Henry Kissinger, former United States Secretary of State, perennial international statesman and oracle of diplomacy profiled six world leaders, now of blessed memories, in his most recent book, “Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy’. These long departed leaders were the architects of the post-war evolution of their respective societies. The leaders:    Konrad Adenauer (Germany), Charles de Gaulle (France), Richard Nixon (United States), Anwar Sadat (Egypt), Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore) and Margaret Thatcher (Britain) reshaped and redefined their national purposes, having inherited a postwar world that was in turmoil and full of uncertainties. They opened up new frontiers, confronted local political and economic challenges and significantly contributed to an enduring new world order.

Just like these global figures who shaped the circumstances of their era, Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, assumed the leadership of Africa’s most populous country at a time of great economic difficulties marked by very high socio-political tension. President Tinubu came in the midst of raging storms, inheriting legacy problems including insecurity, multi-dimensional poverty, angst, high decibel of ethnic agitations and general state of despair.

Since he assumed office 100 days ago, President Tinubu has focused on how to steady the floundering ship of state, redirect the economy and remove all barriers that inhibit productivity and growth. The first thing he did was the removal of fuel subsidy that has become a bottomless pit for the country. A world class auditor and turnaround expert himself, the goal of President Tinubu is to reprioritise national spending. A nation that literally flushed down over N21 trillion  between 2005 and 2023 in the name of paying for cheap petrol when it could not generate the electricity to power its industries, run its hospitals and provide universal basic education to school children is a nation moving speedily towards self-destruction. The removal of fuel subsidy now means funding becomes available to invest in critical infrastructures to develop the country and position it on the path of economic prosperity. It also means government at all levels will now have more money to spend on social services, soft infrastructures and general social amenities that will improve quality of life.

The combined effect of fuel subsidy removal and realignment of the foreign exchange markets to remove corruption-ridden regime of preferential forex allocation to economic predators, that previously ruled the day, has led to high cost of living especially food and public transportation for Nigerians. Unfortunately, the hapless masses are mostly bearing the brunt of this, making many people to wonder if a government that should make life better for them had come to inflict more hardship.

Like a caring father who must navigate his family through turbulent period, President Tinubu, through national broadcasts, public statements and various interventions during meetings with groups and business leaders, laid out the issues before Nigerians and explained why the decisions he took to save the country, even when they came with momentary pains, are in the best interest of the country as doing otherwise will be accelerating the total collapse of the economy without any guardrail. A number of intervention programmes have been unveiled as reliefs to the people.

Under the intervention initiatives, the Tinubu-led administration granted N5 billion to each of the 36 States and FCT to procure food items, fertilisers and seedlings for distribution to households and farmers. To further bring immediate relief to the people 100,000 bags of rice were also sent to the States by the Federal Government while modalities are being worked out with Governors under the National Economic Council for a new National Minimum wage and consequential salary increase for public and private sector workers.

President Tinubu understands that there cannot be any meaningful development and progress in an atmosphere of constant agitations and strife with the intervening primordial interests within the polity.

It is interesting to know that some private sector employers in the Organized Private Sector (OPS) have taken the initiative on their own to increase staff salary in line with the prevailing inflationary trend. In conjunction with the World Bank, States and Local Governments, the Federal Government is also working on direct cash transfers targeted at over 20million most vulnerable people across the country. The plan to deploy 11,500 CNG powered mass transit buses to make public transportation affordable for the masses is being concluded for participating mass transit companies. The government in a partnership between NNPC and NIPCO is setting up CNG mega stations across the country that can conveniently serve 200,000 vehicles daily.

Just like he did when he became the Governor of Lagos State in 1999, where he re-engineered the finances of the state from insolvency and paltry N600 million per month to the point where the State currently generates over N50 billion in internally generated revenue, President Tinubu knew from day one in office that the current revenue profile of the Federal Government and State Governments cannot fund the kind of development that needs to happen in Nigeria. At barely 10% Tax to GDP ratio, Nigeria ranks abysmally low compared to other African countries in revenue index. What South Africa makes in tax revenue from 1% of her high net worth tax payers in one year, is more than the entire IGR revenue of 36 States and FCT. It is the parlous revenue profile of the country that informed the decision of the President to set up the Taiwo Oyedele-led Tax and Fiscal Policy Reforms Committee. At the inauguration of the committee on August 7, 2023, President Tinubu declared that government cannot provide the social services and first-world infrastructure the people need to live a good life when it cannot generate the revenue to make them happen. He then tasked the committee to close the N20 trillion annual revenue gap in tax collection.

