When he returned from exile to Nigeria in 1998, after he and others fought the then military government of Nigeria to a standstill, little did we know that he would be able to achieve the feat that the great AWO and philanthropist MKO could not in their lifetime.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a man from a very humble beginning who out of luck and determination has risen to become the President of the most populous and most endowed black Nation on the surface of the earth.
His victory however, was shrouded in great miseries which can only be understood by discerning minds. If not so, how will one explain his victory at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential primary election organized by the party he co-founded which was characterized by high level gang up by the most powerful within and outside the government circle?
As if that was not enough, the hardship imposed on Nigerians by the then ruling government of his party when they were supposed to have introduced reliefs to curry citizens’ favour, remains unprecedented and probably unimaginable in the history of our country; yet he was able to overcome all of these. If anyone fails to see the HAND OF GOD in all of these, I do.
When our elders say hard work pays, they must have had Asiwaju in mind because since the beginning of this century, he had invested almost all his resources into building people as well as lasting relationships and bridges across the country.
No wonder he was able to garner the minimum of 25% votes constitutionally required in 29 out of the 36 States of the Federation & FCT, as well as the simple majority of the total votes cast in the elections.
The victory would have been impossible if the major opposition party then, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) did not experience implosion, which fractionalized the over 14 million votes they would have had in a single basket but which were split between the 3 warring factional parties later known as PDP, LP and NNPP.
With all available legal options exhausted by the opposition parties and his victory affirmed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will need to unleash his God given talent and be ingenious in providing purposeful leadership, good governance and sustainable development which had hitherto been elusive in our Nation.
He needs to employ these qualities in him to reposition all sectors of our economy before he can regain the confidence of some among the over 14 million majority voters whose votes were ‘wasted’ in the elections, as against the over 8 million simple majority voters whose votes brought him into office.
I am not entirely worried that the level of antagonism, opposition to and even sabotage of the policies and programs of his government is still very high due partly to the agony of loss by the majority of voters, and doubts about his honest intentions as well as his ability and capability.
While I have implicit confidence in his abilities as a visionary leader whose tracks I have followed since 1999, only time will tell if his doggedness, determination and willingness to put our country back on track will yield the much needed results.
I sincerely, optimistically and hopefully crave to see a better and working Nigeria again in my lifetime, irrespective of what naysayers think.
May God grant President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the strength, wisdom and courage to put his name in the history book as other leaders who have put their Nations on the path of prosperity, growth and sustainability.
God bless Nigeria!
– Aruna Isola Ogunsola
Proudly Nigerian.