TINUBU AND THE LIMITS OF AMBITION

Gozie Irogboli contends that Bola Tinubu has nothing new to offer the nation

As the countdown to the 2023 general election began following the release of timetable by INEC, there is increase in the intensity of political consultations and intrigues in the country. Many have declared their intention to contest for the office of the President. And as expected, among those aspiring to lead the nation are statesmen, democrats, achievers, political jobbers, pettifoggers, as well as pretenders. But, the person whose declaration has elicited more reactions and concerns from Nigerians is that of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (Jagaban), the erstwhile Lagos State governor and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The news of his expression of interest to contest for the exalted office was made public on the 10th of January, 2022. And ever since, the main stream media and its social media counterparts are agog with the news. And expectedly, Tinubu supporters and allies have gone full throttle telling anybody who cares to listen, that Tinubu is coming. Interestingly, Tinubu’s supporters have not adduced any strong reason nor highlighted any qualities of Tinubu that would make Nigerians entrust their future into his hands other than that he is the godfather and the leader of the worst political amalgam as well as the ardent promoter of the worst government in the history of Nigeria.

On the other hand, there are some voices of dissent, vociferous and clear, declaring that Tinubu is not fit to be President of Nigeria on account of his age, status, health condition, controversies and idiosyncrasies. Many Nigerians think and rightly too that installing Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is like the continuance of Buhari. Many have argued in many platforms that Tinubu is another variant of Buhari because of the apparent similarities between the two.

First, Tinubu’s tacit and overt endorsement of Buhari’s policies is an indication that he would not be different from Buhari if given the chance to lead the nation. He was the chief promoter of Buhari. It was he and his lackeys that repackaged Buhari and dressed him in the garb of “a man of integrity, honor and valor”; a born-again democrat and a messiah. He was quoted to have said that when Britain had problem they turned to Gen. Winston Churchill and when America had problem it was Gen. Dwight Eisenhower they turned to and so Nigeria should turn to Gen. Buhari for liberation. And ever since, he had maintained sealed lips while the country is in a state of topsy-turvy under Buhari and while his button boys have taken every available platform to praise and celebrate the monumental failure that the Buhari administration is. It was shocking to many that the once vociferous Tinubu and his men who were always critical of government policies and actions have refused to criticize the APC administration because of his selfish ambition. This means that he values his personal interest over that of the nation. And he is willing to fight dirty for it as he has recently declared. Obviously, his blind support for Buhari in the face of his woeful performance indicates that Tinubu has wrong notion of leadership and governance and therefore will not make a good president.

It is public knowledge that most of those who committed the blunder of foisting Buhari on us have since made a volte-face, regretting their roles and apologizing to Nigerians but not Tinubu because of his political ambition. Even when Buhari soldiers massacred innocent protesting youths at Lekki Toll Gate, Tinubu’s own backyard, he was unperturbed. Instead he made an arrogant “I-dey-kampe” broadcast in a futile bid to extricate himself from the crime.

One similarity between Buhari and Tinubu is about their health status. Early in Buhari’s regime when the pressure of states matters weighed down on him, he had traveled to London wherein he spent over 100 days on a sick bed at the expense of the tax payers’ funds. And ever since, he frequents London on medical check-ups. Those close to Tinubu know that he has health challenges too. In January, just after three weeks of his consultation he jetted out of the country. And while his cronies tried vainly to conceal his health status, his statement recently in the media seems to confirm it. He was quoted as saying that leadership and governance will be done with his brains, not his physical power. I agree to that, though. There is an Italian proverb that says that if leadership is a matter of brains then physical desirability is no problem. But Tinubu’s case is different. Again, many Nigerians believe both Buhari and Tinubu are far older than their official age that each declares.

Apart from being children of the lost empires whose loyalty primarily is for their ethnic affiliations both are authoritarian and have the same attitude to opposition and free speech. Buhari believes in command and control and not dialogue. Tinubu is said to be interested in absolute loyalty to himself. And this can be attested to by those who had fallen out with him in the past—Mrs Bucknor Akerele, Femi Pedro, Governor Ambode, Senator Mamora, inter alia.

Beyond all these, the most worrisome thing is his crude political philosophy which tends towards self-centeredness. No doubt, Jagabanarchy, Tinubu’s political philosophy is a superannuated political philosophy based on godfatherism, winner-takes-all, blind loyalty, ethnic dominance and primitive accumulation. It is clear that Buhari’s 95%:5% dichotomy was a reflection of his party’s discriminatory zoning policy and winners-takes-all mentality. Before the election, all political offices were zoned out. So, Tinubu was privy to that obnoxious policy that polarized Nigerians and deepened the crack of disunity in the polity.

For almost four months now he has toured round the country making what he called consultation. He has even traveled abroad but he has not given it a thought to visit South East or South-South region. Is it guilty conscience or part of Abiola’s “I can do without the Igbo” syndrome?

Evidently, those routing for Tinubu know that he has nothing to offer just like those who promoted Buhari did but just to push out Jonathan. Tinubu and his ilk are outdated. They don’t think about, technology, innovation, nation-building, national productivity, national unity or taking us to the space but just to acquire power.

 Irogboli is an economist, a novelist and public policy analyst