Equally, President Tinubu understands that there cannot be any meaningful development and progress in an atmosphere of constant agitations and strife with the intervening primordial interests within the polity. One of the reasons for almost unceasing agitations by a section of the country is the seeming lopsided appointments within the security establishment. The received wisdom in Nigeria is that any ethnic group without representation in the top hierarchy of the security establishment is not yet within the power arena even if all money of the country is spent to pave their streets with gold. As a leader who sufficiently understands the national psyche, in this regards, President Tinubu balanced the appointment of his service chiefs to project national outlook. Political leaders from the South East and Ohaneze Ndigbo severely criticized the Buhari government for marginalizing the Igbos in key security and other appointments. Now, an Igbo man from Enugu, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla is the Chief of Naval Staff while a minority and a christian from Southern Kaduna, Lt. General Christopher Musa is the Chief of Defence Staff. In the same spirit of promoting social harmony and repairing damaged social fabrics, President Tinubu also ensured geopolitical balance in distribution of key portfolios  of the recently sworn-in Ministers while also ensuring a proper-fit between the professional competence of majority of them and the ministries they lead.

Connectivity of empathy between a leader and the people he/she leads and ability to communicate are essential attributes of a good leader. President Tinubu possesses these two attributes in abundance with the ways and manners he has connected with the economic hardships Nigerians are going through.  One of the best leadership and management books I ever read, ‘The Leadership Lessons of Jesus: A Timeless Model for Today’s Leaders’ was written by Bob Briner and Ray Pritchard. In the book, the authors explained why a leader must have clear vision and be able to communicate that vision clearly and concisely to the followers without leaving anyone in doubt about the ability to provide direction. This was best exemplified by Jesus Christ when he met Peter, James and John when he called them to discipleship. Jesus told the trio, ‘Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” By vocation, Peter, James and John were fishermen.

Jesus was clear about the job He was calling them unto. He didn’t leave them in doubt as to why they should drop their day time job. Just like Jesus did many centuries ago, President Tinubu has not failed in telling Nigerians about the dire strait of our national economy and what needs to be done to remake a buoyant economy that will serve every segment of the society. In his last national broadcast, he empathized with Nigerians and laid out his vision for a greater future that awaits.  Part of the mark of his dexterity in political and diversity management is how he has, within 100 days in office, fostered social harmony and significantly reduced ethnic and political tensions in the country. President Tinubu has used his first 100 days in office to set the path and a new direction for the country. Many Nigerians, 67% to be precise, according to a recent survey, trust him to deliver on his renewed hope agenda.

*Ajayi is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity

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Let me state upfront that I may not have been fair in my assessment of Olajide Adeniran (Jandor) since he started his Lagos4Lagos chicanery about three years ago. The whole idea of condensing the country’s most cosmopolitan, the most socially and culturally diverse state that holds together Nigeria’s entire socio-economic fabric to his Lagos4Lagos idea is embarrassingly reductionist to me. It clearly shows his grossly limited worldview and poor understanding of a state he aspires to lead, even when it is obvious that nothing recommends him to even become a Local Government Chairman in the state. I have never had any difficulty in dismissing  Jandor as a joke that has gone too far.

As Lagosians, we have a clear choice to vote a man and his deputy governor, who are leading the transformation of Lagos that started in 1999. I have no doubt we will make a rational and the most pragmatic decision.

My view of the PDP candidate remains unchanged. I consider it an insult that in this time and age, a sparsely educated young man, who goes about with a procured doctorate degree title from institution in the tinsel degree mill that is Benin Republic, is asking us to replace Sanwo-Olu with him. How? Jandor does not have the discipline and mental aptitude to be a councillor anywhere. That Jandor is even the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party sure reflects how standards in the party have imploded. It is the situation in which the PDP has found itself, with Jandor as gubernatorial candidate, that makes Yoruba people introspect in “ko si eeyan mo ni”, meaning is there no other worthy person? In a state it has always struggled to put up a fighting chance since 1999, PDP must really be at the nadir of its hopelessness to present Jandor as flagbearer.

The seat of Lagos State governor in Alausa is not one for cartoon characters the PDP ticket symbolises. On 11 March, we are not auditioning for ‘Who Wants To Be A Governor’ as a new season in Jenifa’s Diary.

Lagosians will be electing a governor who will approximate the collective aspirations of over 20 million people, who want to live in a modern, better organised, functional and more prosperous city-state.

Nobody paid attention to the candidate of Labour Party, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, until a few days ago. He is currently riding the wave of OBIdiency that swept through Lagos on February 25th. A formerly inconsequential candidate without any prospect has suddenly been emblazoned on the Lagos political firmament as the new kid on the block. His candidacy is somehow unique because of his dual parentage of Yoruba father and Igbo mother in a political season that is heavy on identity politics. The Labour Party candidate has picked the Chinedu part of his name to harvest the strong Igbo sentiments that propelled the Peter Obi wave in Lagos. What is not in doubt is that Igbos have organised themselves as a powerful voting bloc in Lagos. It remains to be seen how this voting bloc will carry the Labour Party candidate to the Government House.

