Fasan’s undue vilification of Tinubu

When last week I read an article titled ‘Tinubu’s feudalisation of Lagos State politics’ written by one Olu Fasan in the Vanguard, I was nearly persuaded to believe that an agent of mischief makers was at work. But on a cursory excursion into the history of the author as one in the employ of London School of Economics, it dawned on me that he is one of those that relies on secondary social media news rather than empirical and realistic encounters to determine how the political parties’ and personalities should work on the political turfs. The piece, though rich in intellectual references, and quite expected of someone of Fasan’s intellectual standing, but was obviously deficient in objective appraisal of the man called Tinubu and the reality of Nigerian politics, both past and present, thereby exposing Fasan’s thrust in the piece to be defective and sneering.

Fasan got it wrong by attempting to link Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s failure to get the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to seek for a second term in office to Tinubu’s feudal inclination. It is only a self exiled Nigerian who can write from a foreign country a piece erroneously asserting that “the politics of APC in Lagos State is redolent of the medieval era”. With all sense of humility, Fasan’s self-serving attempt to singly blame Tinubu for Ambode’s failed re-election fate is utter twaddle. The hatchet writing of Fasan clearly shows that his hidden promoters gave such pointlessly character destructive job to a wrong person. The truth of the matter that has remained insalubrious to the likes of Fasan is that the Lagos state APC organised one of the few primaries across the country that could, in the true sense of justice to all two aspirants be described as free and fair. The adoption of direct primary and the outcome is something that should be applauded by majority party members that spoke through their votes on that day. The direct primary election was so fair that a subjective NWC committee members led by Clement Ebri could only attempt, albeit futilely, to subvert the will of almost a million party men and women that voted on that day for the party’s standard flag bearer as against the incumbent governor’s less than a hundred thousand votes. What is ‘medieval’ about this approach? The writer’s hasty and disjointed off-the-mark argument in the piece is benighted and diminishing. Fasan should tell, Lagosians, Nigerians and the entire world, what is feudal in this democratic approach that his indeed ‘feudal writing approach’ painstakingly tries to project, unjustifiably against Tinubu. This is an abuse of space and an superfluous political provocation and needless defamation. By the author’s admission, Ambode on his own could not have won the election. The party structure was used for him to be victorious in the 2014 primary of the party and the likes of Fasan saw nothing wrong then from Tinubu. What is then wrong if the same platform in a democratic way withdraws its ticket? Therein lies Fasan’s hypocrisy. He should stop weeping louder than the bereaved. If he has anything personal against Tinubu, he should be bold enough to say it publicly rather than hide under Ambode’s lost re-election issue to project his mischief on behalf of disgruntled others like him that are envious of the rising political profile of the man called Tinubu.

Again, what was on display in the Ambode saga was simply party supremacy at its apogee. That no matter who you are; be you president, governor, lawmaker or local government chairman, the political party, as your platform for getting elected into office, is above you and its interests must be respected and protected, at all times, to a large extent.  Fasan as an intellectual failed to demonstrate sufficient understanding of the nation’s political history. He should take time off his assumed busy schedule in London to sufficiently study how political parties were administered during great nationalists Awolowo/Balewa/Zik/Aminu Kano’s era so as to realise the significance of party supremacy and how these personalities were revered and listened to by their followers. Until then will he realise that Tinubu has not done anything wrong or off the mark but should even be applauded for extending the frontiers of democratic ethos within Nigeria and especially the Southwest’s political space. I wonder why anyone, other than a deluding intellectual like Fasan, will have problem with the party deciding the fate of its members. The Lagos APC primary was patterned after the 1993 election won by the late MKO Abiola, which is hailed till today as the freest and fairest in our annals. There is nothing wrong with copying a good model; and since the APC primaries, if party members were short-changed, there would have loudly expressed their misgivings. What is then the interest of Fasan in his piece by incredulously crying louder than the bereaved?

The author was unfair when he faulted the endorsement of Babajide Sanwo-Olu by the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC). Party organs, even in the western world, have rights to pitch their tents with aspirants of their choice. This fact has domestic historical antecedent, not only in Lagos but also across the country and this can only be subject of shameless attack by hatchet writers cum theorists like Fasan and ilk. This is because they live far away from the Nigerian reality-social and political.

The author claimed that Tinubu arrogates to himself the power to determine the political fates of others. This looks superfluous a claim since Ambode was allowed by the party to exercise his civic duty by participating in the primary. Fasan should realise that contrary to his jaundiced description, only a democrat and real progressive like Tinubu and his party, APC that can allow this. The hatchet writer also stated that ‘…nothing is progressive in a politics based on self-interested calculations.’ To me, this is turning political cliche upside-down since it is trite in Political Science that the only permanent thing in politics is interests, not enemies or any other thing. This makes laughable the author’s lame attempt to locate an inexistent link between Tinubu’s support for President Muhammadu Buhari and his supposedly imaginary future presidential ambition. I pity the author when he accused Tinubu of supporting “Buhari’s re-election bid, even endorsing him to run unchallenged in the party, with all the potential rivals either silenced or shooed away”. Where are these potential rivals the author wrote about? That aside, the world over, including in the advanced democracies, incumbent presidents always enjoy right of first refusal, and being an exposed statesman, Tinubu cannot divest self from this because of the parochial sentiments of Fasan and company. In the U.S., which all of us are quick to make allude, incumbent presidents are never challenged within their parties for presidential ticket. The author really needs to show us those who wanted to run in the APC and were blocked. Party leaders, Tinubu inclusive, simply decided to honour the president by not running against him.

The writer also uncharitably raised a poser: “Why is poverty and inequality so widespread in the supposedly progressive state?” My answer: There is inequality all over the world, including the U.S. and the United Kingdom where he lives. The so called Tinubu protégés including Babatunde Fashola and incumbent Akinwunmi Ambode did and is still trying to reduce the inequality gap in a cosmopolitan city like Lagos where people daily moved into without leaving in search of greener pasture. This to us is an advantage to the Tinubu leadership in Lagos and with incoming Sanwo-Olu, the future is bring for the reduction of inequality in our dear state.

The likes of Fasan should perish their illusory thinking regarding what happened when the late Michael Otedola of the defunct National Republican Party (NRC) became the governor of Lagos State as a result of the internal wrangling in the Social Democratic Party of that era. If Fasan and cohorts look forward to seeing that happen next year and beyond in Lagos, they’ll wait till eternity. It appears that the author is anxiously working for the PDP candidate, Jimi Agbaje and other undesirable elements in the APC. Their evil plan has failed.

Electioneering periods are interesting times. Newspapers, television shows, radio programmes and the social media are always agog with emergency analysts attacking needlessly notable personalities of which Tinubu is a prominent figure. A good number of these analysts, like Fasan, advance arguments that are not theirs, but that of their envious promoters. In the process, such analysts’ pecuniary interests are better served depending the viciousness against the objects of attacks-in this case the statesman called Tinubu.