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  • BREAKING: Tinubu arrives Ebonyi, commissions project

    BREAKING: Tinubu arrives Ebonyi, commissions project

    All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has arrived Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State to a rousing reception.

    Tinubu, who arrived moments ago was received by Governor David Umahi, members of the State Executive Council, State and National Assembly members, traditional rulers, stakeholders of the party, and crowd of party faithfuls and supporters of the state.

    The APC presidential flag bearer immediately commissioned the new Government House dualists road built by the Umahi administration.

    Tinubu hailed Umahi for the laudable achievements he has recorded despite the lean resources of the State.

    He said the people of the State are known for their determination, courage and independence of mind which enable them to achieve great feats wherever they find themselves.

    He said: “Umahi is an accomplished leader who has built others. He has done well. It is a joy to be here to witness progress and development”

    “I know Ebonyi for their determination, courage and independent of mind to do good things and I have seen many signs of the developmental strides of this administration as I was coming in.”

    The APC presidential candidate will hold a meeting with stakeholders of the state this night after which he will attend a gala organised by the State Government in his honour.

    On Thursday, he will attend an APC grand rally/flag-off of the presidential and governorship campaigns of the party in the State at the Pa Ngele Ọrụta township stadium Abakaliki.

    Details Shortly….

  • Tinubu calls for unity at Ododo’s first anniversary celebration

    Tinubu calls for unity at Ododo’s first anniversary celebration

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has emphasised the need for national unity as a prerequisite for progress, urging leaders to embrace collaboration and dialogue as tools for fostering reconciliation and development. 

    The president made this call during the Kogi Dialogue in Lokoja on Monday, held to commemorate Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo’s first year in office.

    Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Tinubu likened the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue in Kogi State to the strength that comes from unity. 

    “The convergence of these rivers is not just a geographical event; it is a divine lesson in strength and continuity. It symbolizes the power of unity—where individual streams combine to create a force capable of shaping destinies and carving paths.  

    “Just as water merging with water becomes stronger, so must we as leaders and citizens merge our efforts to build a united and prosperous Nigeria”, the president said.

    According to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, the President praised Governor Ododo for launching the Kogi Dialogue, describing it as “a spark of wisdom and a critical step toward fostering reconciliation and progress.”

    He urged leaders across all levels to build bridges across the country, as well as prioritise dialogue as a tool for resolving differences and promoting national cohesion.  

    He said, “Dialogue is not just an opportunity to air grievances. It is the true path to justice, reconciliation, and understanding. Without dialogue, history will pass us by, leaving us abandoned by time and forgotten by progress.”  

    President Tinubu particularly appealed to political and community leaders to be more amenable and unified in their support for government to create the needed environment for growth. 

    “Now is the time to reject division and embrace unity as the only formula that works. Chaos and discord are ladders for the self-serving, but unity is the bridge that carries us all forward.

    “Kogi State stands as a testament to what we can achieve when we recognize the strength in our diversity. From the confluence of rivers to the convergence of ideas, this state symbolises what Nigeria can become when we come together with purpose and vision,” the President said. 

    President Tinubu however acknowledged that though there are challenges with governance in turbulent times such as the economic pressures and security threats facing the nation, true leadership is tested in tumultuous times. 

    He called on the people of Kogi and Nigeria to see themselves as “threads in the intricate fabric of progress.

    “Each of us has a role to play in weaving a stronger, more united nation. Let us ensure that personal desires do not pull against the collective current of unity and development. We cannot hope to build a stronger Nigeria if we allow division to fester at home. Leaders must rise above personal ambitions and put the welfare of the people first,” the President added.   

    In his remarks, Governor Ododo, thanked President Tinubu and the people of the state for their support for his government since assumption a year ago, even as he urged them to remain committed to the growth and development of the state, leveraging the opportunities and resources available in Kogi.

    The Governor paid glowing tributes to VP Shettima for his support and inspiration in all that his government has done since assuming leadership about a year ago.

    He said Kogi is blessed with rich human, natural and material resources with an enviable cultural diversity that needs to be harnessed for the prosperity and transformation of the state.

    Urging indigenes if the state to put Kogi first in all they do, especially in the exploitation and management of its resources, Governor Ododo said the time is rife to recaliberate the socio-economic fortunes of the state and take the area to greater heights.