READ ALSO: Why Lagos must not be left in the hands of inexperienced people

Nothing projects Gbadebo’s capability and preparedness for the job of a governor of the least state in Nigeria. There is nothing in his profile. Almost no real-life work experience apart from his Ivy league education from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lagos is too important to be handed over as a guinea pig to an inexperienced and angry young man, who thinks the established development template that is delivering visible and sustainable results must be ripped up.

If Nigeria is a more politically sophisticated society where every word uttered or written matters, Gbadebo would have withdrawn honourably from the race with the volume of his toxic tweets exhumed in the last few days. The Labour Party candidate’s support for the proscribed IPOB terror group is concerning. Lagos, the commercial nerve-centre of not just Nigeria but whole of West and Central Africa cannot, by any means, have a governor that harbours strong sympathy for a terror group and its violent agenda. Gbadebo’s active participation and collaboration in the execution of ENDSARS insurrection that led to the large scale destruction of properties and investments, put at over N2trillion, by insurers, does not show him as having the necessary maturity and emotional intelligence required for political leadership. For me, Gbadebo is a fairytale candidate, who will fizzle out with the OBIdiency charade after March 11.

In Governor Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Lagos has a strong, stable, experienced and competent ticket that should be re-elected by all who truly desire progress in a fast rising greater Lagos that is unfolding before our very eyes.

In almost four years in office, Sanwo-Olu has demonstrated unwavering commitment to sustaining the development agenda of the state by ensuring the completion of many inherited projects across sectors, especially in housing, where he has completed 16 projects. In education – primary, secondary and tertiary -the state got a fresh shot in the arm with huge capital allocation to rebuild broken down infrastructure and revamp curriculum. The administration, during the about-to-end tenure, revamped the healthcare delivery system with an upgrade of Primary Health Centres, completion of more General Hospitals and employment of over 3000 medical professionals to bridge manpower gaps. Nothing attests to the robustness of the health system in Lagos better than the precision management of the COVID-19 pandemic under Governor Sanwo-Olu as the Incident-Commander. COVID-19 was a global public health war that claimed millions of lives. Sanwo-Olu acquainted himself well as a war-time leader. He showed courage under fire and extreme situations that demanded leadership. That is the man Lagosians should re-elect as the governor, not either of the experience-deficient rivals.

In almost four years in office, Sanwo-Olu has demonstrated unwavering commitment to sustaining the development agenda of the state by ensuring the completion of many inherited projects across sectors, especially in housing, where he has completed 16 projects.

In physical and integrated transportation infrastructure  in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu has been an extraordinary performer. I can’t possibly list the number of ongoing major road projects across the state and regular rehabilitation of existing ones. While campaigning before the 2019 election, Sanwo-Olu promised to complete the Blue Line Rail project. He kept that promise and even took on the humongous Red Line Rail Project that will run from Agbado-Ikeja, Yaba- Ebute-Meta-Marina. The project, designed to move 500,000 passengers per day as a game changer in public transportation, has reached 85% completion with five mega train stations. The test run on the Red Line will start before May 29, 2023.

As Lagosians, we have a clear choice to vote a man and his deputy governor, who are leading the transformation of Lagos that started in 1999. I have no doubt we will make a rational and the most pragmatic decision. Let us re-elect Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Kadiri Hamzat.

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Except democracy is no longer about the majority, the tiny minority alleging rigging of this election will be able to impose their will on the rest of us. But if democracy is about the will of the majority as expressed by the ballot, then Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has won the presidential election in a free and fair process with the national spread as required by law.

Make no mistake, we will not be apologetic about this win. It is emphatic. It is clear. And we will celebrate it to the fullest.

And for those accusing other people of ethnic bigotry because Peter Obi will not win, I hope you will be honest to yourselves when the dust is settled and you can think more clearly.

Obi played the religious and ethnic identity politics well. It is not surprising, therefore, that he harvested the votes from his target demography.

Peter Obi won in Lagos, Plateau, Delta, Edo and other places outside his tribe. Whereas he won all of the 5 states in South East by over 90% from available results. None of Tinubu, Atiku and Kwankwaso who are major contenders got 5% of total votes cast from South East. It is not rigging and bigotry when Obi won all from his tribe but it is rigging where other candidates won.

Before the election, I maintained the position, and it has not changed, that Obi has no path to winning a national election despite his Nzogbu Nzogbu ethnic and religious politics.

READ ALSO: Atiku and his infrastructure plan, By Temitope Ajayi

And before your next accusation of bigotry, here are the issues for you, to know where your man stands, and we can then agree who the bigot is.

Question: Who dragged this election through the tribal and religious routes?

Answer: Peter Obi did.

Obi dragged this election circle through the religious and ethnic paths. He is the only candidate who went to churches and crusades to campaign and seek endorsement.

In a multi-ethnic and a multi-religious society, Obi is the only candidate who asked  churches/Christian clergies to ‘to take back their country’ with him as the annointed candidate.

Equally, Obi is the only candidate, in this election, that went to campaign majorly in communities and  big markets, outside the South East, where his kith and kin are dominant.

