By Femi Adeoti
SAD! Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu did us in.
He grossly led us astray. President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu’s much-flaunted magic wand! It is in
serious doubt. It’s crashing like a pack of loose
cards. It is coming to tatters.
Tinubu is not what Sanwo-Olu & Co
desperately made us to believe. And we are
gravely grieved. We were deceived. It is not in
any way pleasant. The Jagaban is after all a mere
mortal. He’s not more human than any other
human.
They only hook-winked us to believe
otherwise. They haunt our sincerity and honesty.
So, Tinubu, a make-believe, pretence? Even a
fantasy? He can ever fumble, stumble, flounder,
stagger like any of us? Incredible!
Down within us, we were pretty sure. It
would come this messy. That we would get to
this crossroads. But we never knew we would
arrive there this soon.
These lies, deceits, falsehoods must come to
an end. They would not stand the test of times.
They never did before. And they won’t now. It’s
given.
The righteous would always be exalted. The
wicked forever put down. That is divine it’s
spiritual. That template won’t be changed for
anything. God doesn’t work that way.
Dateline: November 2, 2022. Venue: Eko
Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. It was a
forum to showcase Tinubu. He was presidential
flag bearer, All Progressives Congress (APC).
Expectedly, Sanwo-Olu was literally armed
to the teeth. His government put the event in
place.
He proudly presented his product to the
listening audience: Tinubu, possesses a magic wand that will turn Nigeria around. How? He
responded almost immediately:
“Tinubu is a man that has been able
to combine political acumen with the
understanding of the economy and economics
of every jurisdiction.” That’s a characteristic of a
magician!
One exemplar from the governor’s many
examples: “Eko Atlantic City is today the biggest
real estate developed in this part of Africa
through the reclamation of the ocean. All thanks
to the vision of Asiwaju to turn problems to
opportunities.”
Sanwo-Olu sticks to his mentor. He has no
viable choice. He roars, in Tinubu: “You see a
man that is compassionate, intelligent, business-
driven and has the acumen to solve challenges.”
His final answer: “I present to you the man
that has what it takes to lead this country
forward to a prosperous future with Renewed
Hope.”
But the reality is dawned on them; staring
them in the face. Sincere thanks to Mrs. Remi
Tinubu. We were never to be in the know. Until
she opened up, even if belated.
She’s the wife of the president. She was so
generous with her gesture. And we’re eternally
grateful. Without her, we would have remained
in the dark.
We did not know the starling quality our
president is made of. She rubbished Sanwo-
Olu’s claim. She put it where she thinks it rightly
belongs; dustbin of history. What fallacy, she
protested vehemently.
She was convinced and emphatic: “My
husband is not a magician.” And he won’t act
like one: “He is going to work brick-by-brick.” A
rare meticulous builder!
Mrs. Tinubu poured out at that thanksgiving
service. It was to celebrate our 63rd
independence anniversary. Thank God, October
1, 2023, was a Sunday.
Her husband addressed us early in the
morning. She did the same hours later. The
husband spoke in a nationwide live broadcast.
The wife opted to sermonise at an inter-
denominational church service.
Trust her. She made the maximum use of
that Sunday: “All we inherited are things that
happened many years ago.” A veiled reference
to Tinubu’s predecessor, Muhammadu Buhuari.
She quickly applied the brakes.
It’s native intelligence on display: “We are not
here to put the blame on any administration,
but to fix what has been damaged.”
The Buhari camp was miffed. It got the
message and was pained to the marrows. It
bluntly refused to agree with her. She really
drew ire for her utterance.
Buhari’s former Senior Special Assistant on
Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, came on
board. He strenuously insisted. Buhari actually
brought Nigeria’s economy out of the woods. He
was certain. He performed that magic before
leaving.
He told BBC Hausa service, philosophically:
“But that’s how things used to be. Once an
elephant is down, people will bring out their
knives and struggle for a cut.”
Yes! You did exactly that to your predecessor,
Goodluck Jonathan. What goes around comes
around. You tore him and his government into
shreds. Every wrong was hung on his neck.
Garba reluctantly resigned to fate: “Our
leader, Buhari, has done well. If people fail to
talk about that now, perhaps they will talk about
that in the future. They would be fair to him and
talk about the good things he did.”
Even at that, the Remi Tinubu we know was
not deterred. She would not give up either. She
went spiritual:
“Good governance can only be impactful if
we all follow the example of Jesus Christ, our
Lord, who embodied the fruit of the spirit,
including love, joy, peace, long suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance and forgiveness.”
We will not want to forget what Mrs. Tinubu
obliged us on a gold platter. She will not forgive
us if we dare do.
One thing Remi is sure her husband is not;
a magician. She detests that epithet like a
plague. She knows the best. They have been in
it together.
We wonder aloud: Why is she terribly scared
of a magician? She should; a magician is simply
a conjuror! She dreads that. Who would not?
Sanwo-Olu disagreed. What he saw in
Tinubu is magic-wand. To him, Tinubu is
more than “a person with exceptional skill
in a particular area.” That’s another tag for a
magician.
And that’s where Sanwo-Olu missed it. He
sees Tinubu having “exceptional skills in all areas.” How possible? That’s the old dummy they
sold.
Tragically, that couldn’t hold water again. It
must expire and it has. It collapsed; “bubble don
burst.” Nobody has exceptional skills in all areas.
Only God does! And they choose to play God.
They sheepishly make a tin god out of their
Jagaban. The reason for crashes, misses and
fumbling trailing his actions and inactions. And
we’re witnessing these in all sectors, all the way.
We have seen enough magic in our president
to make him a conjuror. This is undeniable.
One of our strongest testifiers is this
unanimous piece, “VAT versus fuel subsidy.”
It tries to situate Tinubu as a magician of no
small means. It was picked from a social media
platform:
“Imagine! You removed (fuel) subsidy and you
imposed Valued Added Tax (VAT) again. Who
does that? It’s either you impose VAT and leave
subsidy. Or you remove subsidy and remove VAT.
“The two is too huge to bear at ago. Does
Tinubu not know that, that will further make
prices to go up?
“The fact that they told him Dangote Refinery
was ready and he got there to realise that it
wasn’t ready was enough for him to reverse the
policy they aborted before he came.
“As much as I support him and wish him
success is not enough for him to suffocate us
with his policies.
“However, as it’s not possible for him to
right all the aged long anomalies. So, he cannot
wrong all the aged wrongs at a set go. Else his
government will crumble in a jiffy.”
For now, Mrs. Tinubu has taken the bull by
the horns. What others dread and fear to do. She
did it with utmost ease.
She wanted all the shenanigans around
stopped forthwith. She called her husband to
order. What guts, what audacity! She boldly told
him: You are not a magician. So? Stop behaving
like one.
That’s thoughtful of a sincere and honest wife.
Her breed is rare. You don’t find them carelessly.
We thank her immensely.
Even then. We have not seen any significant
shift. Yes, in her husband’s attitude and
disposition. He hardly stops behaving as one.
All the same, we keep our fragile fingers
crossed. A magician is not the best for us. We
abhor a conjuror at work!