The identity crisis surrounding the person of Tinubu has grave implications. The question – who is Bola Ahmed Tinubu? – is one that will not go away until truth cures it. This question is overarching and encompassing. It is related to all aspects of the man’s identity and personality that have been shrouded in mystery and secrecy; his ancestry, parentage, education (in early and later life), as well as his private and public life such as his actual legacy as Lagos state governor.
Tinubu is like a bat growing amorphous by the day. The bat can pass for a mammal or a bird. After all, just like us, bats are mammals so mother-bats feed their pups plenty of breast milk when they come back to their roosts. Bats also fly like the birds characteristically do. That is the feeling one gets when thinking of Tinubu – neither here nor there.
As one who aspires to be the President of the country Nigeria, Nigerians deserve to know. Even if the whole country says it does not matter, it should be proved it does matter and why the actual Tinubu needs to be unveiled so we may know. Even if he is found unworthy and still gets elected President, Nigerians need to know who their would-be president is. It is neither out of place nor too much to ask.
In the civilized world the life of public officials, both incumbents, past and aspiring ones, is an open book, and open to close and public scrutiny. The current British Prime Minister was born to Indian parents; the Mayor of London was born to Pakistani parents and so on. The noblemen are proud of their backgrounds and ancestry. So, why is Tinubu hiding behind his finger?
There is nothing honourable in shrouding such life in mystery and secrecy. As they say, ‘if you don’t want heat, don’t enter the kitchen.’ But in Nigeria, some spinners and rented guns would not allow such scrutiny. They do not care whether the nation hires a cripple as a driver to drive the bus of the state to its ruin and damnation as long as figures of the bank accounts keep shifting.
To date, President Muhammadu Buhari’s health is a mystery. Yet, his treatment and all the other associated costs are borne by Nigerians who are told that the President’s health is none of their business. This cannot happen in a civilized country where leadership is accountable to the people. In Nigeria, the opposite is the case. Here, leaders are masters and run the country like private estates and treat the nation’s resources as their own. That is precisely the same thing the spinners want Nigerians to continue with Tinubu as president despite the consequences that are in plain sight.
The three top contenders for the office of the president of Nigeria all have very good chances of winning. So, ignoring Tinubu whose party, the All Progressives Congress, controls 22 states of the federation is rather too perilous. Though BVAS promises to keep the usual interference by governors minimal, the sheer large number of APC governors is a source of strength to the candidate, Tinubu.
Let’s begin the interrogation with his ancestry. The Amoda Ogunlere from Osun state has been mentioned to be the same as Bola Ahmed Tinubu even in one or two cases before the courts. A group within the All Progressive Congress, the Gaskiya Youth Movement, has told the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, is not an indigene of the state. The group led by Umar Iliyasu, Suleiman Baba, and Abubakar Adamu, claimed that the discrepancies in his age, state of origin, and educational qualifications were questionable. As such, they are asking the court to bar Tinubu from participating in the APC Primary scheduled for June 7.
APC Presidential Primary has come and gone without these questions being resolved. A newspaper investigative report noted way back in 2011 that the two children of Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji (assumed mother of Tinubu) are Rafatu Biodun and Sakirat Modupe. The usually reliable sources insist that Tinubu is originally from Iragbiji in Osun State. And there is no record that Abibat Magaji was married to a Tinubu. So, why is Tinubu bearing Tinubu instead of Magaji?
If this theory is true given its plausibility, it helps to explain why Tinubu did not attach his primary and secondary school certificates in returning his INEC nomination forms. He instead chose to attach only his university degree since the name will be different.
It appears Tinubu is hiding something about his ancestry, education, and actual age. Many who insist that Tinubu is not Tinubu are eminent Yorubas, claiming that the new Tinubu is from Osun state and originally named Amoda Ogunlere who had gone to live with the Tinubus in Lagos. Amoda was said to have traveled to the United States on a scholarship offered to the original Bola Ahmed Tinubu and had to answer the name. Why Amoda didn’t change back to his name could also be because his past offered little respite whereas his adopted family had everything going for it and had also accepted him as one of them.
There is nothing wrong with this rather beautiful story of ‘from grass to grace’. What is wrong is burying such a humble beginning that would have given God the glory and the adoptive family kudos. It is like ascribing the great work of God to the devil, a sin against the Holy Spirit, which the Bible says is the only unforgivable sin. So, why is Tinubu trying so hard to keep his beautiful past buried forever?
In his affidavit in support of his nomination form for the office of the president, Tinubu had said he “went on self-exile from October 1994 to October 1998 (and) when I returned and discovered that my property including all the documents relating to my qualification and my certificates in respect of paragraph 3 above were looted by unknown persons.” But how come his decree certificate was not looted as well? The certificates were kept differently or perhaps he travelled out with some? More questions than answers.
Beyond this, the story raises a serious question of integrity, which is the most important requirement in good leadership, more important than competence since wise leaders with integrity can always surround themselves with competent persons. A leader without integrity is incurably defective since he cannot be trusted even when supremely competent. Nations including Nigeria owe their worse records to leaders who are integrity-challenged.
One listened to the APC presidential spokesman laboriously trying to explain the anomaly away. He told the nation that Tinubu was a self-educated at that primary and secondary level, a mark of genius for which the gifted were reputed in those good old days.
Yes, in those days some men read at home and passed into Cambridge to pursue degrees. Some were also allowed to sit for external exams and left for tertiary institutions without bothering to sit for their Standard Six exams. But such does not appear to be the case with Tinubu.
Personality is the synthesis of behaviours, cognitions, and emotions that makes each person unique. Despite this uniqueness, both healthy personality and personality disorders have defined patterns. Although our personalities allow others to predict and anticipate our responses to situations, a person with a healthy personality demonstrates a range of coping responses and styles. Trust is an essential component of a healthy personality since it is the anchor of integrity. That is what is at stake here and not whether Tinubu, like Awolowo, studied at home.
Nigerians need to know the top candidates regardless of what the spin doctors are saying. A leader whose personality is not open to scrutiny may end a highly successful conman. Atiku Abubakar we know; Peter Obi we know; Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who exactly is he?
The question put differently: should Nigerians hand over their country to a mystery man, a case raising a red flag, or integrity challenge?
· Dr Law Mefor is a senior fellow of The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought; Tel.: +234- 905 642 4375; e-mail: [email protected]; follow me on Twitter:@LawMefor1.