Instead of beating drums of war, the honourable thing to do now by any aggrieved party is to seek redress in court instead of the anti-democratic call for cancellation of election you knew from day one you can’t win.

Obi played the religious and ethnic identity politics well. It is not surprising, therefore, that he harvested the votes from his target demography. Sadly, the votes from his target population are not enough to make him President in a plural society like Nigeria.

Instead of beating drums of war, the honourable thing to do now by any aggrieved party is to seek redress in court instead of the anti-democratic call for cancellation of election you knew from day one you can’t win. With his cult following in the North, the then General Muhammadu Buhari lost presidential election three times and on each loss he approached the courts to seek redress. He only became President in fourth attempt in 2015 when strategic political alliance with the South West gave him the national spread he needed to win.

The post What is democracy? appeared first on Frontpageng.

Going through the so-called plan, it is crystal clear that the Waziri Adamawa is completely out of tune with the nation’s socio-economic trajectory in the last seven years. Being resident in Dubai for so long comes with its consequences, isn’t it?

But if Atiku’s can be excused for his lack of grasp of happenings in a country he dreams to lead, can the same be said of his paid advisers, whom one expect to know better and advise their Principal properly at least to justify their pay?

We owe it a duty to educate Atiku and his aides on what the Muhammadu Buhari administration has done to address the nation’s massive infrastructural deficit.

If the best Atiku can offer us now is poor imitation of what Buhari is currently doing, he sure has no reason to remain in the presidential race.

As far back as six years ago, the Buhari administration created the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) to fund critical road projects, including the Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, Expressways, East-West Road and the Second Niger Bridge, outside the regular annual budget provisions.

The APC-led government also devised creative funding options such as the Executive Order 7, which gives tax credits to companies for road construction. Under this scheme, over 1800 kilometers of roads are being reconstructed across the country.

A major road artery, the Kabba-Obajana Expressway in Kogi State was reconstructed by Dangote Group taking advantage of this scheme. The indigenous conglomerate is also fixing the Apapa-Oworonshoki Road in Lagos. Telecoms giant, MTN has got the nod to complete the reconstruction of Onitsha-Enugu Road, while big firms like BUA, Flour Mills Plc, GLO and many others, have also keyed into this initiative.

The current government also floated the Sukuk Bonds, through which hundreds of billions of naira have been raised to fund road infrastructure in all the six geo-political zones. Isn’t it also worrisome that Atiku is not aware of the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI), another novel idea of the current administration on infrastructural funding for roads?

I particularly find it more galling that the Waziri Adamawa is not aware or deliberately feigning ignorance that the Buhari government has already incorporated a N15 trillion Infrastructure Company (INFRACO), involving the African Finance Corporation (AFC), Federal Government and other commercial interests to ensure long term and sustainable funding of infrastructure across sectors. This is unprecedented even if Atiku and his party are not willing to admit it.

Fact is, the PDP presidential candidate is not offering Nigerians anything new on how to revamp our decrepit national infrastructure and funding for same in his policy document, apparently put together by lazy minds.

Our former Vice President should get more creative with his team of advisers and offer us something different from what already exists. If the best Atiku can offer us now is poor imitation of what Buhari is currently doing, he sure has no reason to remain in the presidential race. Atiku can as well quit this race for serious contenders who are ready for the job to afford him more time to spend in Dubai.

The post Atiku and his infrastructure plan, By Temitope Ajayi appeared first on Frontpageng.

It must be the reason Reuben Abati betrayed every sense of professional etiquette and decorum on national television with his condescending open invitation to Tinubu to grant a live interview to Arise TV.

The nauseating talk about Tinubu dodging interviews and not speaking to Nigerians is absolutely nonsensical. With the campaign expected to last six months, what is the sense in a candidate going on TV and radio to be talking gibberish like Peter Obi does. For the discerning, it is obvious that Obi is already petered and burnt out, no thanks to his junketing all over broadcast stations.

In all of Obi’s interviews, what new ideas, policy reforms and initiatives has he espoused to solve Nigeria’s socio-economic and political challenges? I dare his supporters to answer this question with all sincerity of purpose.

Let those goading Tinubu to grant interviews know this: he won’t allow himself to be railroaded by cynical mischief makers.

Every passing day, more people are getting turned off over Obi’s penchant for regurgitating problems without pointing the way forward. The man, now easily predictable, seems to get his kicks by regaling us with tales of woes.

Fact is, Peter Obi has done more damage to himself and his brand than he or his supporters are willing to admit. To put it more bluntly, rational Nigerians have seen through him as just all talk and no substance.

Tinubu has the next six months to talk to Nigerians. And he would speak clearly, boldly and convincingly to the issues that confront Nigerians with clear solutions and way forward. He will address core issues of development in press interviews, town hall meetings, roundtables and other avenues of public engagement.