    He noted important development in the state since his assumption of office, including the upgrade of healthcare centres, improvement of infrastructure in the education sector and the introduction of free education at the basic level, and bursary for students in tertiary institutions.

    On his part, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, applauded the cordial relationship between the current and former governors of Kogi State, noting that a healthy relationship between a predecessor and his successor was necessary for the development of the state.

    Read Also: Nigeria’s economy on transformative journey under Tinubu, says Akpabio

    He urged other state governors to emulate the example set by Governor Ododo especially in engendering development and improving party politics in the country.

    Also, former governor Yahaya Bello, recalled the vision of the founding fathers of Kogi State, noting with satisfaction that the current administration was moving in the right direction. 

    The highpoint of the VP’s visit was the commissioning of road projects executed by the Ododo administration during his first year in office.

    Also present at the event were the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Hon. Bukar Dalori; Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo; former governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada; Senator Jubril Echocho; Senator Sunday Karimi; Hon James Falake; Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande; Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Chief Salifu Oyibo; former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shuaibu, and the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Aliyu Umar, among others.

  • Nonagenarian hails Tinubu

    A NONAGENARIAN, Chief Remi Williams, has praised the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, for his political sagacity.

    In a statement to herald his 90th birthday, Williams, a member of the party in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Lagos, said Tinubu deserves support from members of the party, adding that he meant well for the party.

    He described Tinubu as a leader who listens to his people before taking a decision.

    Read Also: APC Coalition petitions Buhari,Tinubu

    Pa William said: ‘’I doff my hat for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He has successfully achieved the democratisation of Nigeria. His achievements may be noticed by many, but they cannot openly accept the fact.’’

    He also praised former Lagos State governor Alhaji Lateef Jakande ‘’for his achievements in education,  housing, medical services, among others.”

    Under Jakande, he said, there was prudent management of resources.

    While in government, he said Jakande “had only one Toyota car and lived in his private home at Ilupeju’’.

  • Tinubu is a builder of men, says Rep

    A member of the House of Representatives, Yakub Balogun, yesterday defended a stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    The lawmaker said those who described the former Lagos State governor as a fascist could not have had any relationship with him.

    Balogun (APC, Lagos), who refuted reports that he had quit politics, described Asiwaju Tinubu as a builder of men.

    Citing himself as an example of Asiwaju Tinubu’s large heart, the lawmaker noted that the interest of the majority and the downtrodden is always uppermost in his the mind of the former governor.

    He said: “Asiwaju is an indefatigable, resourceful, visionary, God-anointed political leader. He is a fisher of men and women.

    “Asiwaju is a builder of men, who builds people from nothing to something; he is a helper and elevator of the downtrodden.

    “He is not a fascist and not a power grabber. In fact, Asiwaju is one of the best characters we have around.”

    The lawmaker, who is not returning to the next National Assembly because he stepped down from further contest for the ticket to the House of Representatives, emphasised that he had not quitted politics.

    His decision not to contest a return ticket to the House, he said, was a personal conviction that younger generation should be given the opportunity to also serve.

    Balogun said: “I made the decision out of personal conviction to allow others have a chance to serve the people too. I made it formal by informing my party’s hierarchy.

    “My decision was very voluntary, but I have not abandoned politics because I believe I can still offer more in other capacities.”

    To buttress his claim that to give others the opportunity to serve has always been part of him, Balogun said he left the service of Lagos State government as the Head of Civil Service (HoS) two years before the expiration of the tenure.

    “My philosophy has always been to allow younger ones to come up. That was what informed the decision not to contest again but allow someone else to represent my constituency. We have many competent graduates out there who can do it, considering our population.

    “I will continue to play politics. I haven’t quit politics. It is in my blood and I will serve in any capacity entrusted to me because I believe politics is a veritable tool to serve,” he said.

