefactor, godfather and defender of the oppressed. Tinubu is a national property and detribalised apostle of national unity. He is an apostle of true federalism and Sovereign National Conference. Yet, he objected to the National Conference set up by the Jonathan Administration last year, describing it as a decoy and a Greek gift. The conference ended up as a jamboree.

Tinubu is an advocate of electoral reform. He hailed the work of the Justice Muhammadu Uwais Panel on Electoral Reforms. But, in his view, electoral reform is an unfinished business.

Tinubu’s political career has been turbulent. Three years ago, he was dragged before  the Code of Conduct tribunal for allegedly operating illegal foreign accounts. He triumphed over his detractors. Also, agents of the Federal Government  monitor his activities as an opposition leader. Whenever he was abroad, stories would be cooked about him.

Rewards for politics and community service have come for Tinubu in torrents. He has received many honorary chieftaincy titles. They include the Asiwaju of Lagos, conferred on him by the late Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, the Jagaban of Borgu Kingdom and the Aare of Ile-Oluji.

Culled from The Nation