READ ALSO: Tinubu appoints Yahaya Bello campaign council youths co-ordinator

Let those goading Tinubu to grant interviews know this: he won’t allow himself to be railroaded by cynical mischief makers.

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As Nigerians, we, somehow, have this dandy as candy belief that our case must always be different. Whatever is happening elsewhere must not affect us because we are supposed to be insulated from the vagaries of the political economy around the world. Our heavy metal religiosity, which convinces us that we are a special race, is probably responsible for our collective deference to superstition rather than logic in purely economic matters.

Any follower of global economic trends in the last two years will know that all countries of the world, including the major economies, have been deploying both orthodox and unconventional means to keep prices of goods and services from spiraling out of control. While the world is still reeling from the pains of Covid-induced economic shutdowns and disruptions in global supply chains that have kept essential commodities off the shelf in many countries, the Russia-Ukraine war came to compound an already bad situation.

The Russia-Ukraine war brought a spike in price of crude oil that set off an astronomical increase in the cost of energy for households and businesses around the world. Inflation is at a record 30 years to 40 years high in Spain, France, United States, Germany and the United Kingdom at more than 5% in these countries. In Nigeria, Inflation is nudging 16%. The cost of gas, rent, food, electricity et al has reached rooftop in Europe. There were massive protests against rising costs of living in Spain and parts of Europe a few days ago. Everybody is hurting around the world and it is more pernicious in Nigeria where there is poor electricity supply and the economy runs on generators.

If not for misplacement of priority, who should NANS be warring against other than ASUU, which has made incessant strike a tool of blackmail against every successive government since 1981.

With diesel selling above N700 per litre in Nigeria, the economy is roiling in anguish. Big and small businesses are struggling to find enough headroom to wriggle.

Like other businesses, MultiChoice Nigeria increased prices across its service offerings by 15% to accommodate the rising cost of doing its business. Let me state upfront that it is not my intention to engage in the propriety of a private business deciding the best price to sell its goods/ services at this time. Only the managers of the business can truly know where the shoe is pinching them. My concern here is why government agencies and the National Assembly in Nigeria always pick on Multichoice, MTN and other businesses that seem to have South Africa origin in a manner that may suggest to casual observers that there is a deliberate Nigerian government policy to cripple these businesses.

Price increment by Multichoice for its DStv and GOtv subscribers has led to parliamentary inquisition and regulatory ambush. The executive management staff of the company had been invited by Committees of National Assembly to explain why they increased prices. A tribunal has ordered that MultiChoice should revert to old prices without fair hearing. In what can be termed a coordinated assault on the company, the National Assembly also ordered it not to increase prices till further notice. Whereas in the same economy where other businesses operate –big and small – prices of other goods and services have gone up without a whimper from the National Assembly, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council and other regulatory agencies. In the last 12 months, cement producers like BUA, Dangote and Lafarge have increased their prices; beverage companies have increased prices, banks have introduced mysterious charges and airlines fix prices arbitrarily multiple times in a day. Prices of essential commodities and staple food from bread, rice, garri, beans, fish, chicken, beef, pepper, yam, vegetable oil, bottled water and even sachet water gallop almost every day.

While the rising cost of living imposes more financial burden on poor and rich Nigerians, our parliamentarians and FCCPC are only worried about Multichoice?

Perhaps taking cue from the National Assembly members, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) took the anti-price increase slogan against Multichoice to another level of absurdity when it issued a seven-day ultimatum to the company to reduce prices or face the wrath of the “ever militant and ever conscious Nigerian students”. If not for misplacement of priority, who should NANS be warring against other than ASUU, which has made incessant strike a tool of blackmail against every successive government since 1981.

Of all the national problems that demand immediate remedy, cheap satellite television service by Multichoice Nigeria should not be on a priority list.

On a very serious note, it won’t be out of place to question the motivation of a National Assembly that is obsessed with just one company and its price regime. It is more so, when Senator Abba Moro, the arrowhead of the legislative putsch against MultiChoice Nigeria is not a man with any particular fidelity to the cause of the people. Nigerians should recall this Senator as Minister of Interior in 2014 supervised a recruitment fiasco that led to the death of 16 young job seekers in Abuja at the National Stadium venue of the test, Minna and other locations across the country after collecting mandatory N1000 registration fees from them through recruitment consultants of doubtful provenance. Over 125,000 job seekers applied for 4500 vacancies at the Immigration Service. A man who superintended over that tragedy in March 2014 without any remorse till date cannot suddenly fall in love with the people.

It is preposterous for a national parliament of any country to engage in forcing price reduction on a private company in the face of the stark reality of rising cost of business operations in the same economy where other service providers and manufacturers of goods are increasing their prices. The National Assembly shows it is certainly out of depth to project access to satellite television as a form of human right all citizens must enjoy. Watching DStv and GOtv is a lifestyle choice anyone can make. It is not the oxygen we all need to survive. Nigeria currently has a plethora of structural, political, economic, ethnic, religious and social problems that are threatening the very existence of the country. These nagging existential challenges have stunted the growth of the country and these are serious enough to demand the full attention of our lawmakers in terms of seeking solutions so that we as Nigerians can have a great country of our collective dream. Of all the national problems that demand immediate remedy, cheap satellite television service by Multichoice Nigeria should not be on a priority list.