  • Tinubu focusing on the issues of today: Tomorrow is the master of itself

    Text of All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s response to insinuations that he has an ulterior motive for backing President Muhammadu Buhari’s and the ruling party’s choice for the Ninth National Assembly’s leadership. Tinubu’s media aide Tunde Rahman signed the statement released yesterday by his Media Office

    We have monitored, with rising incredulity, the rash of news stories claiming Asiwaju Tinubu is manipulating the APC nomination process for the National Assembly leadership. The stories claim this supposed manipulation is the first salvo in Asiwaju’s effort to position himself for a presidential run during the 2023 election cycle. Not only are these reports utterly false, based as they are in the febrile imaginations of those persons by whom they are being peddled, they are injurious to President Buhari’s historic quest to reform Nigeria. It is for this latter reason that we find cause to speak out where otherwise we would have continued to watch on in silent amusement.

    Nigeria has barely emerged from President Buhari and the APC’s resounding victory in the last election. The President, with the support of an APC majority in both chambers of our National Assembly, is now preparing to lead the nation forward for the next four years.

    Instead of covering the President’s exciting Next Level agenda and what it promises in terms of economic and social growth & development, these people want to skip ahead to the next election as if they can cast aside the next four years.

    However, the Nigerian people do not elect politicians to office simply to watch on as they maneuver and jostle for position at the next election. The people elect those who they believe will be the best public servants, committed to the national wellbeing. This is why they reelected in President Buhari while rejecting the horde of political jobbers that constitute the PDP.

    “The peddlers of these rumors have arrogated to themselves the preternatural ability to read Asiwaju’s mind more than he himself can know it. They also seem to have acquired the unique gift of bending time so that 2023 appears before we even reach the midway point of 2019.

    “If these people would only enlist their uncanny talents in the service of the nation instead of in the service of political intrigue and gossip mongering our country would be much the better.

    This attempt to caricature Asiwaju as if his words and actions are all aimed at grabbing power will fail because this portrait distorts the plain truth. While the headlines are sensational they are also senseless because they are not grounded in fact.

    Asiwaju has not run for elected office since 2003. He last held office in 2007. He has never vied to become chairman of the APC nor has he tried to insinuate himself into any major government office.

    If you were asked to name another political figure who has exercised such forbearance, you would be hard pressed to identify another person with a comparable record when it comes to restraint in seeking office.

    Where others, upon leaving one office, tend to set their eyes immediately upon another, Asiwaju, uniquely in Nigerian politics, has foregone his personal ambitions as his political ideas and policies have flourished in the hands of his allies and mentees.

    This track record does not evince a man obsessed with power and office. While the intrigue-mongers seek to depict Asiwaju as a man hungering for position, his deeds speak of something else.

    “These peddlers of tales do not know the measure of the man nor can they understand what motivates him. Thus, they project their own petty ambitions and designs on to him. The rumors reveal more about the mongers than they say about Asiwaju. They merely reveal what these people would do if they were Asiwaju. But they are not him and thankfully he is not motivated by the same selfish designs that fuel such people.

    “Perhaps because these people have nothing to contribute regarding statecraft or providing actual solutions to actual problems, their minds remain forever mired in political machinations.

    What afflicts them does not affect Asiwaju. Since he last held public office, Asiwaju has, with unprecedented success, dedicated himself toward building a political party that would furnish a progressive alternative to the regressive policies of the PDP.

    Joining forces with President Buhari and others who shared his progressive ideology, he helped form the APC. Since the inception of the APC, Asiwaju’s focus has been to assist President Buhari develop, refine and implement a progressive agenda that would give every Nigerian a fair chance to prosper and provide for his loved ones.

    As he enters his second term, President Buhari has stated that he will give the economy special priority. His goal is to defeat poverty and joblessness while spurring the type of growth and development that will make Nigeria’s a durable and flourishing economy. These goals are laudable and necessary to move Nigeria forward. However, the obstacles before us are vast and complex.

    Asiwaju’s mind, heart and efforts are focused on supporting the President in achieving their shared vision of a flourishing economy and a prosperous people. He is committed to doing what he can to help President Buhari surmount the challenges in order to achieve the economic reform the nation sorely needs.

    Given that the imperatives of today are sufficiently daunting in and of themselves, Asiwaju is neither inclined, nor sufficiently naïve, to take his eye off the present in the futile attempt to peer through the thick fog that is the future.

    It is against this backdrop that Asiwaju’s support of the party position regarding the National Assembly leadership must be interpreted. There is no surprise in him supporting the party and the president’s position regarding the National Assembly positions.  Nor is it wrong that he do so.  As a loyal party member and progressive leader, he would have committed a terrible wrong by navigating against the President and party in these matters.

