The 69-year-old man rose all of a sudden like a morning sun in the east, having been harbouring his esoteric aspiration to pilot the political affairs of the creaking country for a very long time. As a man of personal vision and mission, he dashed out in 2007 from the governorship position after his two terms in office (eight years) to the more powerful post of national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Having served in different capacities, he had raised more people serving as their god-father. He took them to where they could have their own share of the sweet political cake, which means, he is not tight-fisted. This is what Abdul Mumin Jibrin is conscious of, for choosing to be the leader of his support group, when Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos state, occupies Aso Villa.
Tinubu is a sagacious man with a savvy, he can perceive how the political system of the nation is structured. Therefore, he told Nigerians that he has to consult some people, which is already ongoing, both in and outside the country. With his vast political knowledge aside from being a business mogul, he has earned a chieftaincy title of “Jagaban of Borgu Kingdom in Niger state. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state, the most populous in the country, had assured him.
Recently, on a visit to Oyo state, King Lekan Balogun of Ibadan and Alafin of Oyo backed his ambition. He is the architect of modern Lagos state which is the evident that he will distill those ideas to bring Nigeria back from coma.
Looking at the sexagenarian, he truly has the necessary qualities to be Nigeria’s president but his health remains the roadblock. All he wants is the mantle of the country’s leadership as his name suggests. Joe Biden was 78 when he became the 46th president of the United States of America and even Donald Trump, Biden’s predecessor, was 70. But their case is different partly because America is institutionalised.
Tinubu was unable to attend many events that required his attention last year on account of his worsening health, as was hospitalised at Maryland, United States. The interview granted on Channels television portrayed him as a man of experience but his Ill-health makes his aspiration shaky as many Nigerians are doubtful of his ability to drive Nigeria to the promised land when eventually elected.
Why do some Nigerians not believe him? It’s because of their experience. In November 2009, Umar Musa Yar’adua was moved out of the country for medical treatment for acute kidney failure, until his death in May 2010. That is equivalent to what the serving President Muhammadu Buhari is into.
He had gone on medical treatment several times to London, making it impossible for him to effectively discharge his primary assignment. And that invokes public outrage calling for young people’s inclusion in government, and telling Tinubu to step down for the youths and serve as their coach.
But these people forget that political office anywhere in the world requires a learned person, not someone from nowhere. Besides, the current political coterie in the country cannot allow anybody from nowhere because the existing system is placed on rotation. Ugandan politics is a symbol of the political arena in Nigeria.
For instance, look at old Yoweri Moseveni who has been ruling the country since January 29, 1986, yet he is still the serving president after he defeated his opposition, a young Boni Wine, in the January 2021 election. What is left for the youths is to start from the scratch instead of jumping to the zenith. However, the prognosis is that, 2023 elections may be ripe for him, who has been sprinkling the ground early, because that is how the system is structured.
Jimoh Abdullahi,
Ilorin, Kwara state abdullahioyedemi100@gmail.com