The post Why always MultiChoice? appeared first on Frontpageng.

Lately, the competition seems to be about who can deploy the most vile and uncouth words to paint the picture of a post-apocalyptic country. To these lot, the only good time to remember in Nigeria was the First and Second Republic when political giants including Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and Sir Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Chief Bola Ige and several others left their footprints on the sands of time. That these departed statesmen were accomplished leaders is not debatable. But positing rather unabashedly that Nigeria has not made progress since these aforementioned great men left the scene is standing good logic on its head.

As the man keeps baring his thoughts, the nation must listen and pay attention. Now, he wants to serve this nation as President and has confidently declared: “I have the vision and the capacity to lead this country.”

In the last two decades, one man that has consistently proved that tremendous public good can be achieved when a visionary leader is in the driver’s seat is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In just 22 years, Lagos has, unarguably, witnessed remarkable transformation. This achievement is not by happenstance, but rather through deliberate and methodical planning and execution.

About two weeks ago, I got involved in a debate with two elderly friends who argued, rather unconvincingly, that the last time real development happened in Lagos, in their words, was “during the golden era of Alhaji Lateef Jakande that ended in 1983”. While no one can deny the impact of progressive leadership Jakande brought to bear in Lagos, it is also unthinkable to accept the view that Lagos has not made any progress since then.

Many questions would suffice: are the roads in Lagos still the way they were in 1983? To stretch further, have the roads not witnessed expansion, remodelling and in most places, total reconstruction since about 40 years ago? Are the number of government-owned hospitals and public health centres still the same as we had in 1983? Can we also compare the number of primary and secondary schools then and now? Did the Lagos of Jakande era generate as much waste or deal with more social and environmental challenges like it does now? What was the population of Lagos back then when juxtaposed with what obtains currently resulting into heavy pressure on the state’s physical and social infrastructure? The list is endless.

One fact is indisputable: Lagos had a stunted and arrested development of about 17 years from 1984 to 1999 before Asiwaju Tinubu became governor. It was a state under siege with broken system in all sectors. Tinubu came and changed that narrative. Months before he was sworn into office, he had set up a Transition Committee, with a clear brief to fashion out short, medium and long term solutions to the myriad of challenges confronting the state. That was a period majority of his other elected colleagues were still basking in the euphoria of their electoral success. Not Asiwaju Tinubu!

On his first day in office, Tinubu already had a Plan of Action in form of a comprehensive development blueprint that will not only rebuild Lagos, but set it on a path of sustainable growth. Today, there is hardly any developmental project going in the state that does not have the imprimatur of Tinubu, as in the development masterplan for Lagos put together by his administration.

Nothing else speaks to the boldness and rightness of Tinubu’s creative ideas than the brand new city sprouting out of the Atlantic ocean and the rapid urbanisation along the Lekki-Epe-Ibeju corridor.

He envisioned the Lekki Free Trade Zone, the $3.5billion Lekki Deep Seaport as a sprawling industrial corridor to revitalise the economy of the state. The Free Trade Zone is home to the $17 billion Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex and other multinational companies. It was hardwork and not sheer luck that made Lagos GDP ballooned to over $150 billion within 20years. If Lagos were to be a sovereign country, it will be the 6th largest economy in Africa. What could possibly be a better testament of Tinubu’s leadership ingenuity than this feat!

Let’s shift our focus to the Eko Atlantic City, a new international city of commerce, which has been described as one of the top five engineering feats in the world. A smart city with the full compliments and trappings of modernity, Eko Atlantic City, according to information gleaned from its website, is “standing on 10 million square metres of land reclaimed from the ocean and protected by an 8.5 kilometre long sea wall. The city will be the size of Manhattan’s skyscraper district. In addition, it will be self sufficient and self sustainable and will boast a state-of-the-art urban design, its power generation, clean water, advanced telecommunications, spacious roads and tree-lined streets.”

Pre-1999, the Ahmadu Bello Way, the stretch of street facing  the Eko Atlantic City and, indeed, almost the whole of Victoria Island, had become an eyesore. The ocean surge had practically washed off the Ahmadu Bello Way and parts of Victoria Island. Multibillion naira structures, including states’ liaison offices and other business concerns on adjoining streets within that axis, including Bishop Oluwole, Adetokunbo Ademola, Akin Adesola etc had relocated elsewhere. The story is different today. What was hitherto described as “disaster zone” has become a multi-billion dollar city of prosperity, thanks to a man who dares to dream BIG.

