Hats Off to Jagaban, By Olawale Olaleye
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But against all odds, Tinubu trumped everyone. It was a tortuous and undulating path to success. He pulled it off majestically, with a resounding message that, “I’m the master of the game”. His network was staggering; war chest has always been intimidating. He had built alliances over the years and wasted no time deploying them all to work, when it mattered the most.
Give it to Tinubu, he worked hard for the APC ticket, and this was in spite of his fragile health. His convictions moved mountains; his determination shattered ceilings and his confidence dared in the strangest of places.
Frustrated and desperate at some point, he had said to delegates in Abeokuta, Ogun State, “Emi lo kan, e gbe ki ni yi wa,” and when he saw that they were pussyfooting, Daddy, ja ki ni yen gba, big time!
In Nigeria’s contemporary history, only one person had wanted to be president and got it. He is the incumbent, Buhari, who became president after three failed attempts (Olule). Others emerged either by accident or through some deliberate contraptions by other vested interests. Those who desired it never got it.
But if Asiwaju won the 2023 elections, he would be the second man – most determined and engaging – who wanted it and got it. Not just that, it would be on merit and dint of hard work.
And, do you know one thing that this would mark him up for? If he won the presidential election next year, which now looks very plausible, he would have succeeded, where the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, couldn’t.
It doesn’t mean he is in the same bracket with Awo, if and when other factors are considered for comparisons. But, on this, he did it and with practical approach to politics, as against what many had thought.
In spite of it all, this still doesn’t make him my dream president. Nah! And if given the opportunity again, I would rather a much younger person, who boasts other requisite qualities.
However, fielded against Atiku, I’d grudgingly vote for him. After all, what’s the marked difference between them? But, as a southerner, he’ll get my vote. Power has to shift to South. It’s only fair, just and equitable.
This, nonetheless, I recognise and admit that Tinubu is a master of the game and at the moment, the BIGGEST issue in the annals of the nation’s body polity, nay Africa.
Hats off to this juggernaut of immense political clout and networth. 
