They hate Bola Ahmed Tinubu , because he is a child of
promise and a child of destiny , whose entire political career
is marked by consistent and unassailable conquests over
anti - democratic forces , military dictators and their civilian
apologists , retrogressive elements and the evil marauders in
the corridor of power , who occasionally pretend as friends
but could not hide their character as sworn enemies when
the chips are down .
They hate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he is a man of
definite purpose , a visionary per excellence , a political
leader extra ordinary , whose doggedness and strong
convictions will never allow him to be compromised in the
collective struggle to rescue Nigeria from bad rulership and
misplaced governance .
His intimidating political profile and highly expansive political network that has continued to give his opponents sleepless nights . This
was the man that was nationally acclaimed as the ‘ Last
Man Standing ’ , being the only Southwest governor who
survived the so- called electoral tsunami that swept away
his colleagues during the 2003 general elections.
As Governor of Lagos State for eight years , Tinubu practically
laid the foundation for the rapid transformation of Lagos
from a metropolitan state to a model mega city in Africa that
it is today. His creative genius came handy as he grew the
state ’ s monthly Internally Generated Revenue from the
paltry sum of N 600 million to N 7 billion by the time he was
leaving office in 2007 . Today , the current monthly IGR of
Lagos State is over N 20 billion . Amidst the odds and
hurdles of legal and political dimensions that lasted for over
two years , Tinubu ’ s administration dared the Federal
Government and created 37 Local Council Development
Areas (LCDAs ) in addition to the existing 20 local councils .
He pioneered the take- off of the Annual Lagos Economic
Summit as well as the repositioning of the Organised Private
Sector (OPS ) as the dynamo for rapid economic
development in Lagos State and Nigeria as a whole. He
revolutionised the state ’ s civil service and land
administration system through the introduction of high
technology - driven record and payment systems. He equally
established the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority
( LASTMA ) , Lagos State Bus Assets (LAGBUS ) , Lagos
Metropolitan Area Transport Authority ( LAMATA ) , Lagos
State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA ) , Lagos
Waste Management Authority ( LAWMA) , Highway Mangers
and Drain Ducks as well as several other government and
private sector - driven agencies to improve transportation ,
traffic and waste management in the city of Lagos.
His positions on matters pertaining
to the rule of law and fundamental human rights are not
only consistent but are non- negotiable . He is a man of the
people and a man on the right side of history . During the
protracted June 12 struggle and the march towards the
enthronement of democracy in Nigeria , I make bold to say
that apart from the late Chief MKO Abiola , there is no single
Nigerian , dead or alive, home or abroad , that made a bigger
financial commitment to the struggle than this same man ,
Tinubu .
Before his assumption of office as governor , ugly heaps of
refuse dumps on the streets and T - junctions were a
common feature within the Lagos metropolis while there
was regular and static traffic congestion , gully erosion
resulting from the blockage of drainages and the headache
relating to a ravenous surge of the ocean , which almost
claimed about thirty per cent of the settlements and
infrastructure along the coastal line . Tinubu created the
Ministry of Waterfront & Infrastructure and pioneered the
Atlantic City Project to reclaim Lagos landmass on the
shoreline from the tyranny of the ocean , and today, more
spaces have been provided for exploits on the island ,
spreading to the Lekki - Epe axis .
Tinubu administration
established the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) and the
Citizens Mediation Centre ( CMC ) during which time Prof
Yemi Osinbajo , the All Progressives Congress ( APC) vice
presidential candidate, was the Attorney - General and
Commissioner for Justice .
his laudable achievements in
office made him to search out and discover an amiable and
brilliant successor, Mr . Babatunde Raji Fasola , a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria ( SAN) , who did not only consolidate on
the progressive , life - transforming and ground - breaking
legacies handed down to him but also went as far as carving
a unique niche for himself as a role model in mega city
transformation as well as a world- class technocrat in
regional innovation and integration .
