SENATOR BOLA TINUBU: BRINGING VISION, COURAGE AND SERVICE TO THE VICE PRESIDENCY By Francis Ademola You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case. —Ken Kesey Defined vision, passion and urgency of purpose have always defined Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s disposition to public service and, if he were to ascend to the Vice Presidency of this country, he would bring the same passion for reforms, service and innovation to the office. Any President would be blessed to have Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu as his Vice President. Among others, Senator Bola Tinubu is a visionary.It is a historical fact that Senator Bola Tinubu is one of the visionaries behind, and one of the principal architects involved in, the formation of the All Progressives Congress. It was Senator Bola Tinubu’s personal leadership that led the now-defunct Action Congress of Nigeria to unanimously support the vision to cast its lot with the APC and it was his leadership that, along with the tireless and selfless investment of time and resources by other patriots, built the APC into the formidable alternative party that it now is. We all remember how he moved patriots and progressives all over the country when he said: “History is upon us, asking something bold of us. Those who hear must respond to its call because history is impatient. If we tarry, history shall not. If we fail to act as the situation requires, history will still move forward and its pen will write an unanswerable verdict against us. All the prior achievements and feats we have recorded in the past will matter little unless we now answer the challenge now facing us. We have come to the place where things must change or we shall sink. For the nation to continue as is constitutes nothing less than an invitation to doom. Such a fate we shall not abide.” Senator Bola Tinubu is a People’s man. Never losing touch with the grassroots, he is the one who, just like ‘The Man’ in Rudyard Kipling’s ‘IF’ poem, walks with kings and princes without losing the common touch. Also, his dedication to the welfare of the people is probably unrivalled in Nigeria. Long before the formation of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu had since cemented his reputation as the leader of a new brand of politics and activism in Nigeria: the politics that vigorously promote the welfare of the electorate and activism that courageously and doggedly pursues the enthronement of the rule of law and the pursuit of business ‘as unusual’ for the sake of the greater good.The often-quoted statement from his first Inaugural Address as the Governor of Lagos State, gives an insight into this patriot’s heart. He famously said, “As flag-bearers, we are not unmindful of the heavy burden and responsibility that we carry. We are not unmindful of the huge expectations of our people, young and old, man and woman, able and disabled. Nor are we unmindful of the misery and poverty that the generality of our people have had to endure almost forty years after Independence. … Our goal, as the Prophet of old commands, is to lighten the burden of our people, alleviating poverty by providing jobs for our youths, houses, secure homes, water, good roads and creating efficient mass transportation system, industrial development and providing life more abundant for our people.” Senator Bola Tinubu is an experienced hand in governance. The APC will also do well to take advantage of Senator Bola Tinubu’s wide, varied and rich experience of Nigeria. He has been priviledged to know Nigeria well from the perspective of an ordinary citizen living in a country struggling with developmental issues and every day infrastructural problems; from the perspective of a Nigerian living in the diaspora; from the perspective of a citizen making his first foray into the murky waters of politics; from the perspective of an activist-politician co-leading the often very dangerous struggle against military dictatorship; from the perspective of a public servant twice elected to serve as the governor of the largest, richest and most cosmopolitan state in Nigeria; and from the perspective of a political leader now seeking to put democracy on firmer footing by organizing a viable, coherent, and alternative political leadership for Nigeria. Senator Bola Tinubu brings to the Presidential ticket unrivalled all-round perspective and insight to make a positive difference in governance. Senator Bola Tinubu’s profile in courage is invaluable to the campaign and in governance. Senator Bola Tinubu’s claim to leadership is not simply that he was once elected to the Senate of the Federal Republic or that he performed as one of the most conscientious Governors of Lagos State in recent years? No! It is because of his profile in courage! It is because of his sacrifice for the greater good in good times and bad times. First, Senator Bola Tinubu’s leadership is not about the spoils of office or ethnic loyalties but about ideas, the prime idea being that democratic governance must be transparently fair and must deliver tangible benefits to the people. Second, Senator Bola Tinubu’s democratic credentials are unimpeachable, having sacrificed greatly both during the struggle for the enthronement of democracy and now during this struggle for the enthronement of good governance. In the dark days of the