Alhaji Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a great politician and one of those who have whether rightly or wrongly, contributed immensely to building what we have today as modern Nigeria.
Tinubu would have made a great president 10 or 15 years ago but not anymore. His health has so deteriorated that even his handlers who want him to become president for their selfish reasons are beginning to find it very difficult to cover it up. No wonder, they are picking and choosing where he goes to and what he says.
Additionally, the Nigeria where Tinubu would have made a great president has changed. Â The current Nigeria is on the brink from every side and needs a politician with different kind of leadership style and political orientation to pull it back from total collapse.
The kind of political leadership Tinubu was good at is transactional politics where a politician gathers cronies around himself and uses state money to fund their excesses. While this worked well 8-10 years ago, it will not work today. Nigerian economy is on high inflation and the country is heavily indebted. There would be no more money to share to political cronies and praise singers.
Nigeria is one of the most expensive democracies in the world today. While ordinary Nigerians are going through lots of sufferings, political leaders are busy hoarding money for elections.   Therefore, currently, Nigeria needs a disciplined politician with certain degree of stoicism to cut down the cost of governance and channel the youthful energy of the country toward creating a productive economy. Tinubu’s health condition and political orientation have made him very unsuitable to rule Nigeria at this point in Nigeria’s history. What is at stake in Nigeria now is too serious to be left in the hand of an old man with chequered health.
The Need of Supreme Emergency
Very few people will debate what I have just stated above; not even the most vocal advocates of Tinubu’s presidential ambition. The question then is, if it is this obvious that Tinubu’s presidency would be a disaster for this country, why are many people still campaigning for him? The answer simply is ignorance.
Yes, most Nigerians are still bottled up in their selfish and ethnic ignorance that they don’tunderstand what is coming should Tinubu become Buhari’s successor. They don’t understand that the hardship in Buhari’s time would be a child’s play compared to what will be if the cabal succeeds in imposing the sick Tinubu on Nigerians. In Buhari’s time, things are very difficult but they have not completely collapsed. Workers are still paid, traders still get goods to sell no matter how exorbitant and students still resume school after 8 months of strike. That is luck! However, Nigerians will not be this lucky if Tinubu’s becomes president. The greed of the people planning to hoist him and use him as a conduit to siphon whatever remains in our treasury will ensure that every aspect of the life of this country is thrown into a state of chaos and pandemonium. That is greed. It doesn’t stop until it destroys everything including itself. However, this where the idea of supreme emergency comes and it may eventually be Nigeria’s only hope.
I borrowed the concept of supreme emergency from Michael Walzer, a very brilliant American political theorist. Walzer developed supreme emergency in his analysis of a hypothetical situation or a possible scenario under which the US can use either tactical or counter-city/counter-population nuclear weapons. He theorized that the US would not use nuclear weapon in a case of first strike. It can only deploy these weapons in a situation of supreme emergency when the very existence and survival of the US as a nation is threatened.
Nigeria as a nation has passed through a lot. Before, independence it suffered greatly in the hand the British overloads but this didn’t make it to drop its greed, hate and ethnic politics? The same experience was repeated during the first republic. This was a nation just came out of colonization, however, the politicians instead of concentrating and finding a common ground to unify and move the country forward decided to put their selfish interests above the interest of the nation. No wonder that republic never survived. What about the civil war? Nigeria went through untold suffering. Close to 4 million souls, including women and children were wasted in that senseless war. Did Nigerians learn their lessons? They didn’t. Then came the military rule. It became hellish yet the country didn’t unify. The same ethnic bickering and selfish politics had continued.
As the country prepares for the 2023 presidential election, the indices are there. Buhari and the crop of very corrupt politicians he surrounded himself with have run this country through. There is suffering all over the land. Therefore, it is very clear that Nigeria needs a new set of leaders and leadership orientation to navigate the country through this very difficult time. But what do we see in the land? We see greed, ethnic politics and hate all over the place. I strongly persuaded that Nigerians have not learnt their lessons and have not had enough of hardship and suffering. The country needs a supreme emergency to jolt it out of its current delusions and I believe Tinubu’s presidency is the magic wand that will do the job.