Tinubu is partly informed by the fact that he
did not limit the flowering of progress to Lagos State . He
intensified the struggle and extended the frontiers of
transformative governance to other states of the Southwest
geo - political zone. Given his consummate political
sagacity , doggedness , spartan discipline and confidence in
the correctness of his ideological principles and practices ,
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu , the Jagarban of Borgu
Kingdom , the Aare Ago of Egbaland and the Jagunmolu of Ile
Oluji , went back to the trenches and wrestled with political
principality and power to rescue the rest of the Southwest
from the PDP and today, by the special Grace of God , states
like Oyo, Ogun , Osun and even Edo in the Southsouth have
joined the train of progressive states where rapid socio -
economic, agricultural and infrastructural development is
holding sway .
Asiwaju has also demonstrated that religious tolerance is
not only possible but can be a reality even within the
confines of our private homes. For instance , while he is a
devout muslim and ardent financier of islamic activities , his
heartthrob , Senator Oluremi Tinubu is an Assistant Pastor in
the Redeemed Christian Church of God ( RCCG) . As governor
of Lagos State for eight years , Asiwaju surrounded himself
with fervent Christians and Muslims , with all of them having
access to equal opportunities and working together with a
singleness of purpose , more so that every meeting of the
State Executive Council during his administration always
commenced and ended like a nucleus family meeting
despite the rigorous debates and divergence of views on
different issues that came up every week.
His cabinet was more or less an epitome of the Nigerianity
movement ; it was an assemblage of representatives from
different parts of the country . The rollcall of those Asiwaju
appointed into his star- studded cabinet , in addition to
prominent sons and daughters of Lagos State , included
Pastor Ben Akabueze ( Anambra) , who served as
Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning ; Mr . Dele
Alake (Ekiti ) who served as Commissioner for Information
and Strategy; Prof . Yemi Osinbajo , SAN ( Ogun ) , who served
as Attorney - General and Commissioner for Justice . He is a
Senior Pastor in the RCCG; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola , an
engineer , (Osun ) , who served as Commissioner for Works &
Infrastructure ; Mr . Wale Edun ( Ogun ) , who served as
Commissioner for Finance ; Dr . Bayo Adewusi ( Oyo) , who
equally served as Commissioner for Finance ; Chief
Ebenezer Akinbolade (Ondo ) , who served as Commissioner
for Establishment & Training and so on .
To those who want to put Asiwaju in the dustbin of history
for their own selfish political gain , they must realise that
this is a tall dream in the realm of phantasm . It is a dream
that can never come true. This is a man who has affected
many lives across and beyond the shores of Nigeria in a
most positive manner . By his active involvement in national
re - engineering and restructuring , Asiwaju has further helped
to define politics as a call to service and stewardship to
humanity. To those who brand him negatively as someone
who rose up from the gutter to the ladder, they should be
reminded that Asiwaju was already a self - made success and
an accomplished professional of global reckoning before he
ventured into politics . After a very brilliant academic exploit
in the United States (U . S . ) , Asiwaju had worked
meritoriously with multinational companies in the U . S . ,
including Exxon Mobil Petroleum , before he was posted to
Nigeria as a Senoir Audit Manager of this multinational
petroleum company . For the records , Asiwaju could only
take a leave of absence as Treasurer of Exxon Mobil to
allow him contest for the Senate of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria in 1991, following persistent persuasion from many
admirers of his , including my humble self . Before then , he
was a major player in the finance sector and a notable
financier of various religious and development - driven
activities in Lagos State and other states of the federation .
While he was doing all these , we recognised his passion for
progressive development but doubt if he himself knew the
magnitude of leadership skills , talents and intellectual
power embedded in him until his eventual foray into active
politics . Actually, his extreme commitment to democracy ,
the rule of law and social justice and the diverse leadership
roles he played during the protracted June 12 struggle ,
home and abroad , had further placed Asiwaju in the
mainstream of popular democratic movement in Nigeria , and
he has continued to occupy this placement in history till
today, to the extent that no one can successfully re - write
his history by a mere launching of a futile smear
documentary campaign against this great man of destiny .
