For a man that comes from a custom where kingmakers do not usually expect to becomes a king, how does he wants to defy the customs and traditions of his people to actually become a king? For his people, kingmakers can not be king, they can only make a king.
Someone who started as a king has fully blow to a contest of a kingmaker who wants to become a king again. In his defense, one can argue that he is a maker of man, who has made man power and influence pass through his tutelage. This is manifested in the way he has held on to the crust of power in Lagos. Since his tenure lapsed as governor of Lagos state, no one has become a governor of the state without his blessings. Even other states of the southwest region are not left out, it still on record how his political maneuverability turned the other states in the region to his whims and caprices.
It reminded me of my article of my recent where I succinctly analyzed the non existence of opposition going into the upcoming general elections in 2023. The activities of the opposition can only be described as shambolic, to say the least. In the article I made mention of him building political bridges across the country to facilitate his protege ascension to power in the coming elections.
There has been a lot of speculations about his ambitions to run for the presidency, or maybe he is only building the bridge and handing it over to his protégé. Although he is yet to officially declare his ambitions, some political groups has been urging him to throw in his hat for the contest. What seemed like a rumour is now becoming a reality.
On Sunday evening in an exclusive interview with Channels Television, Abdulmumin Jubrin, who is the Director-General of the Tinubu Support Group Management lifted the lids on the desire of Tinubu to run for the presidency come 2023 general elections. In the interview, Abdulmumin confirmed that it is only a matter of when Tinubu is going to declare his intention to run and not whether he is not contesting. To quote Abdulmumin verbatim he says,
“Sometimes I find it a bit funny when I hear people saying is he contesting or not. The only thing that is left is just the formality of organising an event where he is going to express his aspiration, just to notify the public that, yes, I am going to contest. But the issue of Bola Tinubu contesting is a done deal. He is going to contest the election; he’s going to be on the ballot paper.”
With the grassroot mobilization capabilities of Tinubu, it is Tinubu’s game to lose. Another advantage he possesses is the bloc votes of the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari from the North. If in the election he has the support of Buhari, Tinubu presidential ambitions has a guarantee of about 7-9 millions of votes in the region.
With major opposition political parties in comatose, the obstacles Tinubu has to deal with is the customs, traditions and beliefs of his people that Kingmakers are not meant to be on the throne but to make king. May believe this is the same reason MKO Abiola lost out in annulled 1993 presidential election.
Time will tell if the belief can stop him.
