Those who think they understand President Bola Tinubu should pause for a moment and ask themselves if they really know the Governor General of Nigerian politics well enough. The only one individual that reads Tinubu, is the Jagaban himself.

The way events are unfolding, Tinubu may end up as the Best President this country ever had. I would like to be quoted on this. We do not have to wait for him to return to his maker, like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was described in death as “best president Nigeria never had,” by Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Give it to the president, he worked his way to the presidency. The end justifies the means, that was the case in 2023. Not many could wriggle out of the plot to stop them like Tinubu did under the Muhammadu Buhari presidency. The Central Bank dug a pit that ended up swallowing the brains behind it. The Senate leadership did a lot of scheming. All failed.

If anyone told Ahmed Lawan that he would end up as an ordinary Senator while Tinubu moved into Aso Villa, it would sound like a curse. For a man  to beat all traps set to cage his ambitions without relying on Federal might, at a time Nigerians were tired of Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, there must be something strange.

The truth is that Tinubu plotted his way early enough. He knew what he wanted and how to go about his ambition. Let us think back to the middle of 2007. The most powerful politicians were President Umaru Yar’adua, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Chief James Ibori, Chief Lucky Igbinedion and Dr. Bukola Saraki.

Tinubu was not a regular at the Villa and his counsel was not sought. Some of his 1999-2007 colleagues were part of the Yar’adua regime as ministers. What kept him relevant was Lagos where his erstwhile Chief of Staff, Babatunde Fashola, had become governor. 

This same Tinubu remained relevant, lying low while some of his colleagues were seeking Presidential attention. And he ended up as the most powerful politician since Nigeria became independent in 1960. Being influential for 24 years before becoming president is a feat yet to be matched.

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, moved from Premier to Senate President, Governor General and President, was close to power for less than twelve years after which he turned an Elder Statesman. Chief Obafemi Awolowo  tried to climb beyond Premier but ended up as Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council. He remained an Opposition Leader. Sir Ahmadu Bello was not even here after 1966.

President Tinubu has been around for 26 good years and is a man with an ear to the ground. This is nearly the same number of years Nelson Mandela spent in prison before gaining freedom and ascending the throne through global efforts that led to the end of apartheid.

No democratically elected Nigerian leader fought for the position as much as the current president. Zik did not really care about the difference between President and Prime Minister. Sir Tafawa Balewa had the Sardauna as godfather. Alhaji Shehu Shagari planned to go the Senate, Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo was plotted out of prison while Alhaji Umaru Yar’adua was forced to change direction, from Katsina to Abuja.

Luck smiled on Dr. Goodluck Jonathan when the nation mourned Yar’adua. Buhari shed tears and retired to Daura before Tinubu talked him back into politics. Now, we have the grand master in full control. You cannot fault the Emilokan philosophy. If you know, you know.

We must try to understand how Tinubu got everything working in his favour. He got people who could do the job, around him. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Fashola, Wale Edun, Yemi Cardoso, Dele Alake, Ben Akubueze, Tunji Bello, Bayo Onanuga, Sunday Dare, name them.

Some of these names were  not so popular before 1999. Tinubu knows how to get the best out of people and does not fail to reward them accordingly. He is said not to forget friends, like some politicians whose stock in trade is to use and dump those who sweated for them.

I may be wrong but a Lagos mini bus driver told me a story. We were struggling to buy fuel and in the process, became friends. Our focus was on politicians. My temporary friend said Tinubu had this tailor who visited  and asked the then Lagos State governor to employ his nephew.

Tinubu looked at the man straight in the face and asked him if he (the tailor) did not need a job. The fact that the friend was not highly educated looked like handicap. Tinubu asked the man to go upgrade his qualifications and promised him an appointment letter, stressing that the friend needed a job just like his nephew, for the overall benefit of the family. That was how the tailor went back to school and combined it with job.

From this, it is so easy to see why the president is close to the top as well as the grassroot. This attribute is rare among the ruling class. Yes, this could explain why anywhere you go, there is someone who knows or eats from Tinubu’s table.

I have also found out that Tinubu’s anti – Igbo drive is more of crude politics than a way of life. His son, Seyi, has wife and children with Igbo blood. The Igbo could not understand why Tinubu, a Yoruba wanted to succeed Buhari when it was the turn of the South – East, to balance the national equation.

The greatest shock of it all is Bayo Onanuga. I heard gone to the village to prepare Ogbunigwe, ready to explode it in Onanuga’s house when a chance chat with Chioma Ugboma of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) disarmed me. Contrary to his anti Igbo outbursts, she said that as Managing Director of NAN, the Presidential Spokesman, stood against the oppression of Igbo workers. He favoured merit over mediocrity and lifted Igbo officers.

And that has brought me thinking. What if this same Tinubu, the Governor – General of Nigerian politics, decides to step aside in 2027 and support the emergence of an Igbo as the next president? Never say never. Mandela did it in South Africa. Tinubu could follow Madiba’s footsteps and earn the Nobel prize.

This same Tinubu may go for the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference,  back an Igbo presidential candidate in 2027, support return of power to the North in 2031 after which there will be a single tenure of six years, with the plum job rotating among the six Geo Political Zones. This Tinubu is bold and will not stop doing things differently.