June 12 struggle, where were Senator Tinubu’s detractors? Was it notSenator Bola Tinubu who sacrificed greatly to mobilise and support the forces of democratic governance? Was it notSenator Bola Tinubu who successfully led the defence of the Constitution and the rights of states against an imperial presidency? Was he not the one who led democratic forces to ward off an onslaught of the might of the humongous and corruptly oiled political machinery of the PDP in the desperate effort to ‘capture’ the states of the South West? Was it not during his leadership that the winning electoral strategies that restored progressivism to most parts of the South West were successfully formulated and implemented? Third, the Senator Bola Tinubu is not a man of mere words but a leader who has toiled in office for the sake of the people and who has performed exceptionally well that he can raise his head up high and walk confidently among the people of this country. He was a popular Governor of the cosmopolitan state of Lagos for 8 years. It was the Senator Bola Tinubu’s administration in Lagos that in 2001 became, perhaps, the first state administration to record 90% budget performance. In fact, for his excellent performance as the Executive Governor of Lagos State of Nigeria (1999 – 2007), Senator Bola Tinubu Bola Ahmed Tinubu received several awards. These include Best Governor in Nigeria for Y2000 by the Nigerian-Belgian Chamber of Commerce; Y2002 Best Practices Prize in Improving the Living Environment, awarded by the Federal Ministry of Works and the UN Habitat Group; and the Y2000 Best Computerized Government in Nigeria Award by the Computer Association of Nigeria. And, since leaving office, Senator Bola Tinubu has devoted his time, efforts and resources to be in the forefront of the fight for justice, for good governance, for the integrity of the ballot box, for real development and for change in a corrupt and dysfunctional polity. He is echoing the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln (who himself paid the supreme sacrifice in his leadership of his people) by dedicating himself to the unfinished work that the heroes of the past have thus far so nobly advanced. He is dedicated to the great task remaining before all Nigerians of goodwill: that this nation, under God, should have a new birth of freedom—and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, should not perish. But Senator Bola Tinubu is also a man much misunderstood, a patriot much maligned. Indeed, if outlandish lies have been fabricated against any politician in Nigeria in recent memory, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has had his fair share. From accusations of highhandedness to accusations of corrupt enrichment, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s detractors have tried all underhand tricks possible to discredit an otherwise exemplary politician and activist. This is not to be unexpected, however. The man in the arena should expect no less, so exhorted Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the United States when he said: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; … who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Again, every attack against Senator Tinubu been personal and this reminds one of the observation of the late Lady Margaret Thatcher when she said, “I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”And indeed, from time immemorial, less than honourable men have thrived in politics by peddling fabricated and concocted lies and half-truths. And, while truth and sound principles will eventually outshine falsehood and opportunism, those who deal in such stock record some successes, albeit temporary, at the expense of the people who are striving to bring some difference to politics. Sir Winston Churchill was therefore right when he observed that, “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on”. However, Senator Bola Tinubu’s detractors should be reminded that he is not that type of leader. He earned his leadership epaulets through service, sweat and blood. Even now, he knows that among his people, leaders are chosen through visible and verifiable evidence of service and the championing of great and worthy ideas and principles. There is no doubt whatsoever that the objectives of the publishers of disparaging information against Senator Bola Tinubu are to malign his person, manipulate our people, impede the progress of the Progressives, further the disillusionment of well meaning citizens with politics, encourage the apathy of otherwise qualified citizens from joining the ranks of the progressives and overall, perpetuate their hold on power. It is my fond hope and fervent prayer that our people will not be taken in by their devious strategy. To this end, all Nigerians of good will ought to enthusiastically embrace the prospect of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Vice Presidency and ought, in the same measure, to vigorously resist all attempts to rob Nigeria of the promise of having a true progressive on the APC presidential ticket. Without any iota of doubt, a Buhari-Tinubu ticket will give Nigeria the refined and principled leadership that has eluded her since independence. - By Francis Ademola
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 04:34:35 +0000
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