To Your Tent Oh Israel: Tinubu's Camp Divided.
Tinubu faces toughest political battle
The strongman of Lagos politics, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Asiwaju of Lagos, meaning the traditional leader or the the kingpin in power calculation in Lagos and also the Jagaba of Borgu in Niger State is facing the toughest battle of his political career. Tinubu has fought and won many political battles. He was the lone survivor of the People's Democratic Party's (PDP) political blitzkrieg in the Southwest during the 2003 general elections. What’s more, he has become one of the most influential power brokers in Nigeria. But this time looks tougher and one that he might not be able to manoeuvre and get his way.
Like Rhehoboam's Israel, close associates are saying "to your tents oh Tinubu, we have no inheritance in the son of Tinubu or Ogunlere or Sangodele". 'Sangodele and Ogunlere' are alleged to be the real names of Bola Tinubu. Still, Tinubu is believed to be his adopted name. Undoubtedly, Bola Tinubu built a very formidable political team. He has been seen as a kingmaker but the kings he supposedly made are denying that he ever made them kings.
The most prominent and vocal of these kings is Femi Ojudu, a special adviser on politics in the presidency. Ojudu was one of the owners of the now rested The News magazine which Tinubu sustained with heavy amount of money which is not yet made public but acknowledged by the team of journalist - owners of the magazine. So intimate were the The News and then Governor Tinubu that the media organization refused to report the various allegations of false claims made that he attended Government College, Ibadan as well as the discrepancies in the forms submitted to the Electoral Commission as it pertains to his date of birth. All this allegations were levelled against Tinubu when he was a first term governor in Lagos State in 1999.
Bayo Onanuga, the media outfit's Managing Director, boldly told the public that the organization did not report on the issue of Gov Tinubu's alleged certicate and age forgeries because "we have a relationship with Tinubu". Prior to this time, The News became a torn in the flesh of the administration of late military ruler General Abacha when Tinubu himself in the company of other National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) members ran abroad to safety from the secret service killer squad of the late general.
But as the country returned to democracy, and Bola Tinubu became governor of Lagos State and prominent in the APC government at the national level, the executive members of The News joined politics and took political appointments. Babafemi Ojudu was first a senator and now a special adviser in the presidency. Bayo Onanuga, the helmsman at the media organization became the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Onanuga has since left NAN.
But now Senator Ojudu told Nigerians that though they had relationship with the Jagaba, there is no iota of truth in the allegation that Asiwaju Tinubu made them. Babafemi Ojudu said they were already successful before they met Bola Tinubu. Senator Ojudu said he is driven by his convinction and that it is wrong to label him as a betrayer because he left Tinubu’s political camp. He maintains that he would not vote for Asiwaju Tinubu in the upcoming presidential contest for the APC ticket since he has pitched his tent with the vice president. It will be recalled that Bola Tinubu recently told President Muhammadu Buhari that he would be running for president to fulfil his life-time ambition.
Babafemi Ojudu had in previous comments in the media before now presented himself as one who was always at the beck and call of his political boss, Bola Tinubu. When the former governor of Lagos State wanted to contact Sunday Igboho to help ensure that one Ekiti State election was not rigged, Senator Ojudu was the errand boy who conveyed the message to Sunday Igboho, a political enforcer. The former senator also arranged a meeting between Bola Tinubu and Sunday Igboho.
For example, Babafemi Ojudu left Bola Tinubu for his house one day, and was on the Eko Bridge, in Lagos when Tinubu summoned Senator Ojudu back to address the issue of printing some calendars as souvenir for political loyalists. The senator had been sent to ensure the printing of the calendars but when the former governor changed his mind, he summoned the senator back to his house to stop the printing. Senator Ojudu complied promptly as a servant would obey his boss.
Rauf Aregbesola is another loyalist of the Jagaba who is said to be towing another course still within the APC. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was described as a siamese twin of Asiwaju Tinubu as they worked together in Bola Tinubu's government for the two terms. Rauf Aregbesola was commissioner for works in Lagos State. A source said they both closed very late everyday and arrived office before 8 am everyday. They were strong political allies. Besides, Asiwaju Tinubu was said to have sponsored Rauf Aregbesola's governorship ticket in Osun state where he served two stormy terms.
But now, when Asiwaju Tinubu visited Ibadan to commiserate with the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde over the death of former Governor Alao Akala, and to visit Rasidi Ladoja, also a former governor of Oyo State, Rauf Aregbesola was conspicuously absent. The next day after the visit of Bola Tinubu, Ogbeni Aregbesola was reportedly seen with Senator Rasidi Ladoja, selling the candidature not of Tinubu but of Yemi Osinbajo.
Though Vice President Osinbajo, a strong supporter of Bola Tinubu has not formally made any statement about his ambition to be president. However, a statement he made asking his supporters not to abuse his mentor in response to the caustic abuses of the Tinubu supporters is pregnant with meaning, an indication of his obvious interest in the presidency. "Even if the supporters of Tinubu abuse my mother, my supporters must not abuse Tinubu", Vice President Osinbajo was reported to have said. In saying this, the vice president acknowledged his awareness that a group was rooting for him and that they were engaged in a fierce battle with the group that supports Bola Tinubu.
At least two prophets have predicted that Yemi Osinbajo would succeed Muhammadu Buhari as president. Perhaps Vice President Osinbajo knows and he is nursing this ambition but the prophets are saying Osinbajo's presidential ascendancy will not be through elections. In fact,Yemi Osinbajo is a pastor and many believe that God talks to him. Perhaps the vice president thinks his presidency will be through elections and thus is clandestinely preparing and campaigning through proxies.
It is also reported that President Muhammadu Buhari is also rooting secretly for his vice president. Observers said, Yemi Osinbajo who was previously sidelined in the presidency is now given assignments which puts him more in the public eye and that the assignments Vice President Osinbajo supervises have been the most successful in the Buhari administration. Why the president suddenly turned his back on Tinubu, why Ojudu left the Tinubu closed political family and why Aregbesola is ploting against his siamese twin and why Osinbajo is competing with his political benefactor, Bola Tinubu, for his life-long ambition remains an enigmatic puzzle. Certainly, politics is the art of the possible. Of course, ambitions may collide, making new alliances and partnerships possible. But the reality is difficult to deny.
Another group, Lagos4Lagos has decamped from the APC to PDP and their leader, Jide Adediran is campaigning to be governor come 2023. The reason they gave is like the reason Northern Israel gave for seceeding from the nation of Israel. The group said they had been oppressed and that everything in Lagos is concentrated in the hands of Asiwaju Tinubu. He determines, they alleged, who gets what and who would not be considered for juicy positions in Lagos affairs.
Among the Yoruba, the section of Nigeria where Tinubu hails from is also not in total support of Asiwaju Tinubu's ambition. Save the Igbos in the East, the South West, the home region of Bola Tinubu is next in opposition to his candidature. Would Asiwaju Tinubu weather the storms of these oppositions and abandonment? Observers are not sure but everybody is watching the unfolding political drama. The abandonment of Bola Tinubu in his hour of need is said to be a culture of Nigeria's heavily personalized politics. Simply put, elites in Nigeria don't engage in ideological politics and because of this they often switch positions so easily. Most often they engage in politics of expediency.
Guest Writer:
Tunde Akande is both a journalist and Pastor. He earned a Masters degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.
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