By Mobolaji Sanusi
The Nigerian political terrain is replete with various shades of people. In my country, every Tom, Dick and Harry calls himself a politician, but one man stands out among the pack. Hate or love him, his place in history is already reserved. Through admirable political sagacity, open-heartedness and sheer political industry, he has been able to extend handshakes across the Niger. To the chagrin of his political adversaries, he is leading a team that is determined to re-engineer the entire national political landscape.
To the progressives in the east, north, south and west, the man is one to be adored and “soaked” in panegyrics; but to the conservatives in these regions, the man is secretly revered but openly detested for being their nemesis. The conservatives and their kindred could not fathom why one single individual called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban of Borgu, could successfully rally the whole country against the ruling party – a situation that is sending jitters down the spines of occupants of the Presidential Villa.
No wonder they are secretly jubilating, albeit fleetingly, any time they remember the perceived prolonged overseas medical trip of Asiwaju. His absence from the nation’s political turf is not difficult to notice. Some politicians could afford to leave the scene without being noticed but not an Asiwaju, whose political clout and philanthropy, have defied ethnic/tribal boundary. His political adversaries recently went viral in the public domain with satanic speculations about his state of health. In market places, clubs, offices, Government Houses, homes, newspaper houses, newsstands, airports, government offices and public transportation among others, busy bodies at every opportunity talk about the Jagaban. Some idle talkers reportedly said the man could not walk; others maliciously concocted in hush tones – Parkinson, where none existed. God forbid!
The truth is that Asiwaju is hale and hearty in London, where he is relaxing after a minor surgery on his leg in America. Yours sincerely, being an avid admirer of the great political leader, went searching for him during my on-going annual vacation in London. Any reasonable person would show admiration for the man for championing the ongoing political revolution in the southwest and Edo State. Sincerely, no one would have believed that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tyrannical grip and political tomfoolery, using the visionless platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), could end so soon and abysmally too. To me, Asiwaju deserves all encomiums and support for having assembled a steadfastly committed team, using his resources and vast contacts in the process, to rescue a sizeable part of the country from political exploiters…and at the moment, extending the frontiers of such revolutionary onslaught to the entire country through the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The journey to Asiwaju’s London residence began when l left Essex last Sunday with my elder brother and a junior one. I gave the address of his residence to my brother who inserted it into the satellite navigation of his car. The trip was smooth and in barely over 30 minutes, we were in the heart of West London. The ancient architectural splendor of that area’s buildings was a beauty to behold. The visit was unscheduled and behold, l was at the entrance of the building.
This article was first published in The Nation Newspaper on September 27, 2013.
