Tinubu: Walking Thorny Path To Presidency

TOMORROW,

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be sworn in as the 16th President of Nigeria amid pomp and pageantry. The event will crown his political journey that began in 1991 as a member of the Peoples Democratic Movement ( PDM), the political group of the late Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters, Major General Shehu Musa Yar’adua ( rtd.), who later became the leader of the Social Democratic Party ( SDP).

While some of his predecessors in office such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan had smooth rides to Aso Rock, Tinubu walked a thorny path, like a political warrior and defender of democracy, that he is.

To the City Boy, as he is called by his admirers, “power is not served a la carte. It requires serious hard work to come by.” Indeed, he worked harder than most of his contemporaries seeking to govern Nigeria. Tinubu’s ascendancy to the presidency will also fulfill what he called his, “lifetime ambition” to govern Nigeria, even when opinions were divided on whether his ambition would meet up with the expectations of Nigerians who are yearning for good governance since the return of democracy in 1999.

Is he ready to approach governance differently and challenge the status quo to put the country on the path of development? Will he reunite the country and shun nepotism and favouritism? These are some of the questions agitating the minds of Nigerians, as he will mount the podium at Eagles Square, Abuja tomorrow to take the oath of office.

Without doubt, Tinubu had a chequered political trajectory as the youngest strategist in Yar’adua’s camp, despite being a rookie in Nigerian politics. He was said to have amazed many politicians of the First and Second republics with his in- depth analysis and accurate prescriptions for solving knotty political issues, which endeared him to his superiors in politics.

Many of his supporters see him as ‘ Awolowo’ of this period, because of his deep understanding of the political economy of Nigeria. He is also said to have gone a bit further in politics than the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo in embracing more handshakes across the Niger. Many believe he must have understudied the late winner of the June 12, Presidential elections, Bashorun MKO Abiola, who broke the jinx that a Southwest politician could not win an election in the North. And, his election confirmed Awolowo’s postulation in 1983, “that at a time in the near future, you will get the thesis and antithesis resulting in a synthesis of progressive politics in Nigeria.”

Although he returned to Nigeria in 1983 to join Mobil Oil after studying Accounting at Chicago State University and a stint in Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, and GTE Services Corporation in the United States, by 1992 Tinubu was among the “Newbreed” politicians the former Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, allowed to contest elections, and he was elected as Senator representing Lagos West constituency in the Third Republic that lasted just 22 months.

Tinubu made a name for himself in the National Assembly by leading the Senate Committee on Banking, Finance, Appropriations and Currency. Despite the fact that lawmakers at that period were not granted full autonomy to operate because all their activities were guided by the Armed Forces Ruling Council ( AFRC), led by the self- styled military President, he was one of the brilliant politicians that moved the NASS.

The recently suspended chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), Dr Iyorcha Ayu, was the Senate President.

In a reminiscence of the Babangida’s contraption called the Third Republic, Tinubu said:

“The Third Republic was not expected to last long. Indeed, of all our nation’s republics, it was the shortest: it began in January 1992 following the election of state governors in December 1991.

“It ended on November 17, 1993, with the Abacha coup against the Interim National Government of Ernest Shonekan. This happened some five months after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, won clearly by Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

“The entire transition programme of the military administration of the time was designed to fail. It was meant to make thenmilitary President Babangida succeed himself as a civilian president.

“First, the military government attempted to clone a new set of politicians known as the Newbreed. It introduced Option A4, a system of voting done by queuing behind candidates, a novelty in the making of democratic choices. It imposed a two- party system, with defined ideologies.

“Under the Third Republic, Nigerians also witnessed a form of government known as diarchy, with elected state governors being bossed by a military president. We had presidential primaries cancelled and participants banned. Then a year later, the most unexpected happened with the annulment of the June 12 election.”

Tinubu And Annulment Of June 12, 1993 Election WHENGEN

Babangida annulled the June 12, 1993 Presidential election won by the late Bashorun MKO Abiola, Senator Tinubu was among prominent Nigerians who kicked against the injustice and the move by the military dictator to perpetuate himself in office. Tinubu did not only physically participate in various peaceful protests against the annulment; he addressed many press conferences to condemn Babangida and made the office too hot for him.

Tinubu said: “The annulment was a bitter pill to swallow, especially for the millions of people who expended so much time, energy, and material resources to help ensure victory for Chief MKO Abiola.

“The annulment was meant to halt the unstoppable and irresistible march to deeper democratic practice in Nigeria. That objective failed woefully.

“That annulled free and fair election taught us once again to organise. It tutored us in new tactics and strategies for confronting and ultimately overcoming the forces of dictatorship.”

He continued: “It revealed to us the imperative of forging working relationships and diverse networks across ethnic, religious, regional, and partisan divides if we were to move forward.

“It is this invaluable experience we gathered in the struggle to enthrone democracy and retrieve our country from the grip of dictatorship that emboldens us today to warn those directly or indirectly threatening our democracy through another military intervention to perish the idea.”

