For Tinubu, his ‘lifelong ambition’ trumps the unity of Nigeria

Over two decades ago, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the controversial presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said he did not believe in one Nigeria. He said so in an interview with ThisDay, which the newspaper published on April 13, 1997, with the headline: “I don’t believe in one Nigeria – Tinubu”

At the time, Tinubu was on self-exile in London following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the emergence of General Sani Abacha’s brutal regime.

However, two years after the interview, with Abacha’s demise and Nigeria’s return to civil rule, Tinubu became governor of Lagos State. He then spent the ensuing years, both in and out of government, ruthlessly amassing stupendous wealth and building up a staggering war chest towards what he later described as his “lifelong ambition” to become Nigeria’s president.

…he wrapped his ambition in an ethnic cocoon as Yoruba presidency, a barefaced disregard for the principles of equity, fairness and justice that give the South-East more legitimate and moral claims to the presidency in 2023

Something didn’t add up. How would someone who did not believe in the unity and oneness of Nigeria then make becoming the country’s president the sole aim of his life, his entire purpose?

How could such person spend nearly 24 years scheming, manoeuvring, accumulating astonishing yet unexplained wealth and building extensive political structures and networks with the single-minded goal of becoming Nigeria’s president?

Elsewhere, such behaviours matter. For instance, in the UK, Jeremy Corbyn, then leader of the Labour Party, couldn’t become prime minister partly because the British people questioned his patriotism, based on his past utterances and actions, such as refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen!

But let’s cut Tinubu some slack. Let’s say that he made the “I Don’t Believe in One Nigeria” comment out of frustration. After all, as we know, Tinubu tends to hit the roof and make outlandish comments when he’s angry, a trait to watch out for if he became president as he’s utterly prone to provocative and divisive outbursts.

Consider his recent comment that Peter Obi’s Labour Party supporters “will labour till death.” What about his condescending “olule” diatribe against President Buhari?

However, if we excused Tinubu’s “I Don’t Believe in One Nigeria” comment, made about 26 years ago, as a product of his disillusionment with the June 12 annulment and the despotism of the Abacha regime, then the question is: Does he now believe in one Nigeria? Does he now believe in the unity, stability and progress of Nigeria?

Sadly, the answer is: Questionable! Why? Well, because some of Tinubu’s actions in recent years are harmful to Nigeria’s unity, stability and progress. Three stand out!

First, Tinubu self-servingly foisted a hopelessly clueless General Muhammadu Buhari on Nigeria in 2015 to further his own presidential ambition. Second, he wrapped his ambition in an ethnic cocoon as Yoruba presidency, a barefaced disregard for the principles of equity, fairness and justice that give the South-East more legitimate and moral claims to the presidency in 2023.

Well, third, ignoring the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, Tinubu daringly picked a Muslim running mate, which, if he becomes president, would foist a divisive Muslim-Muslim presidency on Nigeria.

Each of the above actions is calculatedly aimed at fulfilling Tinubu’s “lifelong ambition” of becoming Nigeria’s president, but each of them is injurious to Nigeria’s unity, stability and progress. Thus, put bluntly, Tinubu is ready to risk Nigeria’s interests to advance his own. Let’s briefly consider each of the actions.

Take, first, the foisting of Buhari on Nigeria. Recently, Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate, said: “Tinubu didn’t have to bring a Buhari as president because he wants to be president,” adding: “Why bring in Buhari?” As we know, Tinubu himself boasted that without him, Buhari wouldn’t have been president. He said that when Buhari lost his third bid to be president, he wept on national television and vowed not to run again.

Tinubu said he went to Buhari and told him not to cry, promising to stand by him and help him become president. “I made Buhari president,” Tinubu said, matter-of-factly.

But why? Why did Tinubu go to that length to “make” Buhari president? Did he do it for patriotic reasons? No, he did it for selfish reasons. Tinubu knew he couldn’t be president without piggybacking and riding on the coattails of a popular Northerner.

Thus, he calculated that if he helped Buhari become president in 2015, Buhari and the North would help him become president in 2023, hence his strongest claim to APC’s presidential ticket was that it’s payback time: “It’s my turn,” he said, utterly self-entitled.

Of course, that wasn’t how Tinubu put it in 2015. Rather, he said the APC was on “a mission to rescue Nigeria,” and likened Buhari to General Dwight Eisenhower and General Charles De Gaulle, retired generals who later became civilian presidents and transformed their countries.

But Buhari is a lilliputian when compared with Eisenhower or De Gaulle. He lacks the vision, competence and presiding intellect to govern and transform Nigeria.

The test of good leadership is leaving a place better than you found it. But on the economy, national security, anti-corruption, poverty-reduction, and national cohesion, Buhari is leaving Nigeria worse than he found it.

Indeed, recently, President Buhari himself said: “I am eager to go. I can tell you it has been tough.” Even Abdullahi Adamu, APC’s national chairman, only gave Buhari “pass” – yes, a P – for performance!

Yet, Tinubu has not deemed it fit to apologise to Nigerians for foisting Buhari on the country. Rather, he wants Nigerians to reward him with the presidency for “making” Buhari president.

He’s promising “renewed hope.” But what happened to APC’s “mission” in 2015 “to rescue Nigeria”? Truth is, Tinubu was willing to inflict a rudderless Buhari presidency on Nigeria provided it paved the way for his own!

Which brings us to Tinubu’s selfish and opportunistic resort to ethnic chauvinism to further his ambition, which threatens Nigeria’s unity. Since he declared his presidential ambition in January this year, Tinubu has cast it as a Yoruba agenda.

Indeed, in his Abeokuta outburst, Tinubu said: “Yoruba lokan”, meaning, it’s Yoruba’s turn. But how can it be Yoruba’s turn when, since 1999, the South-West has produced president for eight years and vice president for eight years, while the South-East has produced none?

Last week, I wrote that a Tinubu presidency would be very bad for the South-East. This is because it would deny the region a credible route to the presidency until 2039, leaving the Igbo in political wilderness for 40 years since 1999. How is that good for Nigeria’s unity and stability? Well, for Tinubu, that doesn’t matter, provided he achieves his “lifelong ambition.”

Finally, what about the Muslim-Muslim ticket? Well, it’s an obnoxious example of how Tinubu is ready to risk Nigeria’s interests to advance his own. He says he’s intelligent, but how could he not know that an exclusionist same-faith presidential ticket would utterly divide Nigeria? How would condemning Christians and Christianity to second-class status promote religious harmony?

Tinubu said: “The spirit of 1993 is upon us again in 2023,” invoking the Abiola-Kingibe Muslim-Muslim ticket. But a lot of water has passed under the bridge since 1993 when Nigeria was under brutal military rule. He ignores that because, for him, electoral calculations trump religious harmony.

Last week, at the unveiling of his Muslim running mate, Tinubu deviously paraded some hungry-looking, dishevelled “bishops” to feign Christian support for his choice. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) swiftly disowned the “bishops,” saying Tinubu “hired mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them.” First, Tinubu denigrated northern Christians as electorally worthless, then he desecrated Christianity by using “fake” bishops to justify his action. Utterly sacrilegious!

Truth is, Tinubu always puts his “lifelong ambition” above Nigeria’s unity. He once said he did not believe in one Nigeria. It’s really questionable whether he even does now!