Despite his unbeatable and enviable contribution to the
Nigerian project , none of his biological children is a
commissioner or member of the legislature today whereas
many of his ardent critics , including some of his close
allies , already had their children appointed as
Commissioners and Special Advisers as well as elected
members of National and State Assemblies. Of course , such
children , as Nigerians , have a constitutional right to be so
appointed or elected . However , when his wife got elected as
Senator , his detractors grumbled and when one of his
daughters emerged as a leader of market women in Lagos ,
Asiwaju ’ s enemies told him to bring his head to be hanged .
Surely , it was acceptable for the late sage , our own Chief
Obafemi Awolowo , in his life - time to produce Oluwole
Awolowo as a member of the Lagos State House of
Assembly for two consecutive legislative terms between
1979 and 1983 before the military later took over the reins of
power . It was acceptable for the late Chief Olusola Saraki to
produce a governor in Dr . Bukola Saraki . It was acceptable
to the American people for President George Bush ( Snr . ) to
leave office as President of the U . S . and have two of his
sons simultaneously serving as governors in the States of
Texas and Florida and, of course for one of them to take
over from their father ’ s successor eight years later as U . S .
President. Equally , it was acceptable for former President
Bill Clinton ’ s wife , Hillary , to be elected as US Senator . Why
must Bola Tinubu , another phenomenal leader of his time ,
be crucified for his political and economic fortunes if not for
his consistency on the need for us to give birth to a new
Nigeria ? Enough is enough , the shameless display of crude
politics and intrigues must stop at once . We must move
forward as a people and as a nation .
T he late Rotimi Williams , SAN of blessed memory had an
opportunity to serve as Attorney - General in the Western
Region , after which he ran a most successful and profitable
legal practice that brought a lot of prosperity . Nobody said
his wealth was stolen just because he had served in
government . the late Chief Okotie - Eboh was a successful
businessman after he had served in government as Minister
of Finance . He was respected as a businessman . Gen
Theophilus Danjuma left government to launch himself into
business and today, he is one of the richest men in Africa.
Our respected father , Chief Edwin Clark , was Minister of
Information and later concentrated on his business . Today ,
he is not just a wealthy man , he, in fact owns a private
university . No one would insinuate that his wealth came
from his having served as a public servant. All over the
civilised world, former public office holders end up in the
corporate boardroom of reputable companies as key
players . But eight years after vacating office as governor ,
Tinubu ’ s detractors will always trace his business fortunes
to the treasury of the Lagos State government .
Late Chief Ladoke Akintola never had a chance to defend
himself against allegations of having worked against the
interest of the Yoruba race because he was gone with the
crisis . The late Chief Akin Omoboriowo , before he was gone ,
did not have the resources and media clout to properly
defend himself and reposition himself in history . As a
Nigerian , as an unassuming Yoruba boy , as an Ekiti man
and as a student of history , I am not convinced that these
men deserved the attempt to totally condemn them to the
dust bin of history as if they had no cause to disagree with
the political establishment that would make it sound as if a
disagreement with them was tantamount to working against
the Yoruba race and interest .
The late Chief Akintola might not have been alive to
offer a later day explanation while the late Chief
Omoboriowo might not have had the wherewithal to
decisively deal with the matter before he passed on . To the
contrary , however , Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is alive and
has the human and material resources as well as the media
strength (be it in print , in electronic or through the social
media ) to squarely address the issues after the elections .
They hate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he is a man of
definite purpose , a visionary per excellence , a political
leader extra ordinary , whose doggedness and strong
convictions will never allow him to be compromised in the
collective struggle to rescue Nigeria from bad rulership and
misplaced governance .
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