    That Asiwaju has actively and publicly supported the party and president should not result in such public backbiting. We all know how important these positions are to the fulfillment of the president’s agenda.

    One need only look to the last four years to see how painfully this lesson has been learned. With the Senate leadership usurped by regressive elitists that chamber constituted a brake on progress and good governance. The Senate leadership, and to a lesser degree the House leadership, stymied APC legislative initiatives while attempting to hoist noxious, reactionary and self-interested legislation on the nation.

    Just look at the way Saraki, Dogara and their ilk hijacked the budget process these past four years. National budgets were delayed and distorted as these actors repeatedly sought to pad budgets with pet projects that would profit them.

    Even worse, they cut funds intended to prosper projects that would have benefitted the average person. After four years of their antics halting the progress of government, we should do all we can to prevent a repeat of their malign control of the National Assembly.

    If we are truly committed to optimal governance, then we also must be equally committed to ensuring that the National Assembly leadership be competent and experienced as well as imbued with a progressive mindset and a desire to work in close cooperation with executive.

    This is all Asiwaju has hoped to achieve. There are no ulterior motives. Everything he has done is in concert with and in furtherance of the wishes of President Buhari and the party.

    Thus, those who cast aspersions at Asiwaju, in reality are bucking against the stated position of the President. This is a democracy and people have the right to oppose whomever they wish to oppose.

    However, if these mongers oppose the President, let them be of sufficient courage to plainly say so. They should not disparage Asiwaju as an indirect way to contend against the President.

    What everyone who cares about Nigeria should now do is rally around the president to give him all possible support in driving to reality his economic policies and objectives. This is how we progress as a nation.

    In the end, the rumor-mongers should court greater discipline and wisdom. As Asiwaju recently said there is no action a person can take that constitutes a political guarantee as to what may come four years from now. Moreover, that having allies in the national assembly leadership positions will greatly enhance someone’s presidential ambitions is a spurious claim.

    “In 2015, Senator Saraki finagled his way into the senate presidency. He planted himself at the apex of legislative power. But his actions as Senate president showed a man devoid of compassion for the average Nigerian.

    All he cared for was power and position. Soon, he will be deprived of both. House Speaker Dogara has fared only slightly better. Occupying these positions is not a guarantee of future success. It is only a guarantee of present duty.

    Politics requires jockeying and maneuvering for influence to get the right people in the right positions. To be beneficial, politics must be tied to the greater purpose of governance such as with President Buhari’s goal to reform the national economy for the good of all Nigerians. In supporting the party and the president, Asiwaju has shown his commitment to achieving the President’s goals. Nothing more should be read into it.

    Elections are over. Now is the time for governance to take primacy. Those who have taken to intrigue about 2023 reveal themselves to be lacking in essential concern for the people and the substantive issues that confront us.

    Our challenges are steep and multiple. Resolving them will occupy all of our time and energy. We do not have the luxury to embark on fantasies about the future. Let the future stay where it is for now. In due time, it shall come and shall decide the shape it is to take regardless of the plans we mortals hold for it.

    As for Asiwaju, he lives in the here and now. His words and deeds are geared toward perfecting progressive governance and resolving the substantive issues of today.  Nothing more! Nothing less! Those so enamoured with gossiping about him, would do themselves and the nation well if they would follow his more productive example.

  • TINUBU: The Lion of Bourdillon, congratulations at 67

    Efforts are not enough without purpose and direction -President John F.Kennedy

    Sen. Ahmed Bola Adekunle Tinubu (Jagaban of Borgu) is a strategist and tactician with one of the weightiest political curriculum vitaes in Nigeria.

    His giant strides are not only in the political terrain, he is also one of the most successful businessmen in Nigeria and in the continent, Africa. Like King Midas, whatever he touches, becomes gold.

    Jagaban of Borgu came to political limelight during the annulment of June 12 presidential election by the junta of self- acclaimed genius Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in 1992. After the military’s abortion of an election that late M.K.O. Abiola was coasting home to victory, he joined forces with pro-democracy forces for the actualisation of the business mogul -turned politician mandate.

