The last time Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu held an elective public office was on 29 May, 2007, but he has ever remain an active player in the political scene.
He held (and is still holding) on firmly to his area of sphere of influence, like a colossus, dominating the politics of the place where he made his mark.
The Iragbiji, Osun State-born political juggernaut, since 2007 when he left office as governor, dictates who gets what in the political scene in Lagos State.
Tinubu has been out of power for over 15 years, but he remains at the corridors of power since then, even at the national level, firing the shots from behind the scene.
An acclaimed legendary philanthropist, he built a cult-like followership across the country, with uncountable number of them readily willing to die for his cause and course.
At a point when nearly everybody believed it is over for him politically, the man did the unthinkable and threw his hat into the ring. Tinubu announced, with glee, and to the consternation of not a few, his desire to realise his life-time ambition.
Walking where the saints fear to thread, the former governor of the State of Aquatic Splendour, he declared to run for and contest the highest political office in the land.
Amid reports of deteriorating health issues, he daringly walked to meet the lion in his den at the intimidating and powerful seat of power; Tinubu boldly told him that he wanted to be the next occupant of Aso Rock, come 29 May, 2023.
Pronto, Tinubu came under the most severe attack ever witnessed in the contemporary Nigerian political history, not even the type the man he seeks to succeed, General Muhammadu Buhari, was subjected to.
The former Lagos State helmsman was called all sorts of derogatory names: a living dead; a walking corpse; a man who should forget his presidential ambition and attend to his failing health; a man that will take presidential medical tourism to the pinnacle.
Undaunted and believing in his personal convictions, Tinubu looked not at the innumerable salvos of darts, bows and arrows fired at his direction.
He, in a rare display of outburst and vituperation depicting a man who is hanging to the last rope for survival, dared the powers-that-be and, last week, went the full throttle. He said: “Egbe kini yii fun mi. E mi lokan.”
Tinubu derogatorily described a sitting governor, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, as “eleyi” and asserted that he was never a beggar courting the favour of the Lord of the Manor, President Buhari. He elevated the daring act higher as he declared, “mi o toro fura lowo e.”
Many thought that, by the prouncement, he has reached a cul-de-sac and has sung his political dirge. But like the eagle, Tinubu patiently waited in the wings. And, early this morning, he got the leeway to the ultimate prize.
Contrary to a very wide expectation, Tinubu raced ahead of some of highly qualified and, undoubtedly, best brains in the land, cleared the first hurdle and got the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest the presidential election in 2023.
Getting a party’s presidential nod may not be the real deal; it is just a means to an end. However, it must be given to the man of the moment, Senator Bola Tinubu.
He knows what he wanted; he pursued it; he dared all odds, doggedly fought the last political battle of his life and he got the APC ticket.
The task ahead of Tinubu is, indeed, daunting but, for all intents and purposes, the man has surmounted the first obstacle and he rightly deserves the title, “E MI LOKAN.”
©Dapo Falade
08/06/2022.
