Where Is Tinubu’s Executive Capacity?

 By Ochereome Nnanna

Even before what became the All Progressives Congress, APC, was formed, I knew it would be a disaster. I prayed for the merger not to work. But my prayers were not answered. The merger not only worked, the party won the 2015 presidential election with Muhammadu Buhari as president. Buhari’s presidency, according to the APC pact, was to be succeeded by a Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency. When Buhari was about to finish his eight years of inept and extreme nepotism rule, he tried to block Tinubu’s turn to “rule”. 

*Tinubu

Tinubu went to Abeokuta and wailed: Yoruba l’okan( “It is Yoruba’s turn”); Emi l’okan!(“It is my turn”). When Buhari saw that the Northern APC Governors were all for Tinubu, he had no choice but to bring out his full powers of incumbency to install his political partner. You may ask: why would I, a columnist of 29 years standing, discredit a political party, the APC, even before it was formed? My answer is simple. 

The party was conceived of evil. Unlike the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which was formed by a cross section of Nigerian leaders who sought to build a party that would unite Nigerians through a schematised power sharing arrangement, the APC was ab initio a bi-regional conspiracy against our national unity. It was an alliance of the North-West and South-West to capture power, which would then be made available for Buhari, and, after him, Tinubu, to gratify their lusts for power.

I knew Buhari’s presidency would fail. I knew him very well when he was a military head of state and head of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF. I knew he was an unpretentious tribalist, a Caliphate Islamic extremist, and a bloodthirsty tyrant. Worst of all, he was incompetent and lazy. The 2023 general election provided an opportunity for change. Nigerians voted, but the state led by Buhari decided otherwise. Now, we have Tinubu as our president. In life, one must make do with what one has. We must learn to make the best of any situation. So many unsavoury things are alleged about Tinubu, and I don’t want to waste valuable space on them. Any kindergarten pupil can list the top ten of them in a jiffy.

I lived in Lagos when Tinubu was its governor. He was not exactly Lateef Jakande or Sam Mbakwe, some of the absolutely best politicians that Nigeria ever produced in terms of what they selflessly achieved within four years. Tinubu’s regime laid the foundation for post-millennium Lagos, leveraging on the giant internal revenue profile that he activated to benefit the state. He built a team that even Buhari admired. When he became president, he poached some of Tinubu’s best men, such as Babatunde Fashola, Babatunde Fowler, Ben Akabueze, and others, into his government. Tinubu also produced sound successors as governors in his 24 years of Lagos dominance.

So, when we wound up with him as our president, I consoled myself that at least we had someone with executive capacity – a sound team builder. Take it or leave it, Tinubu was chiefly responsible for the APC’s rise to power. He uncommonly sacrificed for the merger to take place and worked with “all his chest” for Buhari to win and complete his eight years, knowing it would be a stepping stone to his own glory. Surely, a man who could overcome the shortcomings Tinubu came into the presidential race with must have more than his fair share of human capacity.

I reasoned that if we were lucky and such a leader rose above his burdens to show up for Nigeria, we were all in for some pleasant surprises.

Two and a half months after Tinubu was sworn in, what do we have? Surprises galore – of the nightmarish type! They say “Look before you leap”. Tinubu leaps without looking. Then he goes back to square one, and his spin doctors hail him as a “listening president”. We voted for a leader, not someone who would fumble only to come back to do what should have been done. Are our fears being confirmed by the fact that Tinubu no longer has it? 

Doctors apply anesthesia to their patients before performing surgeries on them. Tinubu performs his own surgery before looking for painkillers! Our once-bustling roads are now near-empty because the common people (and the not-so-common people) cannot afford fuel to power their small businesses and run their vehicles. The bottom has fallen out of the Naira. Tinubu has announced a number of palliatives that will only reach APC supporters in the end.

We are broke, but our president is spoiling to lead an attack on the Niger Republic, which has not wronged Nigeria in any way. Hiding behind ECOWAS is like America hiding behind the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, to destroy its enemies, especially in the Middle East. They call it NATO, but America picks up 90 per cent in terms of the cost of human lives and bills.

Tinubu orders the severance of power supply to the Niger Republic, unmindful of the danger we will face if Niger retaliates by building a dam on the River Niger in their country. Back home, Tinubu, the supposed excellent team builder, brings in people under active Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, prosecution to populate his proposed cabinet simply because of the roles they played to make him president. 

Besides, he toes the path of nepotism, dominating the commanding heights of his government with people from his region in flagrant violation of the Federal Character provision of Section 14(3) of the constitution. Extreme nepotism and marginalisation worsened insecurity in Nigeria under Buhari. Tinubu has refused to learn from his predecessor but has chosen to repeat his blunders. We better brace for a very turbulent flight.

*Nnanna is a commentator on public issues