    Tinubu did not only become a leading NADECO member but a close confidant of MKO Abiola. Like most of NADECO members, he eventually embarked on self-exile when the junta of late Gen. Sani Abacha raised a killer squad and let them loose on NADECO juggernauts.

    When the junta of Abdulsalami Abubakar mounted the saddle and rolled out a short nine- month transition programme, the political Iroko of our time returned home and contested for the seat of Governor of Lagos state. His 1999 and 2003 victories were easy like placing a hot knife on butter. These victories ushered a new chapter in his life and illuminated his path to political stardom in contemporary Nigeria.

    Nothing demonstrated his survivalist acumen like the PDPs electoral Tsunami of 2003 that swept away all his South West Alliance for Democracy colleagues from power. Tales from the political parlance holds that AD went into a pact with PDP to surrender all presidential votes to PDP while PDP will reciprocate by allowing them retain their governorship seats.

    Whilst others approached the regionally propelled alliance blindly, he approached it with the sense of a fox and understanding that anything can happen. At the end of the exercise, he was the only player that survived to tell the story. Others were rough-handled by PDP and given a one-way ticket to political wilderness.

    This lone player kept pushing-on and shouldered the burden of political opposition in the South West and Nigeria entirely. By 2011, this crown Eagle whose wings are getting older and stronger has soared above all storms and recaptured the entire South West States.

    He prosecuted the great onslaught with clones he carefully empowered with political offices and contracts while he was in power between 1999 and 2007 in Lagos State.

    As a master of accurate reading of political weathers, he partnered with PDP in the presidential election of 2011, despite wide expectations that their experience of 2003 will never allow him dine with PDP.

    Later moves showed that Jagaban of Borgu only stooped to conquer, or bended to permit a whirlwind to pass. He is a great respecter of the dictum of fluidity in an act of political game.

    The story of the 2015 unprecedented political merger and eventual victory of opposition party the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot be full without mentioning his name.

    Read Also: Appraising the Tinubu phenomenon at 67

    The Lion of Bourdillon did not only provide the cream of opposition politicians with a springboard but financial base to prosecute their campaigns.

    His presence alone, gave doubting Thomases of the opposition party confidence and fighting spirit. That automatically gave him the title of The Party Leader. He is a master of risk taker. No wonder our most distinguished governor in Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai calls him my leader’ and looking at the Jagaban of Borgu as a mentor; no wonder, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai replicates the outstanding leadership in Kaduna state by bringing peaceful coexistence between all religious groups, tribes, business minds and even people of different political views, empowering people from all works of life and statues.

    The Sir Kashim Ibrahim Leadership Programme is just one of the programmes recently introduced to groom young Nigerians across the nation to become good leaders. Governor El-Rufai today is an outstanding leader and a role model in Nigeria.

    Love him or hate him, no political calculus can be made in Nigeria today without taking time to know where he is headed to. Cheer or jeer him, he is a reality you can only ignore at your perils.

    Conscious of this realism President Muhammadu Buhari and APC handed over the 2019 electoral project to him which he perfectly executed. He discharged that onerous task with the dexterity of a fox and strength of an Argentine stallion horse.

    He knows when and where to punch. And when he punches, those at the receiving end do not survive. Jagaban takes the business of power with utmost seriousness hence, attaching a do or die disposition to it. He is a foe that any reasonable power player does not wish to encounter because of his lethality and fatalism.

    Feelers from all the six geo political zones suggested Jagaban will make

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  • Appraising the Tinubu phenomenon at 67

    I must have written volumes on why I have always thought that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Senator, two time governor of Lagos State and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stands in a class of his own, to be separated from the rest.

    I am not used to talking or writing platitudes. And I thank my Creator that He has given me an insight, laced with spiritual understanding, to be able to hazard safe guesses in our politics, especially that of Lagos, which I suggest I know like the lines on my palm.

    When a musician sang and warned that the head of a kitten must never be likened to that of a lion, that they may look alike but never the same, it is only the naive that will not understand the import of that statement. Some had trivialised the Tinubu phenomenon, but they haven’t been able to walk their talk in dismantling the solid achievements of the man who celebrated his 70th last week.