According to him, the late MKO selflessly committed so much of his substantial fortune toward ensuring his victory at the polls. “Abiola could have chosen to abandon the mandate in order to rebuild and resuscitate his disrupted business, but he opted for the path of the true ‘ Omoluabi’. He refused to sacrifice honour for an ephemeral mess of pottage.

“One enduring truth that June 12 demonstrated is that given inspirational, visionary and sincere leadership, Nigerians can rise above divisive primordial sentiments to demonstrate high patriotism and a belief in merit in their voting patterns.

“But even in our darkest moments, let the torch of democracy be our guide to the higher and nobler plains of good governance, strong institutions, reverence for the rule of law and a continually improving and growing economy.

“It is only through strengthening the institutions, practices and procedures of democracy that we, like the Americans, foremost exemplars of the democratic ideal, can ceaselessly strive moment by moment, day by day, and year by year to continually aspire toward a perfect union of our dreams.”

With the pressure from the international community and pro- democracy groups, Babangida on August 26, 1993 “stepped aside,” ending his eight- year reign with a failed

Suddenly, they announced that I was wanted again. They alleged that I was going to bomb the NNPC depot at Ejigbo. Ah! I was still being tried for treason, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment, and I was again accused of trying to bomb an NNPC depot. I couldn’t go back because my photograph was all over the place. A diplomatic source advised me to leave the country if I wanted to continue with the struggle. I disguised with a huge turban and babanriga and escaped into Benin Republic on a motorbike. My old Hausa friend gave the clothes to me. In fact, when I appeared to Kudirat Abiola, she didn’t know that I was the one!

promise to hand over to a democratically elected government.

The military dictator hurriedly put up an interim government headed by a technocrat, the late Chief Ernest Shonekan and left behind the Defence Minister, Gen Sani Abacha, his long time backer who played a prominent role in the 1985 coup that brought him in.

Abacha became the only military representative in the 32- member cabinet. Some Nigerians, like Tinubu, saw through Babangida’s plan and did not support the Interim National Government ( ING), but kept on demanding the installation of

Abiola as president of Nigeria. Pro- democracy groups had the support of Oil and Gas workers, students, the labour movement, and aviation workers to ground commercial and economic activities to demand for the restoration of Abiola’s mandate. By November 17, 1993, Abacha shoved aside Shonekan in a bloodless military coup. The pro- democracy groups scaled up their protest against him. Abacha became ruthless and suspended the 1989 Constitution for a full- blown military government.

He also disbanded the national and state legislatures, removed the elected civilian governors, and banned all political activity, while, at the same time, avowing his intention to return the country to democracy. In early May 1994, Abiola announced his intention to form “Government of National Unity ( GNU).” A week after, the formation of the National Democratic Coalition ( NADECO) was announced. The group, made up of politicians, retired military officials, and prodemocracy figures, was formed in an effort to coordinate and focus the various prodemocracy factions around four main demands: “The military must leave political office; Abiola must be installed as president; a sovereign national conference must be held to debate the country’s future; and the country must be restructured along truly federal lines.”

The plan by Abacha to hold another election for the constitutional conference were resisted by the members of National Democratic Coalition ( NADECO) and disbanded lawmakers who met secretly and issued statements calling on Abacha to surrender power to Abiola.

On June 1, Ameh Ebute, the former senate president, publicly announced the senators’ decision to reconvene. Tinubu, Ebute, many senators and members of the House of Representatives were arrested the following day. They were detained without charge for weeks.

They were alleged to have committed treasonable offence against the state and Tinubu, on his part, was also accused of planning to bomb Ejigbo NNPC depot. They were later granted bail by the court after several weeks of being humiliated by the security agencies. For declaring Abacha’s government illegal, his killer’s squad was let loose to exterminate them.

Tinubu had, at an interview, said: “I was at the forefront of the struggle at that level. When I went to see my uncle, K. O Tinubu, at home, he shed tears that night. He said he didn’t want to lose me and that I was about to be killed. He begged me to leave Nigeria and affirmed that being a former police officer, he was sure I would be killed.

“He said that I couldn’t return to my house since they had bombed it. I went to a friend’s house. Before then, there was an incident that made them believe that; I was at Ore Falomo’s hospital. They went to the hospital to look for me. Eventually, I left Nigeria for Benin Republic by NADECO route.”

Speaking on how he was able to beat security to cross the Nigeria border to Benin Republic, he said: “Suddenly, they announced that I was wanted again. They alleged that I was going to bomb the NNPC depot at Ejigbo. Ah! I was still being tried for treason, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment, and I was again accused of trying to bomb an NNPC depot. I couldn’t go back because my photograph was all over the place that I was wanted. A diplomatic source advised me that I should leave the country if I wanted to continue the struggle. Dan Suleiman, Alani Akinrinade were in danger. We asked Prof Bolaji Akinyemi to leave the country and promote the struggle at the international level.

“I disguised with a huge turban and babanriga and escaped into Benin Republic on a motorbike. My old Hausa friend gave the clothes to me. In fact, when I appeared to Kudirat Abiola, she didn’t know that I was the one!

