The Yoruba race, Tinubu and nation building

In anger and frustrations over misrule by some previous governments, many Nigerians in the past have fumed that Nigeria would have been a better country under military rule except that the military came with discipline put inside their boots and got carried away, loading their AK 47 automatic weapon with corruption; a situation that did not make them better than the democratic governments they toppled.

Today, it is a good thing that Nigerians no longer wake up with ‘Made by Army’ brand of dreams. We have accepted democracy as the way to go come rain or sunshine. That we are able to live with our democracy is a good sign that there is a better alternative to totalitarian and jungle system. Good, fair or bad, the common belief is that we can organise our society with laws that takes care of every aspects of our lives. As a result, democracy has come to stay with us.

The independence era, the civil war era, the military interventions, the truncated democratic eras and full-fleshed democratic period of today all have stories associated with them. Actors, gladiators, stake-holders, heroes, cabals, patriots, martyrs, chameleons, reformers have emerged in our 54 years history of independence. Nigeria has had its share of leadership by force, leadership by fiat, leadership by error, the genius we never crowned and progressively passionate leaders.

Opportunity for all

Tomorrow, lest Niger-Delta says a minority was never allowed to rule, they got a Jonathan. The Yoruba race has had a fair share of governance in the country; the North has tasted power and like Oliver twist asks for more. The Igbo race had Azikwe in the independence era (Nnamdi Azikwe) and an Azikwe II (Azikiwe Jonathan) just recently; they joined hands in cutting the leadership cake baked in Otuoke and claimed ownership of it with Goodluck Jonathan – that everyone must at least have a share and a say. Tomorrow, I look forward to the original leadership cake that will be baked in Aba, Owerri, or Enugu. Surely, such will be the very original one for my Ndigbo brothers.

As the nation progresses, we cannot but continue to  sincerely count our heroes past and present; we must continue to identify how well each region is trying to foster a Nigeria that we can truly call a federation. Of course, this is not a score card or regional assessment of ethnic variables in the country. Without bias, a brother from the South-East, representing a constituency in Yoruba land of Lagos is a sweet harmony of love, acceptability and liberal spirit. I never can say now if this model is acceptable in some other regions in the country in decades to come. Yet, we all claim Nigeria is foremost before any regional identity.

Politically, the Yoruba race has progressed significantly for several reasons. One of those prominent reasons is the ability to accommodate other peoples’ interests alongside home-grown interests. Another important reason is Yoruba’s wisdom of self-criticism. For now in Nigeria, it is more or less only in Yorubaland that you see a man vote against his kinsman from same home simply because he was not convinced in his brother’s ability to deliver. Self-assessment and criticism helps growth and performance.

For every season and generation, God has always appointed a political Messiah for the Yoruba race. The followership of Awolowo, Abiola and presently Bola Tinubu were induced by no other factor than ‘believe’ ideology. In Yorubaland, the people must believe in their leader before he can reign.  In the olden days, when the people have lost confidence in a king and revolt publicly, the King will be made to ‘open calabash’, symbolically relieving himself of his status, causing him to die for fear of humiliation or banished and sent to a foreign land where he will live and die as an ordinary man.

To understand the brand of politics and association of Yoruba race, one will need to reflect why the region gave it to Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 and to Muhammadu Buhari in 2015; and why the South- West region will equally get it back when it is politically ripe. The South-West has played significant roles in nation building, believing in the project Nigeria and observing fair play rules.

To be a leader in Yorubaland, you must be one in real sense of it. Anyone that polls the likes of Rauf Aregbesola, Kayode Fayemi, Abiola Ajimobi, Ibikunle Amosun, Raji Fashola (all former and present governors) and many  more others as members of his political empire needs no further leadership identity for recognition because all these men are great leaders themselves. In the just concluded general election, I saw a battle against the wall of Bourdillon; but the battle was ironically against the collective empire that represents the South-West region in Nigeria’s political equation. The wall was defended by the natives, with Bola Tinubu carrying the banner of a united race.

Unknowingly to many Nigerians, Bola Tinubu has averted civil war twice in this country. He was able to manage political reality of 2011 by deploying political wisdom and strategy to manage the situation thereby averting a crisis situation that would have erupted if minority slot in person of Goodluck Jonathan was edged out prematurely. For those who argued that Asiwaju did financial bidding with Jonathan in 2011, they should know that if they were correct, Tinubu wouldn’t have been able to escape GEJ’s axe even when the Jagaban took the then President up fiercely in a political royal rumble towards the 2015 general elections. On the second note, Nigeria would have entered a critical war if GEJ was allowed to rob Buhari and the North of a ripe mandate. Above all, Bola Tinubu led Nigerians unto a direction that will change the destiny of the nation for a permanent change. How else can one define a true and deserving leader?

In the current political equation, North, East, South or West, one man has been identified for leading the cause that liberated Nigeria and Nigerians from the pang of democratic slavery. Today, average Nigerians in the commonest class are breathing sigh of relief and seeing hope for a better future. The economic and social turbulence that bewildered Nigeria in the last 16 years is gradually fading off even within a very short time of the current government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

By the current political landscape, what makes a fair equation is what everyone is bringing on the table. ‘Though tribe and thong may differ, in brotherhood we stand’. For Ada in Owerri, Ubong in Akwa-Ibom, Danladi in Kano, Hajara in Kogi and Kolade in Ogun, what makes a united Nigeria is how we can use natural ethnic variables to strengthen our national unity.

What Asiwaju is to the Yoruba race is what every other region wished they could be blessed with. In Lagos State, during the last general election, I saw unbridled hatred against Asiwaju which was ethnically packaged and sold to unsuspecting fellow brothers from other divide of the country at the poll, forgetting that a movement was already in place racing across the entire regions. If we must progress as a nation, and if everyone must have something to bring to the table for our collective existence, the struggle is for ensuring emergence of brave leaders like Bola Tinubu from across the regions who will enjoy the support of their people to deliver brains and braces in the larger economic and socio-political spectrum of our country.

To the political adversaries of Bola Tinubu, they will have long walk knowing well that the only project they have and nurture in the political space is vicious attempt to crumble the empire built by this unusual Yoruba leader. I think they shall wait for so long on the business.

A Chukwudi, Aminu, Ekaete and Godson living in Lagos should join Lagosians to advocate for a special status for a Lagos that accommodates over 26 million Nigerians with every family having a representative in the state, not setting on unproductive cause of challenging leadership status of the natives. A nation for us is one that sees everyone being proud of something worth counting to be part of what is needed for national growth.

Lagos is setting on a new cause for yet another historical journey for growth and development under the present government of Akinwunmi Ambode. The development that will be seen in the next four years will be other landmark achievements that consolidate existing benchmark for leadership in Lagos, same for other states being governed by the progressive and level headed leaders. Ekiti and Ondo states are fountains of knowledge and wisdom, so I am sure glory will return to our people; at every point in time, there is always space for accidental leadership, but Ondo and Ekiti shall be free in the words of Kenneth Kaunda. Tomorrow, a Lagos will assume its special status and we shall rejoice that ours is a leader that sets right path for our growth. He shall also remain in the vital pages of Nigeria’s political history. Asiwaju is not just a title; it is also a name for a deserving leader who is peoples’ hero!

–Olulade is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Epe Constituency II