    Bukola Saraki, with all his inherited and acquired wealth, tried it and got all his fingers burnt. I notice the young champion of Kwara is still sounding deviant as if the political polar-axe that shook him to his foundation is nothing to be worried about; something like the case of a boxer who had been pummelled and battered to a wobble but still thinks he can trudge on to the sound of the gong.

    If in the approach to Saraki’s political de-robing, those with the discernment, predicted enough was enough with his political leadership, they sure knew the man was on the way down the ladder. How some people now equated Tinubu with Saraki and felt the sing-song of “O to ge” (enough is enough) in Kwara could play out in Lagos, suggests to me strongly that their understanding of high wire political dynamics was suspect and not as deep as many had ascribed to them. Instead of the “O to ge” song being replayed at the last elections in Lagos, what broke forth from thousands of mouths is “O to pe”, meaning it is worthy of celebration.

    Great men and women of history have their time and season; willy-nilly, no one else rules the roost with them.

    In spite of the perfidy of trusted aides, Chief Obafemi Awolowo remained impregnable in the West in his time and season but because no dynasty lasts for ever, his hold on the politics of his region loosed, at his death. It is to be fair that we must all accept that for now, Tinubu holds the ace in this area. That may sound bad music to some ears, but like a strand in the slogan of the “enfant terrible” of Mushin politics, Hon Funmi Tejuoso goes: “Nwon o r’ogun e se, Babalawo o ni gba story,” meaning there’s no unravelling of her political mysticism yet.

    I have a tip for those whose pre-occupation is to dip the Tinubu magic: work harder, because, like kerosene, this nimble man of the moment does not sleep; he keeps improving in sharpening his political skills, by the second.

    Happy birthday to the undisputed and indisputable political leader of the West, nay Nigeria!

     

    Abeokuta… Like Houston in Texas

    Driving out of Bush International Airport into town last week, the thought of Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s Ogun State flashed across my mind.

    Bush Airport is in Houston, Texas in the United States of America. The first attraction as you drive some 30 minutes away from that airport is the spiral flyovers that litter everywhere. Even in their clusters, they look so majestic that you cannot but be in awe of the engineering mesmerism on the parkway.

    My mind flipped and Ogun State came to mind, where outgoing governor Ibikunle Amosun implanted in our minds bridges and flyovers in major towns across the state, to remind us that he was ready to live in the future. Ogun State’s level of development, to be sure, is not yet ripe for the experimentation of flyovers there, but there is honestly no problem in being futuristic. After all, the problem with the future itself is that it is even on hand before you know or realise it.

    When that future dawns, the flyovers of Abeokuta (exempted), Ilaro, Otta and Ijebu Igbo will come handy, unlike now when the need for them is somewhat minimal. If in spite of the many flyovers I saw in Houston the traffic snarls on that long stretch on Sam Houston Parkway were that many, one begins to wonder what would have become of that road stretch if the flyovers that sprang up like mushrooms were not there. The gridlock would have been out of this world.

    Let Amosun ensure the completion of those flyovers before he bids the governorship in Ogun final goodbye, so that he will forever be remembered as the man who tried to import Houston into Ogun State.

     

    Losers are orphans indeed

    I had often heard it said that losers are orphans while winners have many parents. That realisation confronted me at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos the other day, as I prepared to take off on a short trip abroad.

    I donned my BOS cap, with Governor-elect Jide Sanwoolu’s picture emblazoned on it, as well as my APC logo and I walked the length of the departure hall from point one to the last with the gait of which I’m now accustomed, hoping that I would find something donning a PDP or an Accord party cap; but alas, I didn’t find any.

    Why? Is it because they didn’t have the candidate they could be proud of, or is it that their contact with wearing caps expired at the conclusion of the elections, especially once the candidate they backed had lost? This thought made me realise yet again the beauty and joy of victory. Thank God He didn’t make me follow a loser at the outset.

    With assured steps, I carried on in the departure hall with the Sanwoolu cap on my head and those who had seen the cap during the hustings, either nodded in approval or showed curiosity. Of course, I couldn’t care less what anyone felt about my cap and I.

    The airline, police and immigration officials I encountered while going through clearing formalities showed much interest because of the fez cap I donned while it conferred on me the courtesies I might not have enjoyed, were it not for the cap on my head.

    Victory is truly sweet and I thank my principal for the good luck that was his lot at the polls, for which it is possibly today to toast ourselves as beneficiaries of a genuine mandate.

