As political parties wind down their campaigns across the countries, one man who has remarkably stood out in the pack has remained Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Without doubt, Tinubu remains the most vilified of all the candidates standing election for the top office in the country. From issues bordering on his certificate as a graduate of Chicago State University, his parentage, to his work experience, Tinubu has always been the man of the moment. Little wonder, internet algorithms in Nigeria and social media space puts his name as top on the list of trending issues.
These lies and hatred are enough to weigh down any one but Tinubu has not just been able to handle them but he has made lemonades out of the lemon. It is more important to note that this hatred against the person of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is not of his own character flaws.
On the contrary, he has become the Simon of Cyrene. Simon of Cyrene is a character in the Bible who was forced to help Christ bear his cross. Tinubu is carrying Buhari’s cross. Many who were apologetic to former president Goodluck Jonathan and are miffed at how the Jagabanof Borgu helped Buhari to unseat the former are one class of those who pass on the hatred to Tinubu. There are also those who impose the kin punishment on Tinubu for being affiliated to President Buhari. They believe that Tinubu must be held responsible for the supposed flaws in this administration given that Jagaban played and keeps playing a major role in the PMB administration. There are a third set of people who are just engaging in class hatred. Their hatred for Jagaban is merely borne out of peer pressure.
The interesting twist in all of these is the fact that Tinubu has kept on forging alliances beyond the Niger and expanding the frontiers of his reach. He, unlike some, is not a man who just woke up from the blue and decided to run as President of this great country. He was intentional about it and has been one whoairs his opinion on matters, even at the detriment of his ambition. Many examples abound to espouse this. For example, when Afenifere started hobnobbing with Obasanjo and asked all the six Southwest Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors to support this bid, Tinubu was vociferous in his rejection of the bid. He warned them of the dangers in the plan and was subsequently labelled a rebel. The end of it all was that the AD lost five of the states it controlled and that was the beginning of the end of the party and division of Afenifere. Also, in the buildup to Obasanjo’s failed third term agenda, Tinubu, not minding that he and Obasanjo are from the same geo-political zone, rejected the idea and worked assiduously to see that the idea died. A more recent example is the badly implemented Naira redesigning policy which has badly affected Nigerians. While politicians, for fear of being blackmailed as being affected by the policy, did not mind the dangers that speaking up against the policy will have on his ambition. The Jagaban, as always, chose to stand on the side of the people. He spoke against it and that forced the hand of the Federal Government to make some concessions. Unlike other frontline candidates who decided to be silent or support the policy, Tinubu was unequivocal in maintaining that the policy will only further impoverish the people – a position that that the policy paper of the National Economic Summit Group (NESG) agrees with.
Needless to say that Tinubu has been able to distinguish himself as a man who truly understands the problems of Nigeria and Nigerians. He has equally proven and shown that governance is not about playing to the gallery by gallivanting to Egypt to frolic on the pretext of going there to study their power industry when same is already in place in Nigeria. He is not one to engage in a double speak by chanting restructuring in one breath and keeping mum about it when he gets up north. Tinubu has remained a man whose prognosis, diagnosis, and prescription for Nigeria’s economic and security woes are fit and proper. His brilliance and creativity at shunning out a solution to Nigeria’s revenue problem remains something heart-warming. In fact, his worst traducers have not been able to deny that he outperformed all other contenders at the National Economic Summit Group (NESG) presidential dialogue where he gave snippets into how he intends to deal with Nigeria’s perennial revenue crisis without necessarily making recourse to borrowing. His remarks in response to the question on climate change at the Arewa House in Kaduna has been one that forced many to look up the meaning of the analogy he used. Not only that, reputable organizations have given him kudos for his response that climate change and financing is not Nigeria’s primary problem since there is no established relationship between GDP per capita and climate change in Nigeria.
These nonetheless, some have decided to shut their minds to the brilliance exuded by Asiwaju and the fact that he exudes competence per excellence. Out of their hatred from the tribal stock he belongs, his support for Buhari since 2013, and his unusual boldness to bare his mind while advocating public good, these traducers of Asiwaju have chosen to remain in Plato’s cave or believe that the shadows they see is the real thing. They have heaped a mountain of lies and a castle of hatred for the Jagaban. They laid landmines for the City Boy and were patiently waiting for him to be torn to smithereens from the blast. But alas! Asiwaju has continued to soar high as one borne on the wings of an eagle. In all of these, Tinubu has become like Martin in Taylor Birch’s Weather the Storm. He has come, seen, and conquered. One thing is sure in all of these and it is that those living in denial now will come to see the light. Asiwaju understands this and this must have informed his tenacity in engaging people of different professions. As it took the first man in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to convince his other colleagues to distinguish between appearance and reality, Asiwaju’s legacies have kept thundering his message of Renewed Hope to all and sundry and winning many more to the fold.
As Saturday draws close, and given the enormous effort that Asiwaju has put into the whole campaign process, one is confident that Asiwaju will, as said the book of second Timothy,boldly declare “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Hon. Olayinka Owokade Rahman writes in from Badagry, Lagos.
