24th June, 2014
By Idowu Ajanaku
Nigeria’s determined quest for a visionary, patriotic, selfless, committed and courageous democrat, who is fully prepared to steer the ship of state to the Promised Land has been on for eons. Getting that highly experienced and detribalised individual who would connect the long-suffering citizens with the vast natural resources at our disposal has been the missing link in the nation’s socio-political equation.
Paradoxically and painfully, the same country has been bedevilled by a history of dark horses– of people who were not adequately prepared for the onerous and enormous tasks of the exalted office of the presidency but found themselves there. Sadly, past political leaders such as Alhaji Tafawa Balewa(of blessed memory), Alhaji Shehu Shagari, dictators such as General Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda, the late General Sani Abacha and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, as well as the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan have failed to meet this mandate; to discharge their duties to the good citizens. The reason is not farfetched. They were not well grounded in the nitty-gritty of political engineering. And they were not prepared for the plum office which fate or sheer ambition put on their laps.
It is an irony of economic history that though Nigeria is immensely blessed with oil and gas deposits, it has four non-performing refineries. And yet, it takes an obscene interest in massive importation of refined petroleum products, sometimes from less endowed countries and continues to pay huge bills in the name of fuel subsidy to an irredeemably corrupt business class. Also, in spite of its several solid minerals, arable land, and a clement climate we are still bedevilled with the twin evils of mass poverty,( put at 72 per cent) and an alarming youth employment rate (of 23.9 per cent), according to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS. With a crop of well-read, grounded and greatly talented professionals within the country and in the Diaspora Nigeria should indeed be ranked amongst the top ten robust economies in the world. But it is not.
The million-naira question therefore is; who is that well-heeled Nigerian democrat with the capacity and courage, the experience and expertise, the desire and determination, the passion and the political pedigree to pull the country out of its current socio-economic quagmire? Who is he? It deserves an answer and an urgent one too.
As the opposition political parties (especially the All Progressives Congress, APC) gear up to wrest power from the PDP behemoth, which has evidently failed to provide Nigerians quality leadership for some 15 long years, the onus now lies on them and the electorate to find that person and project him to the presidential podium. To do so, we must search for the best of candidates, irrespective of ethnicity, religion and geo-political location. A country such as ours, currently caught in the eye of a political storm can ill afford the luxury of such base sentiments. What matters now is who is capable to bell the cat. The answer may not be far-fetched.
The one name that easily comes to mind is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Are you surprised? Please, do not be just yet. His name rings a loud and clear bell in Nigeria’s political firmament, does it not? Of course, it does. He is the former governor of the Centre of Excellence, Lagos State; the brilliant brain behind progressive political parties such as Alliance for Democracy, AD; Action Congress, AC; Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN (all defunct) and currently the All Progressives Congress, APC. You must be astounded by just how one Nigerian has been able to mastermind the evolution of people-based political associations, that started from the South-West geo-political zone but has over time metamorphosed into a pan-Nigeria mandate, are you not?
The truth remains that he has been adequately preparing himself for the biggest post of it all-which is the presidency. And why not? For, that is the sterner stuff which William Shakespeare says men of such calibre are made of. Now you know why his legion of admirers call him ‘a master political strategist’, or ‘master of the game’ or even ‘the game changer’. They did not give him such beautiful appellations for the sake of it or, for nothing. In fact, there are more reasons than one to canvass for his candidature as the nation’s next president at this crucial and perilous moment of our troubled history. Much like the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, you cannot sit on the fence when his name crops up for discussion. You either love him with an abiding passion, as millions of people all over the world do, or you hate to love his sheer guts. Either way, there are some salient factors you cannot take away from his engaging persona.
One of these factors is his uncommon, yet exemplary courage in the face of fiery opposition. And as the Greek philosopher, Aristotle Onassis once noted; “courage is the first of human virtues, because it makes all others possible.” It was such rare gut that propelled him as a pro-democracy NADECO activist, who stood firm against the demons that attempted to rout our fledgling democracy when they came garbed in khaki as military despots.
You can also not take away his unflinching love and commitment to the ethos and ethics of democracy. Hence, his foray into politics and the significant roles he played towards the enthronement of democratic culture in the Nigeria’s political space.
Read this comment from Mr. Femi Aribisala, one of those not too comfortable with Asiwaju’s ever-rising political stature from his opinion essay entitled: What Does Bola Tinubu Want? In his words: “Over the past few years, Bola Tinubu has made himself something of a colossus of South-Western politics in Nigeria. Against the onslaught of vociferous PDP electoral manipulations in 2003, Tinubu drew the line in the sand and held on to the biggest prize: Lagos. He became, in effect, the lone survivor of his party in the South-West.
