As the Governor-elect of Lagos in 1999, the first action Senator Bola Tinubu took was to convoke a think-tank of eminent experts and technocrats from the private sectors to chart the course his government would take and to draw a comprehensive blueprint for the development of Lagos. The think-tank did a brilliant job and after submitting its report, many members of the think-tank came to be drafted to Senator Bola Tinubu’s cabinet as the then governor of Lagos State. The icing on the cake of having, unarguably, the best cabinet between 1999 to 2007, Senator Tinubu’s brilliant cabinet in Lagos reflected Nigeria’s diversity as the cabinet was populated by astute professionals from each of the six regions in the country.
It is on public record that some of Bola Tinubu’s fellow governors from the north and the south came to understudy his programs and policies in finance and revenue generation, education, health, judiciary, to mention a few.
Recently, former Governor without portfolio, Professor Chukwuma Soludo was elected as the executive governor of Anambra State. As a technocrat and economist of repute, Soludo set the ball of his administration rolling by instituting a think-tank headed by Oby Ezekwesili to chart a course of impeccable governance for his government and Anambra State, following the footsteps of that exceedingly innovative strategist, Bola Tinubu. After his inauguration, Prof Soludo, following Tinubu’s footsteps still, constituted a cabinet of eminent scholars and professionals from the private sectors to assist him in running his government.
Fifteen years after Senator Tinubu left the corridor of public service as governor of Lagos State, his impeccable imprints are still being felt as more innovation driven public servants are still tapping from Tinubu’s strategies to govern their states and institutions. However, the only public-spirited innovation that Soludo and other existing governors have not been able to do is to have Nigerian diversity reflected in the formation of their cabinets. It’s a hope that other states will in the nearest future make their states microcosms of Nigeria in terms of human diversification, something sterling that Ahmed Tinubu had done over twenty years ago.
Bola Tinubu has recorded many firsts in all strata of governance. The first Governor-elect to institute a think-tank to chart a course of good governance. The first governor to use more technocrats and less politicians in his cabinet. The first governor to employ professionals from other ethnic origins in Nigeria into his government. Bola Tinubu came to governance in Lagos adequately prepared. He is the only past governor whose imprints in politics and governance continue to resonate in Lagos State where he governed and elsewhere in Nigeria.
When he joined politics in the late 80s, he was clear in his mind what he was coming to do to help his country. Bola Tinubu couldn’t have left his posh position at Mobil to join the bandwagon of professional politicians whose stomachs survived on the crumbs from filthy lucre. He joined politics as a successful businessman and even as a Senator representing Lagos West, he continued to run his business. One of his companies won a business contract of 20 Million Naira with the Chinese, even as a Senator-elect.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signified that he wants to use his immense capacity, considerable experience in governance and political acumen to become the president of Nigeria in 2023. If his innumerable imprints of good governance are still deafeningly resonating in Lagos State after fifteen years that he has left office, shouldn’t we rather have Asiwaju Tinubu as Nigerian president in 2023 to encore his prosperous imprints in the larger Nigeria? He has promised to deploy Nigeria’s potentials to bring enduring prosperities to the country. Asiwaju Tinubu’s fidelity; he keeps to his words.
