All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is 66 today. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the struggles, battles and exploits of the pro-democracy crusader, seasoned administrator and statesman, which culminated into the enthronement of a progressive administration at the federal level, and his calculations for 2019 elections.
The greatest achievement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is the installation of a progressive government at the centre, 16 years after the restoration of civil rule. The challenge confronting him and other soldiers of democracy who teamed up with him in 2015 is whether the feat can be repeated in next year’s election. For the arrowhead of the progressive forces, 2019 will be a defining moment.
The continuity of the people-oriented administration is what occupies the mind of the former Lagos State governor as he hosts eminent Nigerians at his 66th birthday today in Lagos. The state will be aglow with festivities. This year’s ceremony is an event with a difference. President Muhammadu Buhari will literarily relocate the seat of government to the metropolis for 10 hours. The occasion will re-affirm the significance of Tinubu as an indispensable national asset, an indomitable kingmaker and a patriot, whose contributions are still required in the ruling party’s quest to consolidate power in next year’s poll. The stone which the builder rejected has become the cornerstone of the house.
For the APC, it is a trying period. A courageous President Buhari may have finally aligned with Asiwaju on the fortification of the constitutional foundation of the party on the rule of law and due process. The divisive issue of unmerited tenure elongation has been strategically tackled, raising a fresh leadership question in the party. It may herald the anticipated reforms APC urgently needs to forge ahead in the critical election year.
Tinubu’s birthday may achieve some objectives. The tension over the previous politics of exclusion is being doused. The sidelining of critical stakeholders, following the invasion of new friends who lack an understanding of the vision behind the coming together of like-minded parties to form a formidable coalition may have done some damages to the family. But, the perception is that it is not too late to rebuild confidence, make further sacrifices and forge ahead as a united family.
Also, the event may provide an opportunity for the reunion of APC leaders as they now warm up for a an inevitable national convention, following the collapse of unpopular tenure extension agenda. The party is expected to engage in the assessment of the ruling party and the government it installed almost two years ago. Has the APC-led administration lived up to expectation? Has it accomplished its agenda for change and renewal? Has the administration not played into the hands of political principals and principalities, judging by its avoidable mistakes? Why is the APC disunited? Why have the executive and parliament, where it has majority, been at loggerheads? Would the conspiracy of Generals have been necessary, if the party had put its house in order?
Tinubu is still being perceived as a rallying point. Therefore, the celebration may also give an impetus for genuine reconciliation among aggrieved stalwarts. The beauty of it all is that Asiwaju Tinubu is the reconcilator at this critical time.
In the Third Republic, the celebrator became a man of the future. He was bubbling with zeal and enthusiasm as he took the politics of Lagos West by storm. Having started his political career from the top, he has not come down. Rather, he has been soaring higher. Yet, Tinubu has not been insulated from political vicissitudes. Although he shone like a bright star, his career as a senator was aborted by the Abacha regime, which sacked the elected leadership.
However, he returned to the drawing board. Although he wanted to return to the Senate, fate decided otherwise. Instead, he bounced back as governor of Lagos State in 1999. He was the most performing governor of his time. Also, since 2003, Tinubu, fondly called the Lion of Bourdillon by admirers, has been the main issue in Nigerian politics. As the leader of opposition, he achieved what the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, fought for all his life. Tinubu is a courageous and fearless fighter, who led the Southwest into mainstream politics. Also, he galvanised the national opposition platform to take power in a democratic election, thereby earning the enviable status of a kingmaker.
Tinubu has a political background. As a child, his exposure to politics started in the pre-independence era. His mother, the late Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, the Iyaloja-General of Nigeria, was a key player in the Action Group (AG) Women Caucus and the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), which were effective in Lagos grassroots politics. Little did the Amazon know that he was nurturing a future gladiator. At his 60th birthday, an eminent politician, the late Maitama Sule, recalled that the lad, Tinubu, used to accompany her mother to his office in Lagos when he was a minister in the First Republic.
