“One can excuse the man on the street for his ignorance and poverty of knowledge. But how do you excuse others who know clearly that Tinubu falls far short of the character portrait and moral attributes of a leader and yet continue to push him forward“
A man with a lifetime of misdeeds is yearning to fulfil a ‘lifelong’ ambition to be the president of Nigeria; the chief architect of the Buhari presidency is packaging himself as the viable alternative to failure. He even had the temerity to declare ‘Emi lokan.’
Can you beat that? He is asking that Nigerians reward him for foisting this calamity on the country? With all that this country continues to witness, viz. the corruption that has reached unprecedented scale, the daily killings being carried out by savage terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, raping of our young girls and women by terrorists, the destruction of the economy that has left the country in dire straits, Tinubu wants Nigerians to vote him? Now, how can anybody in his right senses campaign for him or even think of voting for him, party or no party?
Recently, a former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, exonerated him from Buhari’s woeful performance. I asked on what grounds. The fact that Buhari is incompetent, ineffective and stays aloof as the country faces disaster on all fronts is a great disservice to Tinubu’s cause because he recommended him for the job and campaigned for him. Now Buhari’s style has produced the worst economic and security outcomes for Nigeria. Who do we hold responsible for this staggering failure? Is it not the man who recommended him? Yet, we are told Tinubu knows how to recruit the right people for the job. But that we should not blame him for Buhari’s performance. If Buhari had been a runaway success, would they have said the same thing?
“To fail to understand this moment, and what is at stake for our country, is to fail posterity. That will be catastrophic. This land of our fathers needs healing, Tinubu is certainly NOT the one to bring that healing.”
Was Buhari the right person for the job of President of Nigeria? Is Nigeria better off than it were in 2015?
You see, these people have eaten their cake, and are still trying to have it. Just smarten up and punish them with your vote!
As I watched the television on the night of the presidential primary and saw candidate after candidate (some of whom you had thought held some promise of leadership of this country) step down for the dodgy 86-year-old master of subterfuge who cannot even be honest with something as simple as his true age, his real name, etc., I shook my head and realised we are indeed a strange set of people.
Former Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, Dimeji Bankole, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, amongst others, all withdrew their candidacy and supported Tinubu. These mealy-mouthed politicians have a lot of explanation for posterity on why they supported a man so deeply flawed for the office of president of Nigeria. Do these people really mean well for Nigeria? Why support Tinubu? Why didn’t they at the very minimum, support Vice President Yemi Osinbajo? Sure, that would have been less offensive and tolerable.
“his handlers are hiding him from the scrutiny of an interview. The same way they shielded Buhari from scrutiny is how Team Tinubu is shielding him.”
Were they not aware of Tinubu’s connection to a drug cartel in America for which he forfeited a huge sum of money to the US government? To be involved in drug trafficking is certainly a very serious criminal act, and all countries don’t treat it with levity. And why is Tinubu himself not clearing the air on his nearly half a million dollars federal forfeiture of drug proceeds traced to his account in the 90s? Or he thinks the hullabaloo over his links to drug barons will fizzle out? He will be disappointed because as many other infractions he is accused of, it will not. Why are great opinion moulders like Professor Wole Soyinka not calling on him to address this and other weighty crimes he has been accused of? Where is Femi Falana? Are they all with Tinubu just as in 2015 when every one of them was in Buhari’s wagon that is now taking Nigeria to hell?
“This is the man many seemingly good people are putting their reputations earned over a lifetime of hard work on the line to defend. Including a good number of intellectuals, lawyers, political actors, Nollywood stars, retired footballers, journalists, etc, falling over themselves to endorse to become president of Nigeria.”
It’s always somewhat churlish to criticise those who support Tinubu’s presidential aspiration for rhetorical mediocrity. But the mendacity of their argument goes thus: “Oh he knows how to select competent people”. “He is so rich, he will not steal money”, “Oh he increased Lagos IGR from a mere N600 million monthly to the over N40 billion that it is today,” or “Tinubu transformed Lagos by laying the foundation of what the state has become”. Well, what they don’t tell you is, in the last 19 years, or thereabouts of the contract, he has been pocketing a sizeable portion of the state’s IGR as commission -10 per cent above a certain threshold. That amounts to billions of naira monthly. Please, forget not that he was a sitting governor when he awarded to his company the sole revenue collection contract. What is that called? Simply, corruption and abuse of office. Which governor in the history of Nigeria has done that?
FIRS has done far better since 1999 to date, but gets no credit. The last published revenue receipt was N6.4 trillion in 2021. Now, imagine a president using his company to collect 10 percent of that as commission. No President has ever done that in the history of Nigeria. But that is what Tinubu has been doing in Lagos. My guess is, he will do it to FIRS if becomes president. He will Alpha-Betarise the FIRS and collect 10 per cent commission. NPA, NIMSA, Customs, etc would all be Alpha-Betarised. This is the ‘Lagos Experience’ that Kashim Shettima, Tinubu’s Vice-Presidential running mate did not tell lawyers at the NBA conference. This is what his handlers will never tell you – that Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the progenitor and exponent of wealth without enterprise.
Now, let’s even ask; what did he transform Lagos into? It’s almost like there was no Lagos before Tinubu came on the scene the way his mostly nihilist, knee-jerk supporters idolise and credit him with laying the foundation of a modern Lagos. Yet, many of us lived through Tinubu’s time as governor of the state of Aquatic Splendour and cannot recall any landmark signature project he started and completed before leaving office. Well, Thank God they have not claimed he created Lagos.
