OPINION: Tinubu: A Comedian Visits Chatham House

By Phrank Shaibu

The disgraceful campaign of APC candidate, Bola Tinubu, reached its nadir at Chatham House in London where he was expected to have sold himself.

Six long months after emerging the candidate of the party, the self-styled Lagos godfather has continued to avoid any public engagement with other candidates because his intelligence pales in comparison to them.

He avoided an engagement at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry; he evaded the town hall organized by the Alumni Association of the Lagos Business School and even that of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Lately, he avoided the town hall organized by Arise Television and other media houses. The Chatham House event was therefore an opportunity to redeem himself but once again he fell short.

After reading his prepared speech for about 15 minutes, it was time for the question and answer session. Clearly lacking the capacity to respond to easy questions, he claimed his style is to delegate and thereafter decided to call on members of his campaign to answer questions for him.

It is baffling that Tinubu could not defend his manifesto which he personally launched amid fanfare. His action was like a final year student calling on his colleagues to come help him defend his project. Utterly disgraceful!

Rather than reveal how he will tackle insecurity, he called on Governor Nasir El-Rufai to answer the question on his behalf.

For the sake of clarity, Kaduna State under El-Rufai recorded 1,192 civilian killings alone in 2021, almost leveled with that of war-torn Syria. This is also a governor that admitted to paying killer insurgents to stop murdering his people. He hurriedly withdrew his children from school last year because of insecurity but left the children of the masses to their fate. What a man!

Early this year Kaduna State was cut off completely, becoming inaccessible by air, train or road. In August he wrote a letter to President Buhari stating that election may not take place in some parts of the state due to the activities of terrorists. Yet he was the one nominated by Tinubu to address security issues, what a joke.

Tinubu also could not respond to questions on healthcare and even the economy despite claiming to have developed Lagos. Rather, he nominated the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila; Betty Edu and Wale Edun to do so on his behalf. No wonder he is not brave enough to attend debates. He cannot hold his own. For a man who constantly says Emi lo kan (it is my turn), it is ironic that he suddenly discovers that it is not his turn when it is time to answer serious questions.

When he was pointedly asked about his profile and background, Tinubu once again started his story from his life at Chicago university. Why can’t he mention the primary and secondary schools he attended? Why did he deliberately leave them out of his INEC form CF001?

Without mincing words, Bola Tinubu’s entire candidacy is built on a grand scam. He is like a puppet who on the surface appears to be alive but is actually being empowered by strings from a team backstage.

In the unfortunate event that he becomes President, Tinubu’s Presidency will be run by a cabal pulling the strings from the backstage. This is not about effective delegation but dereliction of duty. The warning signs are there for Nigerians to see.

The country is facing arguably its worst crisis since the civil war. Unemployment is at 33%, at least 133 million Nigerians live in abject poverty, the exchange rate even at the official market is at an all time low, debt is at an all time high, oil revenue has dried up, according to the CBN. Nigeria cannot risk another failed Presidency.

It is only in Africa that persons who are unfit for offices on account of ill health insist on holding offices even at the expense of the wellbeing of the economy and the citizenry.

This country deserves a very healthy person. The office of the President is not for sick people. Tinubu has tried his best but he is now weak and tired and should be allowed to go home and take a deserved rest while I urge the electorate to vote for Atiku Abubakar at next year’s poll, as the former Vice President is the only candidate that has got what it takes to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria.

Shaibu, who wrote from Abuja, is Special Assistant to Atiku Abubakar on Public Communication