  • Tinubu, political asset for all seasons

    Great literary icons have argued that the person in the man is known based on what others say about him in relation to his manners, lifestyle, actions, reactions and inactions, hence the saying “tell me your name and I will tell you who you are”. Thus the name, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu rings a loud bell in the political landscape of Nigeria. To that extent, the name means different things to different people. To some, the name Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu means the opposition guru and tactician who singlehandedly nurtured a political marriage between himself and President Muhammadu Buhari in 2014 which eventually wrested political power from the PDP thereby cutting short it boast of the 60 years in power before 2015, using the APC platform. Whilst others call him the Jagaban of Borgu Kingdom, others simply refer to him as the man who worked together with other renowned Nigeria leftists home and abroad to form the then dreaded NADECO, which by no means influenced the agreement for power shift from military dictatorship to democratic governance, which was done at the risk of his life and huge resources.

    It is to a man like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that we owe the first opportunity which resulted to surrendering the presidential slot to former President Olusegun Obasanjo though of the PDP. It was thought that the Southwest should first be compensated for the denial to inaugurate late Chief M. K. Abiola who was believed to have won the presidential election which was annulled vide suspicious court process.

    With his deft political calculations, Tinubu could pass for a politician who yesterday saw in advance the political future configurations of today and got prepared for it with plans ahead of time. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu made history in Nigeria when after two terms as governor of Lagos State, he went ahead to make the two other governors of Lagos State. As if that was not enough, in the March 9, governorship election, he repeated this rare feat when he caused to be nominated and elected the current APC governor-elect.

    As a onetime senator, his political sagacity and dynamism in no small measure contributed positively to many political developments of Nigeria. To a few persons, particularly those in the PDP, Ahmed Tinubu is perceived as the man who contrived the political onslaught that led to the defeat of the PDP in the 2015 and 2019 general elections.

    Many for obvious reasons may attempt to deny him this credit which has been acknowledged far and wide. Without mincing words, it was he who led others including Vice President Yemi Osibanjo on the political onslaught to recover some of the states in the Southwest that were lost by the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007 elections.

    At the ripe age of 67, the name Bola Ahmed has become a household name that in no small way has caused some political extortionists to see him as a stumbling block to their continuous cheating of the people.

    It is no wonder that at his 67th birthday, many have continued to assess him from different perspectives. Thus, to President Buhari, Tinubu is a fascinating team player and a political enigma whilst to Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, Bola is “a man who spent his last 30 years of his life in creative and catalytic public service”. To Governor Ambode of Lagos State, Tinubu is a man whose political dexterity, doggedness, undoubted courage and political acumen played a key part in the electoral victory of APC at the federal, National Assembly, governorship and state assembly elections, and to Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State, Bola Tinubu “has been a reliable, dependable and passionate leader who like a colossus in the jungle of life, has the ability to identify, nurture and engage talents is unequalled”.

    Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker, Lagos State Assembly, sees Bola Ahmed “as the greatest politician of the present generation” and as the architect of modern Lagos, laying solid foundation in which successful governments continue to build on making the state the best among its peers in the country and the continent.

    The traditional institution is not left out in this joyous journey of discovery of who Bola Tinubu Ahmed is. Thus to Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi (Kusenla III) says “through Bola’s selfless and exemplary life, the story of the Yoruba nation and indeed, the entirety of Nigeria has changed for the better”.

    To the three senators of Lagos State, the Jagaban of Borgu kingdom saw him as a man who “over the years, has shown that being principled in public and private life is possible”. He has demonstrated pristine leadership qualities for all followers across the nation and to the likes of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Tinubu is “a blessing to our country”.

    To the Yobe State governor – elect Hon. Mai Mala Buni, Bola Ahmed is “a rare breed politician and a true democrat who contributed immensely to reshaping democracy in Nigeria with focus on service delivery to the people” and to the Asoju Oba of Lagos and Balogun of Remo kingdom, Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu CON, KJN, FISM, Bola is “a worthy icon whose contributions to the development of this nation are worthy of celebration”.

    Whether one likes him or not, Bola Ahmed cannot be denied the courage and distinction of a political titan whose courage to build political bridges across all ethnic nationalities has been variously acknowledged.