Not unexpectedly, blue chips  big multinationals and embassies have found a new abode in the city by constructing mega and eye-popping structures. The United States Embassy announced recently that it is building its new $300 million campus inside the Eko Atlantic City. The developmental vision that propelled Asiwaju Tinubu as governor of Lagos State is in sync with the model that turned Dubai into a global trade and tourist haven within five decades.

In his book: ‘My Vision: Challenges in the race for excellence,’ the Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, dwells on the visionary, progressive and audacious approach towards development led by his father, Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, stressing that the vision to do great, seemingly impossible things and break limits have made Dubai a centre of commerce and a major global financial hub.

When Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum conceived Jebel Ali, an artificial and largest port in the Arab World, some merchants met him to talk him out of it. Their argument, according to the current ruler in his book, was that Dubai at the time, already boast a large habour at Port Rashid that met their needs and therefore, saw no reason for the construction of a bigger port in a time of recession.

Mohammed Al Maktoum wrote that ‘Vision’ is the word to use to describe what led his father to build Port Jebel Ali. Jebel Ali is, at the moment, the world’s ninth busiest seaport and world’s largest man-made port.

Al Maktoum, the father told the son that his reason for building the Jebel Ali Port, which opened in 1979, was because a time will come when Dubai will not be able to afford a project of that scale and magnitude.

Since leaving office, Asiwaju Tinubu has continued to espouse novel ideas for national development and transformation, an attribute that puts him ahead of his peers as a thinker and philosopher-king.

Far-sightedness is an essential ingredient in leadership. At the time Asiwaju Tinubu conceived the idea of reclaiming the Bar Beach and unveiled his plan, his traducers pilloried him relentlessly, describing it as a “waste of Lagos’ money.’ Lagos State chapter of PDP, led by Chief Olabode George was unsparing in its ill-thought out criticisms. Who has now proved to be more visionary and smarter? It’s no one but Asiwaju Tinubu, a man who saw the vision others couldn’t see.

Volumes of literatures can be written on how this same man re-engineered the finances of Lagos State and the conceptualisation of interventionist agencies like LASTMA, LAWMA, LAMATA, LASAA among others to serve as building blocks for running a modern city-state.

Since leaving office, Asiwaju Tinubu has continued to espouse novel ideas for national development and transformation, an attribute that puts him ahead of his peers as a thinker and philosopher-king.

As the man keeps baring his thoughts, the nation must listen and pay attention. Now, he wants to serve this nation as President and has confidently declared: “I have the vision and the capacity to lead this country.” This is not a tongue-in-cheek statement! It is bold! It is assertive! I love self confident men; yes, men like Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tinubu is brimming with ideas that will make Nigeria a truly developed and prosperous nation. Let’s make him our next President.

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Over the weekend, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu visited the four paramount rulers in Ogun State. He was well received by the Royal fathers, the Obas and chiefs in their respective domains and large multitudes of people in the various kingdoms.

Because Asiwaju Tinubu recorded a highly successful visits to these top traditional rulers, the brewers of hate, discord and disharmony must script a dirty tale to discredit the good outing. This time it is that he wetted his dress!

No amount of distractions or attempts to discredit Asiwaju will work to remove the sail from his political wind.

Assuming without conceding that is the case, so it is the back of his knees that would be wet and not the bum area.

So if he wetted his babariga, he would not cover it and would still move to lie flat to greet the Awujale of Ijebuland in the full glare of everyone present.

Yet as their video showed, it was after their wetting incident that he went ahead and prostrated to Kabiyesi.

Those behind this annoying tale need to be clever than that. This is another distraction.

No amount of distractions or attempts to discredit Asiwaju will work to remove the sail from his political wind.

Asiwaju Tinubu has declared his interest in the presidential race.

He has his legs on the throttle. There is no going back

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At TheNews, he was one of the popular young Turks like Bagauda Kaltho, Lara Owoeye-Wise, Ebenezer Obadare, Jenkins Alumona, Akin Adesokan, Ademola Adegbamigbe, Bamidele Johnson and Henry Ugbolue among others who were mentored by the irrepressible Bayo Onanuga, Kunle Ajibade, Babafemi Ojudu, Idowu Obasa and Dapo Olorunyomi. Dare and his cohorts at TheNews were undeniably the hotheads of guerrilla journalism who irritated, in no small measure, the Abacha Military Junta with penetrating and exclusive stories that exposed the underbelly of the military government’s political chicanery.

The Minister-designate, who demonstrated uncommon élan and sterling brilliance during his Senate confirmation hearing, was one of the reasons I looked forward to every edition of the magazine then. He never disappointed every week with the depth of his knowledge and the power of his pen whether he was writing the Cover Story, Back of the Book story or a general interest story.

My interaction with him on a weekly basis through the pages of the magazine ended in 1999 when he left TheNews for Harvard University preparatory to joining Voice of America, Hausa Service. This hiatus subsisted until he joined the service of former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as his Chief of Staff/Special Adviser on Media, where he had to make occasional and well-reasoned public interventions via opinion articles in defence of his principal.

