Asiwaju Tinubu: A Warrior Without a Troop - (May 13, 2019)

Introduction

Presidential aspiration is not a Drug War. It is better to build a team than go about annihilating imaginary enemies and potential adversarial forces from your neck of the wood. That Chief Tinubu is a master tactician is not debatable. But he is not Mr. Fixed It. He is crafty, but not brilliant. Intellectualism is not his trade. And he is ideologically barren. He is an egocentric regional leader, without a national appeal. That he incubated the coalition that saw the defeat of President Jonathan does not elevate him to a status where the Cabal and the emerging Kaduna Mafia headed by Mallam El'Rufai will play second fiddle in his political world. Today, within the coalition that he incubated, he is like King Saul of the Old Testament, abysmally deficient in objective moral benchmarks, lacking grace and authority. This essay was a long time in coming. But time and time again, I put it on hold for not so apparent a reason. When Governor El'Rufai, the self-imposed golden voice of the Northern Chapter of the APC came to town a few days ago, lecturing Lagosians on how to overthrow their god-father, I said to myself, the time is now.

The Sins of Fighting a Natural Ally.

Chief Asiwaju Tinubu engineered the overthrown of Chief Tom Ikimi as the Chairman of his political party to consolidate his supremacy above all else. Tom Ikimi is a typical character - boisterous, garrulous, intimidating, and relatively clean. And Tinubu abhors the presence of another leader of Tom Kimi's style and repute from the South to share power with him at the national stage. While Tom was overseas, Tinubu plotted a coup. When it was all over, Tom was history - out of the Chairmanship and out of the Party.

In Tom's place, he brought in Chief Odigie Oyegun, the man he didn't really know. Oyegun is certainly not overtly boisterous or an enigmatic character reputed of Tom Ikimi. But craftiness, unlike Tom Ikimi, is his game. So, when the Cabal came to town, pushing Asiwaju under the truck (apology to Senator Oluremi Tinubu), Oyegun simply played blind and dump and looked the other side.

It is worth reminding viewers that Chief Odigie Oyegun is a retired Federal Permanent Secretary. And I do not know where Chief Tinubu was or how old he was or what he was doing professionally or business-wise when Chief Odigie Oyegun, as a PS, orchestrated the resignation of a High Court Judge (Justice Jinadu) from the Bench. Chief Oyegun does not espouse subserviency. Asiwaju, goofed big time, sacrificing Tom Ikimi the way he did for a man he has the faintest knowledge about.

In no time, Asiwaju became a nobody in the APC hierarchy. No one to dare the invisible cabal. Except, of course, the First Lady. Who, herself, was helpless. At this point in time, a Tom Ikimi, alongside Asiwaju and Oyegun, as a team, would have been able to ensure the checks and balances that were missing within the Executive arm (the Presidency) that the Cabal exploited handsomely to their own advantage till this very moment.

With the first term coming to an end, and with no noticeable impacts in the affairs of the state or administration, the Cabal, bent on winning the Yoruba votes, compensated Asiwaju with a spurious portfolio: Councilor of Reconciliation.

In addition to that, Chief Odigie Oyegun was not only made to surrender his Chairmanship position, but he was also booted out in ignominy like Tom Ikimi - all to assuage the god of Oduduwa Republic.

As things stand today, he is primus inter pares within the Southern block of the APC leadership. But at what cost or strategic importance? And El'Rufai is watching.

The filthy rich. morbidly infantile, and loquacious Senator Akpabio of South-South is not coming back to the Senate. He was denied the Federal might at the disposal of Comrade Adam Oshiomole, the chief architect and master manipulator of vote counts.

And thanks to Governor Wike, Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Aviation and former Governor of River State is now a "bloody lightweight." Governor Okorocha, on his part, is between the devil and the blue sea - contending dangerously with INEC on the one hand, and the invisible hands of the Man Asiwaju anointed, Comrade Adam Oshiomhole on the other. And tension is escalating.

In sum, now that Chief Tom Ikimi, Chief Oyegun, Senator Akpabio, Governor Amosun, and Governor Okorocha are out of the way, who else can stop HRH Asiwaju Tinubu from inheriting the Crown when President Buhari is out? No one in particular from the South. Once again, Mallam El'Rufai is watching, not amused.

Asiwaju did not deliver more than 65% of the Lagos votes for President Buhari. Therefore, in the opinion of the self-ordained voice of the Northern Chapter of APC, Asiwaju is not electable or Presidential enough to earn the 2023 APC Presidential ticket. The Mallam didn't stop there, he took the disqualification narrative to Asiwaju's bedroom - Lagos - lecturing Lagosians on how to overthrow a godfather. And that is, to say the least, daring.

Chief Asiwaju Tinubu succeeded in his quest to drone into political oblivion all the APC "Big Shots" and potential Presidential hopefuls from the South. Consequently, he displaced and rendered redundant all the Mamman Dauras and El'Rufais of the South within the APC. In other words, within the Southern APC, there is no voice similar to that of El'Rufai. And no political heavyweight in the style and influence of Mamman Daura or Abba Kyari? Asiwaju wasted all of them. He is not alone; that's the trademark of the present political leaders in the South - frustrating and undermining the intellectual prowess of natural allies due to sheer insecurity.

While President Buhari was busy consolidating his power-base, Tinubu wasted no time destroying his. Today, President Buhari and the Caba call the shot. 

Conclusion:

You can have all the money in the world, but without a James Carville of President Clinton's World, you are embarking on a futile journey.

In Nigeria of today, and speaking from my own experience, guys who are naturally endowed or gifted to play the tough-guy image, intellectually and creditably like Mr. James Carville, are branded untrustworthy. Untrustworthy, not necessarily because they will betray the master or did betray him in the past, but because the master is worried, thinking disdainfully of the exposure and potential opportunities opened to them.

And that's Asiwaju's World for you. Where is Fashola today? And what about Ambode? You must be a stooge; otherwise, you are not trust-worthy.

As events unfold, no reputable political voice is speaking or holding brief for Asiwaju. And no one, in particular, is calling the Mallam from Kaduna to atone for his sacrilege. Except, of course, Mr. Sam Omatseye, whose acerbic rebuttal a few days ago was not unexpected. But he is a journalist and not a politician. And that is the dilemma of the Asiwaju 2023 Presidential journey - a Commander without an Infantry Brigade. With Chief Odigie Oyegun, Akpabio, and Chief Tom Ikimi on his side, who is Mallam El'Rufai to question the reasonableness of Asiwaju aspiring to rule Nigeria in 2023? And who is the Cabal to push him under the truck at the inception of the Buhari Dispensation? It is about the team, the men of "Timber and Iroko" standing by you. Sadly, you don't have them - you killed them. In spite of everything, like him or hate him, without Asiwaju, there would not have been a President Buhari or a Governor El'Rufai. And that's by the way.