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It is clear that the news of Senator Bola Tinubu’s declaration of his intention to run for the office of President of Nigeria is stale by now, so also is the torrent of criticisms by his political enemies.
Tinubu has always been the man many people love to hate, some for inexplicable reasons, others, because of his politics and the wealth he has accumulated as a result of his political enterprise and business acumen.
This article is, however, not about any of these. The concern here is about the palpable errors in his process of declaration of his intention to run for Nigeria’s Number 1 office. Nobody should envy Mr. Tinubu or any presidential aspirant. Whoever decides to run for this exalted office must pass through the crucible of fiery public scrutiny.
Therefore, let no one blame writers who ventilate their views, especially those that are stridently opposed to Mr. Tinubu’s ambition on account of his pedigree. Tinubu has a right to run; his critics have no right to challenge him on this score but could tell us what disqualifies him because of his record.
On this quest for the presidency, Tinubu’s method of declaration reveals some grave errors that cast doubts on his competence as a potential President who is capable of solving Nigeria’s monumental problems.
His first mistake was to claim that his presidential bid was anchored on a life-long ambition to rule Nigeria. That means his quest to be President is an obsession to add the feather of the presidency to his already loaded cap; it’s not about Nigeria’s development, first and foremost, as it ought to be, but a personal desire to occupy the office.
That is not the kind of leader Nigeria needs now. We need a leader who’s desperate to solve our problems because he has the right ideas and is fully persuaded he has the ability to move this nation out of the ditch to the height where it ought to share space with Singapore, China, South Korea and other newly industrialized nations.
Tinubu’s second mistake was to state that he would turn Nigeria into Dubai. Wrong! Dubai is, at best, a successful city-state, a tourist/business hub. You could attempt to turn Lagos into Dubai, but Nigeria ought to be looking to be like China or its peers such as Malaysia, not Dubai. It downgrades Nigeria to be aspiring to be like Dubai.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader also claimed he would vanquish Boko Haram, if he gets into power. To say that is to admit that his party has failed to fulfill its main obligation to secure Nigeria and destroy its greatest enemy in the last decade, Boko Haram. If Tinubu has the magic wand to eliminate Boko Haram, why didn’t he give it to President Muhammadu Buhari? Why wait until he gets to Aso Rock?
If Mr. Tinubu needed to get the nod of Buhari to run for the Number 1 office currently being occupied by the latter, it means he’s beholden to the President, and not a fully independent candidate. He does not need Buhari’s permission to run. What if the President said no? Would Tinubu then give up his ambition? If he had said, as part of his wide consultations, he had also discussed with Buhari, that might sound nice.
The issue here is that Tinubu doesn’t seem to be managing this aspect of his presidential project well, given the way he’s communicating his objectives. We would need a definite assurance from his utterances and actions that a Tinubu in Aso Rock couldn’t be cowed by any cabal, whether from the North, military or the South. So far, he is not showing that.
Finally, his record. Whenever he is asked about his achievements as a two-term governor of Lagos State, Tinubu has always pointed out that he raised the state’s internally generated revenue from N600 million to N10 billion; and that figure has increased to about N40 billion currently. That’s fine! But what matters is not just the revenue increase but what was done with it.
Tinubu’s biggest challenge is how he has handled the finances (tax revenue) of Lagos State and the role of his outfit, Alpha Beta, as the key agent of tax collection in the state up till now! He has another big question mark. How much of his stupendous wealth has come from the purchase of the assets of Lagos State? These are the issues around Tinubu’s baggage that he has to deal with.
The last error of his declaration is this: with the kind of controversy around him, he ought to have used his declaration as an opportunity to call a press conference where the declaration should have been made, after giving answers to questions about his wealth, age, origins, alleged identity theft and educational qualifications. Unfortunately, that opportunity is gone. But trust the Jagaban, he might still weather the storm and end up in Aso Rock in 2023.
Weekend Spice: Patience has a limit. Don’t take other people’s patience for granted.
Ok folks, thanks for reading. COVID-19 is still here, observe the protocols. Stay motivated!