For about 20 years after I had followed his career progression from journalism to public service, where he had made his mark as the Executive Commissioner at the Nigerian Communication Commission, I never had any personal contact or relationship with him at any level until sometime in October 2018 when our paths first crossed.

The All Progressives Congress had just elected its governorship candidate in Lagos State through a direct primary and it was not without some schism, which tested the internal conflict resolution mechanism of the party. Dare was assembling a team of Media and Communication professionals for the Babajide Sanwo-Olu Governorship Campaign. My friend, Ayo Oyalowo, who has a long history of personal relationship with SD as Dare is fondly called, made a telephone call to me to ask if I would like to work with a team of communication professionals being put together for the campaign. I accepted the invitation and I must say the experience of working with people of diverse backgrounds in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environment was very enriching.

For the six months leading to the elections and three months post-election up to the inauguration on May 29, 2019, Dare provided very strong leadership for the team and allowed us to take initiatives and execute without throwing himself into anyone’s face. He achieved much by delegating. He had absolute confidence in the capability of the team he put together. He is the type of a team leader who will go into battle with his team to win and will never be afraid to share credits with his subordinates. He did not withhold praise from any deserving member of the team and he didn’t fail to chastise when he needed to.

Dare made a very huge impression on me on my first meeting with him at the Ikoyi Office of the Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat Campaign Organisation. He came into the office at about 9pm straight from the airport and he joined us in a conference room where we had been waiting for him. When I came forward to greet him, he said: “How are you Tope?” I was rather startled. When I asked how he knew my name, he answered: “Well, I know you fairly well. We may not have met but I know you on Facebook and I have read some of your posts. Nice to meet you here.”

He made me very comfortable on our first meeting and we bonded almost immediately. However, before Dare’s arrival that night, the then governorship candidate, Sanwo-Olu, had had an interactive session with us to share his vision for Lagos State. At the meeting, I asked him if he would complete ongoing and abandoned projects started by former Governor Babatunde Fashola and those of the Akinwunmi Ambode Administration, and he answered the question admirably.

While our meeting with Dare was going, I mentioned how the governorship candidate impressed me with his promise to complete all unfinished projects of his predecessors. It was as if my mention of the name Ambode triggered a long forgotten episode when he blurted out: “Tope, I know during the party primary your sentiment was with Ambode. Never mind. It is understandable. I also supported him to become governor too in 2015. Even Mr. Sanwo-Olu himself worked with him. The party primary is over now and we have a candidate to support and an election to win. All we need to do from now on is to work together as a team and win the election.” His forthrightness, perceptiveness and a heart without guile completely won me over that night.

Dare is a hands-on manager who will go into the trenches with his people. Several nights, he led the operations to paste posters, mount A-Boards and supervised the placement of lamppost advertisement materials along the median of the 3rd Mainland Bridge and other locations across Lagos Island and on the Mainland. He led a unique and successful election operation with the team. Each time there was a need to defend the actions of his team, he stood firmly as a reliable bulwark. He delegated very well and allowed the team to run the show. I once described him as a veteran of many election campaigns in South West in one of our review meetings. He is an astute and brilliant political communication strategist. He simply dazzles with his understanding of retail politics and winning ways for elections.

I must say at this point that President Muhammadu Buhari made a good choice in nominating him as one of the Ministers that will serve the Nigerian people in his second term. If anybody was in doubt of his ability, he put that to rest with his performance during the Senate confirmation hearing that received positive reactions on social media and offline.

Few people, who are often the tiny yet loud minority, attempted a mockery of the ministerial nominees immediately the Senate released the list over what they claimed to be a lack of technocrats.

Except for those who thrive on undue negativity and trivialities, a list that has a Sunday Dare among other accomplished professionals from Medicine, Engineering, Military, Accountancy, Law, Architecture and the Academia cannot be said to be without technocrats. Nigerians are easily excitable. We often erroneously consider those we see as public intellectuals as technocrats.

The fact is quite a few of those that many Nigerians celebrate as technocrats because of their name recognition are mere creations of the media. They built their profiles more on media mentions than substance. I have followed Dare’s career trajectory and he will do well as a Minister. He excelled in his career as a journalist and has performed creditably in his current role as a public servant. He will deliver as a Minister of the Federal Republic in any ministry President Buhari may choose to deploy him. And if the President deploys him to the Ministry of Communication, it will be a natural turf for him given his current day job at the NCC.

As if to buttress my conviction about his suitability, the Vanguard Newspaper recently x-rayed profiles of ministerial nominees, and that of Dare stood out as an intellectual and political communication lodestar. The profile read like that of a man on a continuous quest to unlock the door to personal excellence, a man with a will to win, the desire to succeed, and the urge to reach full potential. Indeed President Buhari made a good choice in the Minister-designate from Oyo State.

*Ajayi, a Lagos-based Business Development and Communication expert runs Portion Consult Limited.

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