Anyone who underrates the political prowess of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu must have a poor reading of Nigeria’s political environment or deliberately stands the truth on its head. The former governor of Lagos State has found consistency and relevance since 1999. He was one of the arrowheads of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), one of the organisations that put the heat on the late military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, to give in to democratic rule. When his boldfaced resistance was not pleasing the world, such as would bring the then Pontiff, John Paul II, to Nigeria, Abacha sought to transmute into a civilian President on the auspices of five political parties that strangely adopted him as the sole candidate for an upcoming election. It would have amounted to his being returned unopposed. But the likes of Tibubu, who had escaped from the country, became a rallying point for the fight for democracy. When Abacha gave in to the final call that awaits all men and Chief Moshood Abiola, acclaimed winner of the 1993 presidential election, who had been sent to jail for holding on to his victory, also died on the alleged eve of his release, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, who took the mantle, chose to look away from the allure of power and went back to his Minna home, handing over to a democratic government.
Tinubu emerged the governor of Lagos State more as a compensation for his role in sustaining the fight for democracy in those dark days. Some people did not like the development and they raked up a lot of mud to smear him and thus get him out of office. They said he had no certificate and did not attend the school he claimed to have attended. The late rights activist and lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, took on the fight, insisting that Tinubu must show his certificate. Tinubu rallied his people for a fight that tore human rights activists into camps, the majority standing with him. He survived that and several other battles and emerged the undisputed godfather of Lagos politics. When he came to the end of his tour of duty as governor of Lagos, Tinubu picked his chief of staff and literally sat him on the seat as governor. Mr. Babatunde Fashola rode on Tinubu’s back to the throne. He has, perhaps, been the only Nigerian governor who chose his successor and still kept the person loyal to him. In many states, such arrangements did not work. The new helmsman always becomes his own man and tells his former boss to stay away or forces them out. In Kano, Abia, Enugu, Anambra and other places, governors forced their predecessors out of the party or rendered them irrelevant. There is a semblance of loyalty and peace in Kwara State as no quarrel seems to be simmering between Senate President Bukola Saraki (the ex-governor)and his former commissioner for finance, Abdulfattah Ahmed, who took over from him.
Tinubu has his ways and has held lagos with a very tight grip that has remained unparalleled in the annals of Nigerian politics. He had a tough fight getting current Governor Akinwunmi Ambode into office in 2015. Opposition came from all fronts, including Fashola, who was governor at the time: Reports said he would have opted for a member of his cabinet rather than Ambode, who was an ‘outsider.’ Tinubu wanted Ambode and stood by his choice. Former President Goodluck Jonathan fought a rather hard battle to make Tinubu’s party lose Lagos, but Tinubu dug into his bag of experience and survived, the same way he pulled the most unlikely alliance between the South-West and the North to pull the rug out from under Jonathan.
However, cracks have shown up on the walls of the political house Tinubu built in Lagos. It has become clear that Ambode and his predecessor have a beef, which may have been simmering over time. In the wake of Fashola’s confirmation as minister, the public came to know about a certain website that allegedly cost stupendous sums to host for the former governor, all in a bid to portray him as a man who should not lay claim to financial rectitude. He survived it and was confirmed a triple minister. Now the tiff has come to the open with Ambode’s recent allegation that Fashola has been the obstacle to his proposal to take over Airport Road in Lagos and reconstruct it. He said he had the plans and funds to turn the gateway road into a 10-lane highway, which would leave international visitors into Lagos with a good impression of the megacity. Fashola has denied the allegation, saying the request was awaiting due process just as he revealed that Ambode had not as much as responded to his letter wherein he requested for land for a federal housing project in Lagos. In his reaction Fashola also disclosed that he had only spoken to his successor once on the phone. I pray the situation has changed as I write. It must be stated that Ambode has so far acquitted himself creditably at his duty post as governor of Lagos. He has made many people who did not give him a chance to eat their words.
He has turned Lagos into a huge construction yard, as they say, with all kinds of infrastructure sprouting everywhere in the state. He has done well, although some people say it is first term euphoria. That is besides the point. The reason for this intervention is to call on the political godfather, Tinubu, to rein in his people. There is trouble in his political house but it behoves on him to play the fatherly role and bring back harmony so that the his strength would remain intact. I do not know what efforts he has made to get his protégés to stop public quarrels. I do not know if Fashola has left the family, which may make it a harder nut for the Godfather. What we know is that they are all in the same political party and seem to be together. Tinubu has to call his political mentees for a talk. He has held Lagos in his grip and has given the state competent people, which is why he must not allow his house to come crashing down. If any of his followers is recalcitrant, such a person must know it could be dangerous to kick away the ladder after your ascendancy.