“A man with a lifetime of misdeeds is yearning to fulfil a ‘lifelong’ ambition to be the president of Nigeria; the chief architect of the Buhari presidency is packaging himself as the viable alternative to failure. He even had the temerity to declare ‘Emi lokan.’”
In Tinubu’s ‘Lagos experience,’ there is no pipe borne water. Every household self-provides water boreholes for their use. Despite the best efforts of successive administrations in Lagos, many schools remain in deplorable conditions. Healthcare in Tinubu’s ‘Lagos Experience’ is third grade. Is it any wonder he receives all his healthcare needs abroad?
Their narrative strains credulity and the unvarnished truth remains that their pedestrian spin is often clothed with bromides and befuddling flattery to lure you to excuse the astonishing life of misdeeds of this man whose whole life is a row call of misdeeds – from small misdemeanours to perjury and forgery, to major illicit dealings such as illicit drug trafficking, massive corruption and money laundering and associated crimes. His political malpractices and all what not, have by far, elevated him to something of a demigod. And over a lifetime of misdeeds perpetrated against society, he has grown in stature and political clout and national influence, transmuting into a larger-than-life figure, such that he boasted that he alone made Buhari president and Osinbajo vice president. Well, in tow are many governors, lawmakers, local government chairmen, councilors and various other appointments. And that now he believes is the time to return the favour.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other crime agencies of government fear him. They dare not investigate him even though his crimes are legion and are right in their faces. As I have argued in my past articles, his crimes cannot be said to reflect the transient immaturity of youth. Instead, they reflect the permanent incorrigibility of a lifetime of crime.
This is the man who is aspiring to be the president of Nigeria. This is the man many seemingly good people are putting their reputations earned over a lifetime of hard work on the line to defend. Including a good number of intellectuals, lawyers, political actors, Nollywood stars, retired footballers, journalists, etc, falling over themselves to endorse to become president of Nigeria.
I have asked behavioural researchers to tell me why good men defend bad people. They are yet to revert. One can excuse the man on the street for his ignorance and poverty of knowledge. But how do you excuse others who know clearly that Tinubu falls far short of the character portrait and moral attributes of a leader and yet continue to push him forward in WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms to help advance that narrative that he is the best there is amongst us? I frankly don’t get it.
Of course they accuse you of moral posturing, and label you a moralist and remind you that there is no morality in politics. But who said that? The Brits just showed in their ouster of Boris Johnson from the exalted office of Prime Minister that any individual without the moral discipline at his core, is unfit for leadership position. His crimes were his many lies and his lack of moral discipline. Once again, I dare say, we can clean up our politics and make morality its fabric. If we had done this long ago, the likes of Tinubu would not have dared to dream of running for the exalted office of president.
In many instances, however, those who defend Tinubu, do so for subsidiary motivation or what they hope to gain. Some defend him because they share an ethnic affinity with him and get psychological satisfaction from that perceived bond. Others admire and lionise him for successfully gaming the system for so long. I have heard it gives such people the adrenaline rush and a feeling of connection. But there are others who are just simply misguided or simply too lazy to do a serious interrogation of the evidence and are perhaps too carefree to care about the future of our commonwealth.
I once believed strongly that leadership was a major problem, I am beginning to come to terms with the fact that followership is just as much the problem as leadership. Everybody admits he is so rich and that no one can play the money game and beat him in this country. Yet, no one can point to the source of his vast wealth other than proceeds of corruption, directly linked to the public treasury. Despite all this, some people still want him to be president.
There was however a failed attempt by his campaign recently to explain his source of wealth when it claimed that he made his money from selling rice and chemicals. The veteran journalist making the claim was choking on his words. I am sure his conscience was shouting loudly to his hearing; “liar,” “liar.”
Just like no one ever knew his classmates, no one knows the people that bought rice and chemicals from him or the locations of his factory or warehouses. These guys are just grasping at straws.
Again, as they promised Nigerians, Tinubu has already picked up where Buhari left off by sending his vice-presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima to stand in for him at conferences/debates to hide his inadequacy (Osinbajo was the president’s stand-in, in the build-up to the 2019 presidential election to achieve similar purpose). The man has been carefully avoiding live interviews because of the many questions surrounding everything about him. I can bet my bottom kobo, any live interview would finish him up and collapse his presidential run. So his handlers are hiding him from the scrutiny of an interview. The same way they shielded Buhari from scrutiny is how Team Tinubu is shielding him. But we shall continue to shine a light on the dark crevices of this bad project.
What you need to know is that anyone who doesn’t speak up against Tinubu’s ambition is unprincipled and foolish. Unprincipled, because they don’t care about protecting the fabric of our society that has been so brutally challenged and violated by an assemblage of enterprising crooks, and foolish because the tragedy of what this land has become started slowly, and you will be helping to gradually normalise and legitimise a new culture of permissiveness of social vices as better alternatives to virtues of an upright way of life.
You will be telling future generations that the ultimate reward for a lifetime of illicit behaviour is the highest office in the land. You won’t realise the damage you have done until it’s too late. To fail to understand this moment, and what is at stake for our country, is to fail posterity. That will be catastrophic. This land of our fathers needs healing, Tinubu is certainly NOT the one to bring that healing.
