By Adesina Soyooye
“The last man standing does not merely describe a man who heroically campaigned across all nooks of our Federation against Institutional forces who conspired to deny our population its currency and fuel”
In a revealing tribute to President Bola Tinubu on his 73rd Birthday, Ajuru Ngalale, his pioneer Presidential Spokesman, has hinted at the obstacles placed against then Candidate Tinubu’s road to victory by State Institutions.
The conspiracy against his success, Ngalale revealed, ranged from the denial of Nigerians their currency and the scarcity of fuel. Yet, Ngalale said, Tinubu heroically triumphed.
Ngalale, from Ogoni, Rivers State, was former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s Spokesperson. Given that Osinbajo, also, contested against Tinubu in the Presidential Primaries, not a few people wondered how he still emerged as President Tinubu’s main Spokesperson.
However, it is, also, a job he lost within a year in circumstances yet to be properly explained. While he said in his letter that he was stepping aside to deal with an undisclosed health emergency within his family, the story out there is that he was shoved aside by a combination of powerful forces in the Presidency and alleged incompetence.
The alleged incompetence bit is debatable given that while still the Presidential Spokesperson, the President added another high profile assignment for him to head – Presidential Envoy on Climate Action/ Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen. If he was incompetent, many queried, why heap another job on him.
Since he left, he and his wife have welcomed another baby to the family. Ngalale’s mother is German while his father is from Ogoni, Rivers State.
Following, his tribute to President Bola Tinubu.
The Last Man Standing
“My Father, My President, Happy Birthday.
“On my first day serving in the present government, I only knew H.E. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as my President. My Boss. The leader of our great nation, Nigeria.
“I had not had the privilege of being around him, except on two brief occasions before that day, despite a very active campaign effort on his behalf.
“I could not have known then that I would find in him my most profound mentor and nothing less than a father in the truest sense of the word.
“The President has been nicknamed the Last Man Standing.
“The last man standing does not merely describe a man who heroically campaigned across all nooks of our federation against institutional forces who conspired to deny our population its currency and fuel.
“The last man standing does not also merely describe Daddy as the perpetual winner, triumphant over perpetual candidates, who has won every election he has ever participated in dating back to his school days.
“For those who have the rare privilege of knowing him, he is the last man standing in your corner when all odds are stacked against you; rooting you on and guiding you to success.
“Daddy taught me that the cost and value of rigorous mentorship is the price of a glorious future and that it is only paid back once it is paid forward to the next generation.
“Daddy taught me that appropriate patience and strategic restraint will defeat hard power.
“Daddy taught me that consistent persuasion born out of sincere conviction will break the coercive grip of those who beguile and bully others into submission.
“There are too many invaluable morsels of wisdom and expertise gleaned in the presence of my father to share in this short recognition, but I am and will always be honoured to be associated with our nation’s greatest reformer.
“On this special day, I turn to my Father:
“Daddy, I thank you for making the selfless and deliberate choice to use your life’s candlelight to kindle the candle flames of those who will illuminate this dark world for generations to come.
“May God Almighty strengthen you with divine wisdom, peace, health, and all that is required of you to deliver the country of our dreams.
“Happy Birthday.”
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