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Tinubu, the real Yoruba leader

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Our Reporter 13/12/2010 03:41:00

SIR: The battle for political leadership of the Yoruba nation, in my mind, has been fought and won squarely. Chief Obafemi Awolowo unarguably led the Yoruba race successfully to death. Adekunle Ajasin, Bola Ige and Abraham Adesanya at different times held forth and died heroes. Following the demise of Abraham Adesanya, there have been challengers and pretenders who all strove to fill the vacuum. The unwritten feeling among many was the need to have a more youthful but open minded person to lead the Yoruba with the ‘mind and spirit’ of Awolowo.

The challenge lately has been between Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Otunba Gbenga Daniel. The two are reputable gentlemen who have fought different causes either for the public or personal interest. Both of them have made their marks in the political landscape of the Yoruba and would be remembered for their roles. Between the two, depending on individual’s perception, one person triumphs and is qualified by all standards to be called the Yoruba leader.

I must say that certainly, leadership is not an intangible: it’s the ability to convince and inspire people to follow. For eight years as governor of Lagos, Tinubu did not only inspire but also made people to inspire others. There are very few governors today who could have made the wrenching decisions to confront a sitting president like Obasanjo based on ideology and love for the people.

He is the pioneer of modern political pluralism; standard-bearer for social democracy, bulwark against federal oppression, a political agent of change who always acted with good authority, even if it was bound to bring him into conflict with the party he put back on the political map. A role model for those who want to be mentally young; forever sharp and hopeful. A practical politician who still inspires the nation to believe in justice and not thuggrey.

Tinubu’s political victories continue to affirm the necessity of justice that it’s not blind but equal. His calm and calculative political battles have shown that the more equal a society is the more stable it is, and the more efficient. Tinubu is a prominent example of a whole army of social activists without whom this country would be in even worse trouble. Politically, he represents an argument that officialdom perpetually evades.

A true leader wants nothing more than to make people independent, as leaders in their own rights. Instead of trying to inebriate us with his or her rhetoric, a true leader reflects our own light back to us. A leader provides a new direction, inspiring us to abandon our old ways of doing things. When we are imbibed with our self-interests - be they infinitesimal or magnitude - a leader sends out a wake-up call, alerting us to seek the true priorities in life.

These exactly are what Tinubu has done relentlessly for almost two decades. His quest for a united Yoruba nation started in Lagos and has spread to every Yoruba town and village. His political hegemony has been indefatigably stamped on the Yoruba nation. He has increasingly affected the polity for good.

He remains one of the few Nigerian politicians to find courage to step away from mindless inherited party loyalty when he thinks the principles he believes in are being betrayed. The Yoruba leader no doubt should be able to connect with the people and that exactly Bola Tinubu has successfully done in the last two decades. Since the leadership of the Yoruba does not require an election or a nomination as it has always been a product of natural emergence, Bola Tinubu is the leader.

• Tola Osunnuga,

Ago Iwoye, Ogun State

in ur dreams

i do not know wwhat is wrong with this yoruba people sometimes

^^
Well, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a product of his time, a man for this particular season of Nigerian history/reality. As such it would be unproductive to spend time arguing about whether he is good/evil (are such absolute definitions even valid?), or to speculate into the (questionable) sources of his wealth.

What really matters is that the quality of leadership in any society is a mirror image of the common people of that society, and our leaders are in actual fact, us. Oyinbo man can transfer Technology, he can transfer political ideologies and administrative systems but he can only do so much to jump-start the development of the black man into a dignified human being. Until we look inwards and change our attitudes and our orientation towards our fellow Nigerians, this country will remain a Hell-Reality, a place where virtually all the leaders are selfish thieves and human life is worth about the price of a 7.62mm bullet.