“By 2007, using just Lagos State as his stronghold, he fought back to wrest ACN control back in all but one of the South-western states. By 2011, he had consolidated his hold in the region. With 2015 looming, it would appear to be high time for Tinubu to unfold a national, as opposed to a merely regional, agenda. Accordingly, Tinubu has now become the grandfather of the All Progressives Congress (APC); a coalition forged between his ACN party, Buhari’s CPC, the ANPP and Rochas Okorocha’s wing of APGA. But the question needs to be asked: what is in this new-fangled APC for Bola Tinubu?” Now, the likes of Aribisala should know that the Asiwaju has adequately prepared himself for the Presidency. And why not? He is eminently qualified to do so.
Lest we forget, the famed Asiwaju it was the concerned Nigerian who teamed up with other lovers of democracy to cut his political teeth as a NADECO activist during the aftermath of the crudely annulled June 1993 elections. He spent his money, time and valuable resources to provide succour and shelter for others on the run from Abacha’s much-dreaded gulag.
If Tinubu wants to be the president of Nigeria, what did he achieve as a state governor? That is the crucial question many are wont to ask. Talking about his political antecedent, the acclaimed pathfinder of modern Lagos politics laid some enduring, people-oriented legacies through pragmatic programmes. From May 1999 to May 2007, Tinubu’s administration strengthened democratic institutions by making huge investments in the field of education, with the establishment of millennium schools, and free access to education.
On infrastructural development, there was the construction of new roads and reconstruction of over 7,500 inner access roads and mass housing projects with the construction of 120,000 units of houses across the state. He undertook some strategic development projects which include the creation of thirty-seven (37) Local Council Development Areas and the Independent Power Plant, IPP. In the transport sector his administration made inroads in mass urban transportation through the innovative BRT (Bus Rapid Transit). The motive was to meet the increasing demands of an exploding urban population.
Furthermore, there was great improvement in the judiciary especially for the Lagos courts with the complementary increase in the personal emoluments of members of the Judicial arm of government. Added to this was the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) and Citizen Mediation Centre.
On security, his government’s Rapid Response Squad, RRS, to tackle youth restiveness and LATSMA to bring sanity to road safety. The health sector was not left out with the establishment of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and free eye test for the citizens and eye glasses to the elderly citizens.
What makes these achievements laudable and remarkable was that they were made in spite of the illegal withholding of statutory allocations for local government councils. All these remain great testimonies of his exemplary leadership skills. These, analysts say, should be replicated at the national stage. And why not?
Tinubu was there as the leading light during the dare-devil days of military dictatorship and fascism. Back then he said that: “Because of the multiple issues surrounding our skewed federalism and constitutional flaws, the Nigerian nation is weak… We must convoke a national conference.” If only Nigerians had woken up then to support his clamour we would not have found ourselves in this current political logjam and having a questionable National Conference that is already dead on arrival. Tinubu was indeed,the man who saw tomorrow.
He again it was who as a legislator suggested the 13 per cent derivation enjoyed by the oil-producing states till this day. As a detribalised Nigerian, Tinubu’s ACN representatives defeated President Jonathan’s preferred candidate, Mulikat Akande of Oyo State for the position of Speaker of House of Representatives in favour of Aminu Tambulwal of Sokoto in 2011. He exhibited that uncommon courage of a patriot who stood on the side of his people when it mattered most.
Unfortunately, he is still here now witnessing the same democracy he fought assiduously for, caught in the throes of political ineptitude. As crass corruption rides on the high horse of opportunism, Tinubu has stood up to say a vehement “no”. He can no longer watch on, arms folded as the ship of state is besotted by the waves of cluelessness. The patriot in him has stirred up to take up the gauntlet and the bull by the horn.
One’s candid wish is that members of his political party, the APC would put aside their differences and turn their back to the sentiments of religion and ethnicity and go for the first amongst equals, the best qualified democrat equipped to take over the baton of presidency to enthrone the tenets of quality political leadership that our dear nation so much desires and deserves. Politicians in India, the USA, Germany and England have at one time or the other been confronted with such critical choices and never wavered. We can emulate their worthy examples for the good of the nation.
The factors of age, experience, intellectual and physical energy as well as immense popularity are on his side. Now is therefore, the moment of truth as history beckons on the man who the cap truly fits.
•Ajanku wrote from Lagos.