By John Niman
In 1998, I listened to an interview of Mr. Bola Tinubu on VOA; he was a member of NADECO then. I was thoroughly floored by his eloquence and his understanding of the issues during the Abacha Regime. I said to my old man then “this man knows his onions”.
About 6 months later, there was another interview on the same station; this time he was being asked about his gubernatorial ambitions…His answers were so articulate…he spoke about Waste to Power program, power generation by the state, state police and fiscal federalism. He was way ahead of his comteporaries…and I loved him more.
He became governor…and took on the Obasanjo Regime on the Independence of the states from the central government. By this time, love apples for him were popping out of my ears! Dude was good and understood how to build nations within a country!
I must confess that I had always been a secret admirer of the man…
Then came the Jonathan Administration…and dude slowly morphed into something else…subtly… slowly but surely. Mr. Tinubu had become a megalomaniac sold on himself. We all know about that so I shan’t bother us with the details…
With the rise of Mr. Jonathan, dude fancied his chances at being president. He junked the fiscal federalism thingy and state independence…and rolled out his propaganda machinery…if I could topple Jonathan and place a stooge, I could be president! In his mind, his plans were perfect! He sold the plans to his minions and they went to work in 2011.
For about 10 years, he’s dedicated his life to achieving those plans…a 10 year plan! And he went after it with uncommon determination that would have been admirable if only the terms were right and the structure of Nigeria was agreeable.
The more Mr. Tinubu went after his plans, the more he alienated his constituency…the Reformers…and it is the Reformers that connect with the People!
We concluded that he could never be president after the own-goal of 2015. He said we were crazy! Indeed, he was the crazy one! Our dear Jagaban had gone bunkers… everyone knew except himself!
His major albatross was his lack of emotional intelligence…at least not in the past 7 years. Do you know what this man could achieve by aligning with the desires of the people? Do you know that if this gentleman could declare TODAY that we must #restructureOrBurst, fight for the #autonomousRegions and promote #EndThe1999Constitution, he would be an instant hit and we could achieve all these? Do you know that if he had foresight, he could become the Premier of the Oduduwa Region and do exploits?
Why he doesn’t see the low-hanging fruits befuddles me…hence my conclusions that he’s a man with almost zero EQ!
He helped to plant the President Buhari…he fought tooth and nail to help to sustain that presidency. He went against the desires of his constituency and neighbors…he became emotionally isolated by his own people and admirers…but sustained some clout still with his financial powers and certain influences…but his influence had waned everywhere…
In desperation, he did the unthinkable…a tacit endorsement of the Lekki Bloodgate on the 20th October, 2020.
On that day, scores of peaceful protesters were violently killed…the world watched in consternation as men in military fatigues gunned down un-armed youths. On that same day, as the protesters fell like nine pins, wailing and calling on their God and mothers, the Tinubu Political Dynasty was gunned down alongside!
Mr. Tinubu’s political dynasty inadvertently became a victim of his own lack of emotional intelligence…and he self-destruct by his refusal to align with the People!
The Tinubu I fell in love with in 1998 is lurking somewhere within me decades later…and I do believe that the original Tinubu is still somewhere within him too…if he could touch base with himself some 22 years back, he could still pull the chestnut out of the fire yet…
By aligning with the People…to #EndSARs, #EndThe1999Constitution, have the #autonomousRegions or #RejectThisRepublic. The ball ain’t far from his court despite his political demise. The challenge is: Is he emotionally intelligent to see things critically?
But one thing I’m certain of, whether he makes amends or not, even before the unfortunate recent events, Mr. Tinubu would NEVER be president! So if he comes to that realization, maybe he could start making the right choices!
Dear Mr. Tinubu, you would NEVER be president!
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent those of theportcitynews.com.