Tinubu’s career blossomed during the Third Republic crisis. He had refused to be intimidated by the military when he was a senator. As a chartered accountant and financial surgeon, he vetted the budget sent by the military government to the parliament. To underscore the rejection of a rubber stamp National Assembly, he was among the bold and brave senators who rejected the budget sent by former military President Ibrahim Babangida. He decried the reluctance of the military to disengage from power, following the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola. As a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Tinubu became a soldier of democracy, daring the soldiers. However, when civil rule was restored in 1999, power eluded the democratic fighters.
The onus was on Tinubu to continue the battle under the Obasanjo administration. The former president attempted to rule with an iron hand, typical of military rulers. But, Tinubu challenged the administration to a duel, especially over its subversion of the ballot box. Thus, he became an advocate of electoral reforms, which he said, was critical to the survival of democracy. Endowed with a rare organisational ability, mobilisation, incisive wit and resilience, Tinubu’s pastime is strategic thinking. Thus, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) captured the Southwest in 2003, he survived the onslaught, despite his territory being specially targeted for liquidation. The former governor anticipated the danger and gird his loins. If Tinubu had been in slumber, Nigeria would have become a one party state since 2003.
At that moment, he realised the need for unity of purpose among the scattered opposition parties, who worked at cross purposes, despite their numerical strength, intellectual bent, ideological similarity and vision of a better society. The onus to break the jinx fell on Tinubu. Urging the opposition leaders to sink their minor differences, he said they should make sacrifice and float a mega party to confront the PDP. In 2007 and 2011, the opposition leaders turned deaf ears and the country suffered for it.
However, 2015 was the turning point. Tinubu’s gospel of strength in unity paid off. He re-invented the theory of the slaughter slab to suit the collective aspiration of the opposition. In his view, there will be no going back for the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), led by Muhammadu Buhari, and Prince Tony Momoh, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), led by Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), led by Chief Bisi Akande and a section of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), led by Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, if they agreed to merge into a single party. The merger, he explained, would lead to the permanent withdrawal of their certificates by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Tinubu, the acknowledged party financier, provided selfless leadership and the quantum of resources for the novel project.
The liberation struggle started in the Southwest, Tinubu’s base. He has never been afraid of legitimate battles. Since placing his hands on the plough, he has not looked back. When the Alliance for Democracy (AD) was crippled, Tinubu rallied compatriots to form the defunct Action Congress (AC), which later became the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). To his credit, the progressives, administrations were restored in Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun and Osun.
To observers, Tinubu became a key player in national politics, following his success at state and regional levels. For him, charity begins at home. A great planner, the former governor assembled a cabinet of talents for Lagos in 1999. He had a 24-year development plan for the transformation of the populous state. Indeed, the Tinubu years were remarkable for progress. As governor, he jacked up the internally generated revenue (IGR) from the N6000 monthly to billions of naira. Today, Lagos can boast of N30 billion monthly IGR. Also, Tinubu fought the infrastructural battle in the city state. 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, his team of experts invented a creative financial engineering that made the councils to survive.
As governor, Tinubu contributed to the debate on the national question as an apostle of true federalism and restructuring
In politics and private life, Tinubu is reputed for philanthropy. He is a cheerful giver, benefactor, godfather and defender of the oppressed. But, there are many aspects of his life that may not be known, until he opens up in his autobiography. When the autobiography is written, it will inspire the future generation.
Tinubu is perceived as the architect of the progressive administration at the centre. Thus, he has the burden of history on his shoulders. Although he holds no government position, he is acknowledged as the midwife of the new era. On account of his experience, the former governor should have been a honorary adviser to the Federal Government, if he had not been sidelined. At a time Nigerians are yearning for a new economic direction, Tinubu’s advice could be useful. The likes of Jagaban Borgu can only be accorded pre-eminent position in the Buhari Administration, if only the cabal steps aside.
Paying tribute to Tinubu, former President of Ghana John Mahama hailed his sterling achievements as governor of Lagos. “Your enthusiasm to champion the cause of good governance is unparalled. Your willingness to put your intellectual ingenuity to your nation in coming up with measures to strengthen its financial base is a patriotic duty worthy of emulation,” he said.
