His small trim figure and frail frame belie the enormous strength within, and does not in any way reflect his true capacity. It is a sort of decoy. As a result of his frail physical make-up, many unsuspecting minds see him as one who is to be ignored. However, many have ignored him at their own peril.
What actually is it about men with a little physical frame? Historically, it has been revealed that men with tiny physique are dynamites. In football circles, Argentine Diego Maradona is a personage. Short and stocky, Maradona took the soccer world by storm such that his exploits on the soccer field have become a legendary tale. Ditto for Lionel Messi, his equally pint-sized countryman, who has become a soccer idol to many football fans across the globe. German Adolf Hitler also readily falls into the category of pocket-sized men who held the world awestruck, albeit negatively. There was also the Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, who once ruled the entire continent of Europe. Let me quickly add that Asiwaju is not diminutive, he’s a frail weight.
In the contemporary political landscape of Nigeria, Tinubu remains a force to reckon with. His fragile physique notwithstanding, Asiwaju has the heart of a lion. He dares to follow the path that lesser mortals avoid. His audacious confrontations with the military are partly responsible for the restoration of democracy in our country in 1999. But then, Asiwaju is not all about boldness without vision. He combines a bold heart with a sound mind. He is blessed with an unusually sharp and uncanny mind.
Tinubu’s intellectual prowess is legendary. He is a deep thinker and a pragmatic philosopher in his own right. He combines unbelievable intellectual depth with amazing spiritual profundity. His bat like full-size eyes prods deeply at everything in sight with the calculated precision of a predator going after its prey. They are, perhaps, responsible for the depth of his vision. Asiwaju sees far ahead of time.
He is, indeed, a complex character. The late afrobeat maestro, Fela Kuti, was popularly referred to by his teeming fans as “Abami Eda” (the Strange One). Asiwaju could equally be likened to an abami eda. The more you think you know him, the more intriguing he becomes. It is mostly when his adversaries think they have pinned him to the wall that he bounces back even stronger, like the proverbial cat with nine lives. O sewo, eyin Ologbo ki bale. It is impossible to give the cat a pin fall. Asiwaju is that cat whose back doesn’t touch the floor. Even when it does, he bounces back in record time.
Impossibility is a common word in the dictum of fidgety and sceptical souls that abandon their visions in the face of the slightest challenge. However, for Asiwaju, impossibility is a doorway to possibilities. Hence, he sees profound opportunities in every seeming impossibility.
Prior to the successful merger of the various political parties that transformed into the All Progressives Congress (APC), merging of political parties had not been a successful venture in the country’s political terrain. In the Second Republic, for instance, the progressives led by Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Aminu Kano, Waziri Ibrahim and others tried fruitlessly to form a formidable progressive-inclined political party that could wrest power from the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Several meetings were held by these frontline leaders of the progressives at that time but with insignificant success.
It was, perhaps, this history of failure by the progressives to forge a common front that initially made political observers and pundits to be sceptical of the feasibility of the APC project. Indeed, some prominent PDP members swore by their mothers and grandmothers that the merger was not going to work. However, with the unwavering and calculated focus of a lion in pursuit of its prey, Asiwaju and his fellow progressive leaders, who are today’s heroes of democracy, forged ahead like Trojans who are sure of their destination.
The one who has become a spectacle does not act as a spectator. So, Asiwaju and his compatriots refused to be distracted, even when the sound of the drummer at the market place became quite vicious and notorious. The one with a mission at the market does not pay attention to the noise of the market. So much noise came from the PDP’s organs such as the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), African Independent(?) Television (AIT), and much more, but Asiwaju and co surged on. The rest, today, is history.
Now that the night is over, no one should deny Asiwaju the right to clink the glass and pop the champagne. It is his right. He deserves it after 16 years of focusing on the prize. In 2003, when the Alliance for Democracy (AD) lost all its controlled states in the South West, except Lagos, the only attractive option for Asiwaju was to jump ship and move to the ruling PDP. That is the natural path in African politics because playing opposition politics in this clime is hazardous and unattractive. But such a choice is for men with blatant opportunistic disposition.
So, Tinubu forged ahead and Action Congress (AC) came on board, later paving way for the emergence of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Though the road was rough and tough, with the ACN came the recovery of lost states in the South West. Edo State was to later come into the fray. Now, the ACN has arrived. That was the thought of some of Asiwaju’s apostles. But, like the visionary leader he is, Tinubu knew that the journey has just started, and nothing has been won.
To achieve the long-term mission of the progressives in the nation’s political landscape, ACN, with its relative success, must die. Thus came the death of the ACN. The funeral ceremony took place in Lagos. Others followed suit: Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). However, these parties did not die in vain. Their death brought about APC, a formidable opposition party. At last, the progressives were ready to confront the PDP for the political soul of the country. In a most keenly and fiercely contested presidential election in the political history of the country, the PDP kissed the dust. Thus, ending its 16 years of infamous and impunity-laden grip on power at the centre.
No doubt, fiercer political battles lie ahead for Asiwaju and his progressive co-travellers. But of what essence is life without battles? That is the stuff that champions are made of.
• Raji is Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State.
