The bat is a nocturnal animal, quite unassuming in appearance it would seem, but at the same time cringy. The bat does most of its business in aid of its survival behind the scenes and comes into main activity at night when most human are resigned to taking a rest to recharge for the next day. The bat relies on and thrives on the loyalty of its community, thus an attack on a bat would most likely incur the wrath of the bat colony. The bat is an enigma which cannot be fully understood by virtue of its restricted activity in the open. It is not necessarily transparent, but some would argue that it does not go out of its way to disrupt the dynamics of interaction among other animals, including humans.
The enigma that the bat posits makes it an animal that one cannot be complacent with. BAT, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the man, has proven to be a political animal that has traversed the Nigerian political terrain since the days of ushering Nigeria back to democracy to the country’s current political state and in the process has transformed himself into the archetypal bat over the past twenty years of civilian rule in Nigeria with a political slant.
BAT as two-time governor of Lagos revolutionised government by making revenue generation an integral part of making governance a possibility. What BAT failed to achieve in terms of the delivery of substantial infrastructural projects, he made up for in laying the foundation of the Lagos that exist presently. BAT knew well before hand the necessity to be financial independent in the form of a functional federating sub national, probably a decade after the rest of Nigeria starting clamouring for real financial autonomy from the centre. He rewrote that gap in the Nigerian constitution, which curiously sidestepped the population reality of Lagos state and saddled the territory with limited numbers of local government councils, making governance reaching the people quite slow.
While the PDP central government did not see the merit of democratising more governance to Lagosians, BAT came up with the LCDA magic. After his stint as governor at the centre of excellence, BAT was soon to transform himself as the Asiwaju (leader) not only of the Yorubas but more of contemporary political engineering, post 1999. His masterstroke in this regard has been his ability to recognise talent and capacity and recruit effectively. BAT political recruitment genius had a positive impact on Lagos initially, and later the country at large. The benefit for Chief Tinubu is his accumulation of a collage of political foot soldiers, grateful for the platform provided and ready to fight for the ‘‘kingmaker’’. Asiwaju as he prefers to be called, has through the politics of patronage maintained a firm grip on Lagos politics, and with the proceeds which accrues to him from the cash cow i.e. the state, he has been able to push his ultimate agenda albeit it in a subtle manner.
Lagos, BAT’s mirror of political achievement when viewed critically, could have gone much further in terms of overall development, both human indices and physical development related. Apart from a crop of political elite allied to Chief Tinubu, he also has a diehard followership of a working-class army, mostly rough edged and the not so amiable lot. These set of people hold sway in Lagos with an ugly sense of entitlement. They constitute a clog in Lagos achieving the status of a megacity which the city seeks to acquire. Majority of Lagosians are uncomfortable with the way Lagos is presently, and it might be right to imagine why Nigerians would want to consider BAT for the big price in 2023 with the political sword of Damocles hanging around his neck.
Asiwaju will also have to contend with the aftermath of the #Endsars protests, which ended ignominiously. Lagos politicians unleashed miscreants onto the streets of the city welding machetes (Ake UTC), clubs et al to counter the youth protesters. Lagos was soon to descend into anarchy. Nigerians often question the appearance of Lagos as a fiefdom of BAT, partly due to the financial opaqueness of the state from his time as governor to the present day of which the former governor still benefits from, under the influence of the ‘’Kaiser Sosa’’ of Lagos politics himself. Many Nigerians think, with the way Lagos is currently managed, under the glare of BAT, putting him in charge at the centre may not be a reasonable idea in view of the country’s recent political /economic situation.
Asiwaju on his part has kicked the political football well ahead of 2023 as accentuated during his 69th birthday colloquium consolidating his bridge building initiative, starting with the power block of the north west. That may not be enough as the north has been effectively divided into three blocks. Security issues in the north, may be a defining factor considering events in the north central since 2015. The north east and north central have a mind of their own. Do they seem warm to a Tinubu presidency in 2023? Only time will tell. BAT seems to be reaching out to the women folk with his appearance at the book launch of Aisha Buhari, considering the Buhari brand in the north of the country.
In the southern parts of Nigeria, BAT’s political sagacity is not in doubt, but they would rather prefer new wine rather than old wine in a different package, but its early days. Starting off on the blocks early enough, on the part of BAT is making it clear to everyone that he is keen on 2023. Chief Ahmed Bola Tinubu also has an uphill task to climb politically with the people of the South East. They have not forgiven him for pulling the rug under GEJ and allowing President Buhari gaining entrance into Aso Rock. A reference to what Awolowo did and by extension the south west in the late 60s leading to the Nigerian civil war has been used to tar BAT often, and it would only reverberate all over again, even when Ojukwu confirmed before his death, that Awolowo is the best president Nigeria never had.
However, could it also be that BAT is flying a kite? For whom and for what? BAT unarguably, has been part of the progressive social revolution, which toppled the PDP. Somehow, the APC with BAT included, have initiated some programmes, though there is the belief that they have not been very innovative or radical enough, to unbundling the economy to unleash its full potential for the benefit of all Nigerians. Is that possible in less than eight years considering the foundation upon which the Nigerian economy was operating on prior to 2015? BAT’s knack for recognising and picking talents, maybe, that could be a defining moment for him despite all other daunting factors weighed against the man, called Asiwaju.
© Copyright, Olugbenga Adebanjo
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