Tinubu: Enigmatic Leader Of Yoruba And National Hero

The spectacular success of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in the recently concluded elections is an eloquent attestation to the dynamism and inspirational leadership of its highly revered chieftain in the person of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

This salutary development coupled with the equally recent sack of the PDP-led administrations of Osun and Ekiti states, has at last succeeded in redeeming the old South-West into the progressive bloc, which had been its traditional habitat.

There is certainly no doubt that the great Awo would be a happy man in his grave for this spectacular feat of the enigmatic Asiwaju, who had proved through his remarkable act of valour, that he is the authentic political generalisimo of Yorubaland.

Tinubu remains not only the supreme political authority in the strategic politics of the South-West, but also the arrowhead of the progressive forces in the broader arena of national politics.

There is certainly no doubt that Tinubu is the political messiah of our time. He is a special gift of God, not only to the Yoruba, but Nigerians and humanity as a whole.

However, like Jesus Christ and the Holy Prophet Mohammed, messianic figures of his class often go through untold persecutions in the hands of the envious hordes of oppressive forces, who would do everything possible to exterminate him and deceive the downtrodden, who were the very object of his motive, about the liberating import of his mission, all in the mischievous bid to keep them in perpetual enslavement.

Asiwaju undoubtedly, is not only a leader, but a leader among leaders and a mythical figure whose presence occurs on the earthly planet, only once in a while. Where the entire hordes of his adversaries and implacable antagonists struggle tooth and nail without success, Tinubu continues to soar and shine like a meteor.

This is because his fame, success and popularity are predicated not only on might and power, but on the fact that he is simply born to rule. This, in other words, is saying that he is simply acting out his divine mandate; therefore, there is nothing anybody can do about it.

This is indeed the reason why the Lord who sent him, had right from the onset, equipped him with such superlative rare endowment and attributes with which he had been able to dwarf his adversaries in terms of his superior tactical brilliance, his remarkable God-given wisdom intellect and native intelligence and above all, the eternal truth on which his political struggles and philosophy are anchored.

Sometime ago, I took pains to put up an elaborate write up in the newspapers in which I called on the various Yoruba leaders of thought to unanimously make Tinubu the next Yoruba leader, following the death of Senator Abraham Adesanya, the erstwhile National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, chieftain.

The article, as a matter of fact, was prompted by a remark of Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, who at a birthday celebration of Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Alaafin of Oyo, made a call to the effect that the ex-governor of Western State, Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo (retd.) should be made the next leader of the Yoruba, while the ex-governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, be made his deputy.

I remember having cause to thank the renowned mathematician for having the moral guts to ever at all have cause to put forth the Asiwaju, despite the differences in political affiliation.

But contrary to his contention that Asiwaju be made the deputy, I went ahead to make an emphatic and unequivocal declaration that the actual effective leadership should rather go to Tinubu, while someone else plays his deputy.

In the article, I wrote that “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the political enigma of out time, is the man very much needed by the Yoruba, particularly at this crucial time. He has been tried and tested and he passed the test, even beyond, the wildest expectation. Though a civilian, there is no doubt that he has proved to be the political general of our time. He is courageous, daring, intelligent, far-sighted and visionary. He is a man of the people, highly revered as he is equally beloved, not for any other factor, than his qualities, which have endeared him to millions of Yoruba people in Nigeria and in the diaspora.

“Could you imagine the mother of all battles that this man had fought in the chequered and turbulent spells of his political career, when all the Ogunlewes of this world, the Bode Georges, the Ashorobis and their likes, literally emitted fire in their suicidal bid for Tinubu’s head.”

And can one imagine the luciferously sustained and intensified attempt of the alpha and omega, then on the throne (OBJ)—I’m sure you know him—to nail the Asiwaju’s political coffin, by his sadistic starvation of Lagos State of the legitimate local government funds accruable to the state from the federal purse—all in the hope to frustrate and incapacitate the government, render it stagnant and choke the life out of it—with the ultimate aim of eliciting popular massive discontent by the populace and civil service staff, including political office holders, against him—all in the desperate hope of nailing his political coffin.

This is not even to talk of the turbulent certificate scandal fomented by his envious adversaries, all in the bid to bring him down—but which eventually turned out a hoax.

When I look back today, at that turbulent period, I cannot help but imagine, the superhuman stature the man conjures to the extent that at that critical period when the entire geopolitical landmass of the southwest was overrun in a commando military style by Obasanjo and his henchmen, Tinubu remained the last man standing.

And when you further put along these, the enviable legacies he was able to bequeath within the context of the development of the state, which remains unrivalled to date, then one cannot but marvel at his giantry.

And one conspicuously notable theme, that is talking of his leadership quality, is his sense of empathy. Not for him, the cowardliness or nonchalance of a man, who would lead his followers to a battle and abandon them mid stream, immediately the going seems rough. No, Tinubu will follow through to the end.

Of course the epic governorship saga of Fayemi and Aregbesola in Ekiti and Osun states respectively and, of course, Adams Oshiomhole in Edo State, Ajimobi in Oyo State and Amosun in Ogun State, confirm these unique inspirational qualities of his.

One other notable feature about Tinubu is that he will never put a round peg in a square hole. At least, such crop of highly talented and promising leaders like the Fayemis, the Aregbesolas, Adams Oshiomholes, Amosuns, Fasholas, Ajimobis and their likes, attest eloquently to this.

And it is a tribute to this innate inspirational pillar figure he symbolises, that ACN continues to grow everyday in leaps and bounds, not only in its incidentally primordial sphere in the South West, but indeed across the entire federation, following a mounting wave of decamping of erstwhile PDP members to the ACN. They were largely won over by the charismatic power of the Asiwaju and his numerous sterling qualities including the noble ideals which the ACN stands for.

This, in other words, is to say that ACN is not only the ruling party in waiting, but the party to beat in the 2015 general elections.

What this indeed boils down to is that Tinubu is not just the leader of the Yoruba, but the arrowhead of the progressive forces in Nigeria and even beyond this—and please mark me—I express, without any shred of equivocation, that my leader is indeed the architect of modern Nigeria.

Just close your eyes and imagine the scenario of contemporary politics had there been no such figure as Tinubu and then see how politics would have lost its shine, colour and prospects. This is why Tinubu deserves the prayer of every patriotic right thinking Nigerian.

•ADEKUNLE Ademoye, a lawmaker and Chairman, Committee on Housing, Lagos State House of Assembly, wrote in from Lagos.