    Before giving his all to PMB in 2015 and 2019 to be elected president, it is on record that Bola tried to sell the presidential candidacy of two prominent sons of Adamawa State in the persons of Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Nuhu Ribadu respectively in the AC and ACN, though Nigerians were loud in their opposition to those two men.

    Perhaps, the true man behind the shadow of Bola Ahmed is as captured by the discourse on him as adumbrated by Segun Gbadegesin, on the back page of The Nation of Friday, March 29, when he aptly opined that “Tinubu’s proclivity or strategic thinking, his courage and his untiring efforts to work across the divides of ethnicity and religion to build strong coalitions and commendable traits of leadership. That PDP finally had a serious opposition in 2015 is what’s bitterest enemies must give him credit for”.

    It is reasoned that there can be no better description of the man Bola Ahmed more apt, precise and well summarized than the forgoing by Gbadegesin.

    With all the foregoing encomiums showered on this rare gem across board, the Jagaban Borgu looks like an open leader to whom the future of this nation can be trusted with no fears of disappointments.

     

    • Chief (Barr) Eteng a public affairs analyst writes from Calabar.

  • Photos: Bola Ahmed Tinubu at 67th birthday novelty match

    National leader of the All Progressives Party and former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has celebrated his 67th birthday with a novelty match at Campos Square, Lagos Island on Sunday.

    The birthday celebrations started with a colloquium which held in Abuja on Thursday, and was attended by numerous ministers, lawmakers, governors, and other top government functionaries

  • UPDATED: Tinubu to FG: increased VAT will put pressure on Nigerians

    National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has advised federal government to jettison the proposed increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT).

    The proposal if implemented, he said, will put a further burden on the Nigerians, especially the masses.

    Tinubu also warned Nigeria must begin to look inward and initiate people- friendly policies based on the looming global economic recession.

    The former Lagos governor, who spoke at the 11th Bola Tinubu colloquium in Abuja, also asked the government to revisit privatisation of the power sector.

    This, he said, is necessary if Nigeria hopes to fast track industrial development and job creation.

    He also demanded an end to estimated billing in the country.

    According to him: “I want to appeal to Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President and his team to put a huge question mark on any increase on VAT.

    “If you reduce the purchasing power of the people, we can further slowdown the economy.

    “Let us widen the tax net. Those who are not paying now, even if they are relatives of Bola Tinubu, let the net be bigger and we take in more taxes. That is what we must do in the country instead of another layer of taxes for now.”

    On needs to industrialise the country, Tinubu said: “We require serious and bold reforms to achieve this. What is happening to our gas pipelines?

    “Whatever we have to invest now for our future is a task that must be done boldly.

    Read Also: Tinubu icon of Nigeria’s contemporary politics, says Lalong

     

    “The PDP administration shared out generation, distribution and transmission to their friends and cronies without very deep and thoughtful research and evaluation.

    “It has now become pork chops. This privatisation must be revisited. Put experts together for a more constructive reform to improve generation, transmission and distribution by any means necessary. We cannot afford to be too legalistic about this.”

    He went on: “We should push to end the practice of billing people for electricity they never received.

    “This practice is a vestige of the past that should not accompany us into the future. A person should be charged accurately and only for the power that they use.

    “Government should continue to aggressively implement its national infrastructure plan.

    “We must commit ourselves to a national highway system linking our major cities and towns, our centres of commerce with each other. This will save lives, spur commerce, cut costs and bring Nigerians closer together.”

    The co-Chairman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council stressed the next level slogan of the party during its campaign was not just a jargon that should be discarded after victory has been won.

    He said: “The Next Level is not just a trendy campaign phrase to be quickly discarded once victory has been achieved.

    “It has a much deeper and more profound meaning, perhaps even more than its authors contemplated.

    “This is because we are a nation still in the process of defining itself politically and economically.

    “In this process, it is tempting and easy to borrow indiscriminately from those nations that seem to have mastered the art of democratic governance and to have achieved economic prosperity.

    “However, to achieve durable progress, we can’t afford to work hard but in mindless devotion to the ways of other nations.

    “This truth is particularly acute when these very nations now face fundamental political and economic questions that cast doubt on the social utility and viability of the economic model under which they have travelled for the past 50 years.”