“I gave her some information and some briefing. I left at 1.00am. While in Benin Republic, I was still coming to Badagry to ferry people, organise and coordinate the struggle with others on the ground. We put a group together, ferrying NADECO people across. It was a very challenging time. I would come from Benin to hold meetings with them and sneak back.

“The military created a whole lot of momentum around me. They took over my house, guest house and carted away all my vehicles and property to Alagbon. That is why today, I don’t have old photographs. They took eight of my cars away.

“My wife and my two toddlers were dropped in a bush; nowhere to go. The late Dr Beko Ransome Kuti and the diplomatic missions came to our aid and ferried my wife and kids to the United States. I was still in Benin Republic. Besides, I didn’t have a passport and couldn’t have been able to travel. At a stage, they discovered our routes, because they had spies all over, including Benin Republic. Twice I was caught and I fortuitously escaped. They traced me to one dingy hotel I was hiding. “The day they came for me at the hotel, I had gone out on an Okada to buy amala at a market where Yorubas are dominant. I was also to meet Gen. Akinrinade and the rest of them. The spies went to the hotel and as I was approaching, I saw two people wearing tajia ( skull caps) at the front desk, asking questions. The man attending to them at the reception ( I had been very nice to the receptionist) winked at me and I turned back. I contacted a friend in Benin Republic, who was an architect and had very strong sympathy for us. Professor Wole Soyinka and Akinrinade, who lodged in a better hotel, were fortunate to have escaped that night too. The people on their trail pursued them to the hotel, but fortunately missed them.

“Then the British High Commission got proper information through the ConsularGeneral that my life was in danger. He stamped a visa on a sheet of paper and did a letter, authorising the airline to pick me up from Benin Republic to any port of entry in

Britain. I didn’t know how they got to me. A lady just walked up to me and handed me an envelope. She said I had been granted entry into the United Kingdom. She said I could be killed if I failed to leave in the next 48 hours. It was Air Afrique that took me from Benin Republic to London. Meanwhile, my wife was still in the United States. I landed in Britain and worked my way back to Benin Republic. I picked up my passport from somewhere. I went to an African country and through their connections; they gave me a diplomatic passport as a cultural ambassador.

“The African country that helped us with the diplomatic passport was showing gratitude for the help Abiola had done to its president before. Then, I was shuffling and coordinating our activities in the UK, Benin Republic and Cote d’ivoire. I used the passport to travel to Cote d’ivoire to hold meetings at the Hotel Continental because we were planning to make another broadcast that would be aired in Nigeria.

“By the time I returned to the hotel, the military assailants had broken into my hotel room and taken away my briefcase and a diplomatic passport. They dropped a note, saying: ‘ You cannot be twice lucky.’ I was taken over by panic. Fortunately, in my back pocket, I had the photocopy of the sheet of paper on which the British had stamped a visa for me to travel out of Benin previously.

“I took that to the British High Commission in Abidjan. They listened to my story and asked me to come back at night. They did all their verification and found my story to be true. I returned to them and they gave me another sheet of paper and wrote the number of the flight that would take me out of that country. “But I had no money. Somebody suddenly drove in. The person is a well- known name I don’t want to mention. I met him and explained my condition. He had a traveller’s cheque, but the money was not enough. I went back to the British High Commission and the woman said she could assist me with her own personal money to bridge the shortfall in cash. “We founded and coordinated Radio Kudirat and Radio Freedom and we continued to organise. I didn’t see my family for two good years. They were in America. The law of political asylum stipulates that your first country of landing and acceptance is the safe haven, so it’s not transferable. That was how Cornelius Adebayo was stuck in a United Nations camp. My wife had to invoke a family clause that exists in America to fight for her husband to join her before they granted me a special privilege to leave UK to join my family in the United States.”

Tinubu has achieved his lifetime ambition. In fact, he is also making history as the first Nigerian to become a Senator, Governor and President. But many Nigerians are waiting to see if he will use the golden opportunity to write his name in gold or end up like some of his predecessors. The journey begins tomorrow!

From Exile To Lagos House THE

sudden death of the maximum ruler, Abacha on June 8, 1998, paved the way for Gen Abdusalami Abubakar to become the Head of State. Abubakar did not toe Abacha’s line in muzzling the system to hold on to power. He announced a transition timetable, which he followed to the letter. Although circumstances leading to the death of Abiola on July 7, 1998, under his watch are still yet to clear even as he has severally denied any foul play in the unfortunate incident.

Abubakar, who had announced May 29, 1999, as handing over date to a democratically elected government, pardoned all pro- democracy activists and encourage them to return to Nigeria to participate in the transition process.

Tinubu returned to a heroic welcome from Lagosians, who knew what he went through during the despotic Abacha’s regime. The reception further emboldened him to continue with his plan to contest for the governorship election. He joined the Justice Forum, a political platform for the progressives in Lagos and became one of the prominent members that formed the Alliance for Democracy ( AD).

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