By Tijjani Ibrahim
One of the strongest and earliest young pillars that contributed immensely to the 2023 Presidential Electoral victory of our dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), is Tosin Adeyanju.
From the quiet days of the formation of Tinubu Support Group (TSG), even when many didn’t see or believe that President Bola Ahmed will contest the election because of the uncertainties, Tosin Adeyanju had joined the Jagaban foot soldiers working quietly strategizing for electoral victory.
The small team led by his boss Rt Hon James Falake with a few other groups planned the winnings strategy that secured President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the APC ticket in the face of the stiffest external and internal opposition ever witnessed in the history of Party Politics in Nigeria.
Again, because of Tosin Adeyanju’s closeness to the inner circle of the early Tinubu Campaign management team, he had the privilege of operating in many areas of the campaign particularly the areas of planning and media where he served first as Media Officer and then as Secretary of the TSG.
Working with the front liners in the campaign, he displayed an uncanny brilliance in delivering on his role from the beginning of the campaign to the very day the coveted prize was brought to number 40 Blantyre Crescent Wuse-2 Abuja and 26 Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi Lagos.
It was during this period that I met him while I was myself working privately for the Asiwaju project and needed to execute a media engagement to sell the Asiwaju brand and he immediately, even without knowing me activated his sources and contacts and got me persons who became very useful and contributed greatly to the success of my event. For Tosin Adeyanju anything that promotes the Asiwaju project got his instant and total support.
After the APC primary was fought for and won by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Tosin Adeyanju immediately formed three teams Viz, the Research, Content Creation and Language translation teams comprising young professionals from various fields.
While the Research group researched into public policies, campaign messages and pronouncements, the Content Creation group analyzed and deconstructed campaign messages for potential voters who found it difficult to grasp the import of certain messages or pronouncements that would have been delivered to more sophisticated segments of society during seminars, focused group discussions, panel discussions, Parleys, conferences and gatherings of elites and disseminated through the traditional print and broadcast media (Radio and Television) and on social media. The language translation team had a mandate to translate materials from the content group and Press Releases emanating from the Asiwaju campaign into different languages especially Ibo, Hausa and Yoruba Languages.
When the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) was formed, Tosin was deployed to the PCC secretariat where he worked with the Secretary in administering the council secretariat in its task of coordinating campaign activities, he was doing this while he continued to oversee the activities of TSG Research, Contents and translation groups including other media activities for the group.
By the time the PCC set up its working committees and appointed members into various directorates in preparation for field work and voter mobilization, Tosin Adeyanju was again appointed Secretary of the North Central Support Group Directorates which was responsible for mobilizing the grassroots through the thousands of independent support groups working for Asiwaju in the six States of Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa and the Federal Capital Territory. Here again, Tosin Adeyanju worked with so much passion and commitment to mobilize voters for the party in the region contributing largely to the overall sterling performance of the APC in the North Central.
After the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC as winner of the 2023 presidential election, many shouted uhuru and took their deserved rest after a long and tedious exercise that tasked all genuine campaigners and supporters of Asiwaju to the limit. But that wasn’t a time to rest for Tosin Adeyanju as he started another round of campaign immediately.
This time he created a conducive atmosphere to further unite Nigerians around the freely given mandate of Asiwaju, especially at a time some opposition elements who couldn’t stomach their defeat in a presidential election that remained one of the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria where opposition parties made serious inroads and surprisingly won in some major strongholds of the APC that went into the contest as the ruling party.
Tosin Adeyanju co-convened a 64 day Hangout of Asiwaju admirers alongside Dr. AA Mai Agogo at the Unity Fountain Abuja. The Hangout hosted lovers of Asiwaju from all walks of life and from all over the world. At different days, Senators, some federal and state legislators, senior party officials and even some members of the opposition parties, celebrities, culture Ambassadors and ordinary Nigerians graced the Fountain on a daily basis and all had a common message around building a stable, strong and virile country and supporting the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The hangout wasn’t only a gathering of solidarity, it was also of humanitarian service which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been known for all his life. Honourable Ayuba Gufwan who joined the conveners, Tosin Adeyanju and Dr. AA Mai Agogo used the platform to donate materials which included: wheelchairs, crutches and other walking aids to 5000 physically-challenged persons.
Furthermore, 20 participants were also awarded scholarships worth N400 million during the 64 day period.
In defense of the Asiwaju Mandate and Democracy in general, Tosin Adeyanju ed some progressives to chase out of the Unity Fountain a sponsored group of destabilization who made a daring call for the truncation of our democracy by calling for the cancellation of the election and installation of an illegitimate Interim Government similar to that of 1993 which caused the huge damage the country is still battling to repair today.
This is, in addition to the protest he led to the Independent Electoral Commission’s headquarters to encourage the commission to remain undaunted and focused in the face intimidation and threats by sore election losers and disgruntled opposition elements.
From day one of the Hangout till May 29, 2023 when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the Oath of office as the 16th President of the federal Republic of Nigeria, the message from participants at the Hangout revolved around, tolerance, unity, love, togetherness, hope and patriotism. The hangout also engaged in an open discourse where sectorial reviews of the Asiwaju manifesto was done by experts with inputs from ordinary Nigerians, the report of this engagement will be submitted to the president shortly, to help him with more insights into the implementation of his ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’.
Indeed, Tosin Adeyanju re-echoed the fact that, commitment, focus, engagement, generosity and hard work “which are the hallmark of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s public and private lives, are the surest pathway to a successful end.
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