As 2023 draws closer, the insinuation that Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is desirous of the presidency of Nigeria is becoming common place and gaining wider coverage amongst citizens and political/leadership stakeholders.
It is fast dawning on every Nigerian that the erstwhile governor of Lagos state is either volunteering to lead Nigeria at the highest level or that he is being pressured to do so.
Whatever the case His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, glaringly is directly or indirectly in the race for the presidency of Nigeria come 2023.
Political observers are already wondering what the situation of the political stage will be when the electioneering campaign season will set in.
A lot are beginning to wonder what parameters will qualify or catapult this one time occupant of Alausa round house to triumph.
Some of the questions asked are; Is Tinubu going to be relying on his political network in the southwest where he influences five of the six states and where he is respected as a pathfinder and torch-bearer, a reputation many think is drawing close to that which was given to Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Late).
Some others are concerned whether Tinubu will bank on his relevance and influence at the national level of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to clinch victory if he is eventually fielded as consensus candidate of the ruling party.
But whatever the pros and cons, Tinubu’s pedigree and national reputation will play a great role in his latest ambition.
Though he was the executive governor of Lagos state for 8years, he managed the resources and socio- economic challenges during his two-term tenure, even when the then president Olusegun Obasanjo starved the state of funds to fund the local councils, due to the legitimacy questions that surrounded the newly created Local Council Development Areas.
He had also been able to connect the most of the southwest to the political machinery of the APC; but the race for the presidency of Nigeria entails a lot more than these factors, because, popularity in the APC and relevance in the entire southwest does not translate to the global popularity which will place Nigeria’s leadership in his hand.
Senator Tinubu must at this point in time consider the fact that not the APC loyalists in the various regions nor the southwest people that matters alone on this journey he is about to embark upon. He must be aware of the need to spread his personal tentacles, across board, by way of winning the respect of people from other geopolitical zones.
No doubt, Senator Tinubu’s media investment and other business concerns have taken an ample population of the job seekers in Nigeria off the labour market.
He has also built a strong political empire in the southwest, empowering a new generation of leaders. But he must importantly be cautious of the fact that jobbers, clients and other political opportunists may just be luring him for reasons beyond his presidency.
Senator Tinubu should have a deep thought over the persuasion of many, and this medidation will help him decide whether to just continue to manage his estates in business or to persist in his behind the stage dominion, instead of coming to the battlefield where many a gladiator have met disgrace, even after losing their hard-acquired fortune.
However, if Senator Tinubu has a high level of conviction that his national worth can pave the way for his advancement to the presidency, he should proceed without any iota of fear.
By: Prince Chukwudi Timothy Samuel
