By Mobolaji Sanusi
“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so”—– Charles de Gaulle
The Pull-Him-Down (PHD) syndrome is a common Nigerian factor that has greatly retarded inexorable progress of the country. And any time this column reflects on the syndrome, most especially at this period of the nation’s political history, what readily becomes a reference point is an interesting puzzle that many politicians across the country have found a hard row to hoe.
That riddle is Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu – national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), the Jagaban of Borgu land, Asiwaju of Lagos and former governor of Lagos State. Despite the indignant blackmail of political buccaneers, he is still waxing stronger within the nation’s political firmament as a dependable torchbearer of the progressives across the federation.
Without sounding immodest, it would not be out-of-place to state today that, he remains the most-sought-after politician and perhaps, the most influential one of the progressive hue in contemporary Nigeria. At a point in the history of this country, the late sage, Pa Obafemi Awolowo, was the issue. Even after the great man’s death 28 years ago, most dubious politicians in the south-western part of the country still use his name, without success, to deceive the electorate during electioneering periods. Momentarily, Bashorun MKO Abiola appeared on the political horizon, but was cut short by the feudal military oligarchy that denied him his electoral mandate before the killer tea helped him into an early grave. MKO remains our man forever.
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Since the passage of these two men, I doubt if there is any Nigerian that has taken the political emancipation of his people from the yoke of tyranny and poverty seriously as much as Tinubu has been doing. The political ignoramuses might deride him; the grovelers of centrist governments are used to impugning his character, but that is the man still standing like the rock of Gibraltar. Asiwaju has the power and tactics of political liberation; he is imbued with a rare economic skill, being a shrewd accountant with vast international experience. This man of unquantifiable goodwill has this uncanny nerve for discovering a talent, which was reflected in the membership of his mostly well-endowed cabinet team, which he assembled during his eight-year rein as governor of Lagos State.
The man has greatly helped to secure the southwest and now the federation for the country, but few disgruntled element would still criticise him simply because they are oblivious of his steadfast commitment to finding solutions to the challenges facing the country. Tinubu thinks Nigeria, dreams Nigeria, lives Nigeria and sleeps Nigeria. From the north, east, west and south, people call him at random to seek his help or input on knotty challenges. These men and women are not necessarily members of the political elite class. The Jagaban is also at home with the downtrodden whose interests form the thrust of his concern for a better country that we all can be proud to call our own from May 29, 2015.
Some, out of sheer envy of his large heart and vastly spread goodwill, will query his source of wealth. Simply because the man is doing what they cannot ever do or are not privileged to do since they are not in a position to do it, they harbour the ache in their bellies. Some see him as being immoderate. But Benjamin Disraeli had an answer for them when he said: ‘Moderation has been called a virtue to limit the ambition of great men, and to console undistinguished people for their want of fortune and their lack of merit.’ There are empirical examples of Nigerians, irrespective of tribes and especially among the Yoruba, the man’s cradle, that have benefited immensely from his largesse. But sadly, these same people still hypocritically relish speaking ill of him. That is one of the inherent sacrifices of greatness, being paid by Tinubu.
Who doubts Tinubu’s progressive credentials? That person needs to embark on historical excursion. At a time that the Yoruba states of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Osun and Ekiti were falling to the gangsterism of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2003, it was only Tinubu’s Lagos that stood to absorb the heat of conservatism before eventually launching, single-handedly, the worthwhile battle that liberated the former western region but Ondo and later Ekiti states, from the grips of ruling party’s rampaging agents of neo-colonialism. The giant strides that the region is witnessing today are a consequence of Tinubu’s political sagacity.
Everything is falling in place in the west that has extended to Edo State and this gives credence to Walt Whitman’s statement: ‘Produce great men, the rest follows.’ Tinubu is that great progressive torchbearer! Who still doubts the fact that progressivism is indeed taking firm root in the west and beyond today in the country with the victory of the APC championed by Tinubu. Indeed, Charles de Gaulle was right by saying: ‘Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men and men are great only if they are determined to be so.’ Tinubu is a successful determined political risk taker of out time.
It is this uncommon determination to be great and to fully liberate the masses from the yoke of reactionary politics that compelled Tinubu to take with zeal the national progressive politics project, since the merger of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with other opposition parties – far beyond the west and to every nook and cranny of the country. The move is generating spite, covetousness as much as cynicism from those who always see impossibility rather than possibility in laudable initiatives. The victory of the party in the presidential election and its winning of 22 states in the just concluded 2015 general elections must have further frustrated his already dumbfounded enemies, both covert and overt.
The difference between Tinubu and the rest in the political arena is that he sees possibility where others remain political jellies. His often-talked-about political superiority complex does not mean pride, although it might appear to be so in the eyes of the mischievous among politicians and the so-called pretentious technocrats turned overnight politicians that want to see it so. Tinubu feels a higher esteem over the obstacles he desires to surmount and he is blessed with the rare courage of overcoming them, with enough energy reserved for any eventuality.
Like Awolowo during his lifetime, Tinubu has, in contemporary Nigerian politics, become a thorn in the flesh of the electorally beaten outgoing centrist rulers and envious allies, who believe that despite their brazen ineptitude, it is a taboo for a Tinubu to continue to triumph on the political firmament. This PHD syndrome is the major headache of outgoing current presidency and the enemies within. Tinubu, the statesman has proved to be deserving of an unassailable and conspicuous portion in the nation’s history book and now; Nigerians will henceforth have the golden opportunity of looking back and be able to confidently say: We are eventually free from the tyranny and ineptitude of the reactionaries, at long last!
NOTE:
This article, first published over 8 years ago in Sanusi’s The Natiön newspaper’s Column of May 1, 2015, is hereby reproduced verbatim because of its contemporary relevance with Tinubu emerging as president-elect to be sworn-in on Monday, May 29,2023.
Indeed, columnists could be described as prophets.
