In this interview, Prof. Ojo Emmanuel Ademola insists that APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has the energy required to lead Nigeria for the next four years.
Question: Prof, the Nigeria presidential campaign has come in full swing. What’s your projection as per the outcome?
Answer: Without a doubt, it’s been three (3) months of energy-sapping campaign for all the leading presidential candidates, particularly for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of All Progressives Congress (APC) who has kept to his campaign schedules, covering keys States in all the six geo-political zones in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). From the well packaged Manifesto delivered, series of stakeholder engagements, several town hall meetings, massive turn-outs at the rallies conducted and the cohesion of the team spirit within the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of APC, I project that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) will emerge the ultimate winner of the election, and will be installed the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come May 29, 2023, by God’s grace.
Question: Prof, with all the throwbacks within the ruling party – APC lately, particularly the strangulating twin effect of the fuel and cash swap crises on the masses, you are still optimistic that BAT will be victorious?
Answer: I have done a lot of write-ups on Asiwaju which not only detailed his political dexterity, personal traits, proven capabilities, unparalleled experiences and preparedness for the office of the president but have advanced cogent reasons why his multi-faceted adversaries will fail to stop his political ambition. From the unfolding settings, the fuel and cash swap crises were deliberately contrived to stall his landslide victory at the polls but the people of Nigeria are rooting for Asiwaju beyond the pains being inflicted by the enemies of the Country. The Voters in Nigeria can read between the lines the desperate plots to stall the election, and are not going to give yield to it. Let me simply say that the move to rebirth Nigeria has gone beyond Asiwaju and his detractors; the Nigerian people are ready to take back their Country from the enemies of progress and will hand over the leadership to BAT.
Again, Asiwaju demonstrated such boldness and courage in calling out these negative forces in what has been termed his Second Abeokuta Declaration. He said the aim of both the fuel crisis and the currency swap imbroglio was to incite the masses against him as the APC candidate. Since he spoke, you have seen a flurry of activities that have comfortably turned the table against the opposition that was behind these crises with the hope of benefitting from it. The Northern governors, particularly Gov. El Rufai have been forthright in calling out these dark forces and a lot of actions have been taken that have bolstered Asiwaju’s mass acceptance among the populace and had worsened the precarious standing of the opposition. So, the two issues you mentioned have been turned into opportunities to reflate Asiwaju’s mass acceptance and boost his chances of success.
Question: There’s a valid position that the North will gang up against BAT to emerge the overall presidential winner on Feb 25th. What’s your take?
Answer: We need to break down the vagueness in the concept of “North” as it’s being applied in the political contest. First is the fact that in the present constitutional configuration, there’s nothing like the “North”; rather, we can talk of the North West (NW), North East (NE) and North Central (NC), having been fragmented into States structure by the Military juntas. So, it’s wrong to claim that the 3 zones in the Northern protectorate can conspire to deny an individual his political aspiration.
Secondly, is the fact that the emergence of Asiwaju as the flag bearer of APC at the primary in Abuja was at the behest of the collective decision of the Northern Governors of the ruling party. And so far, BAT has received tremendous support from critical stakeholders in the North including President Buhari himself.
Finally, the entire people of the Country are yearning for genuine growth in all sectors, and this can only emerge from a tested leadership which Asiwaju represents. Any gang-up can only be from a few disgruntled and selfish political jobbers who are afraid of the progressive change that Asiwaju is likely to bring to bear, and it’s not the generality of the Northern people who will be against his interest. So what you term the gang up of the North is only the speculative permutation of a weak and dying opposition. They bandied such fallacy before the primary and failed woefully. They bandied such baloney against Chief MKO Abiola before June 12, 1993, and failed woefully. They will emphatically fail again by February 25, because the North has given its word to stand by Asiwaju who they acknowledged, made it possible for the North to secure power in 2015 when PDP was desperately scheming to keep the North out of power.
Question: It’s being said that the current OBIdient Movement will constitute a snag to Asiwaju’s aspiration. Your views, please?
Answer: I have attempted an exposē on this question elsewhere, and I must repeat that the said snag doesn’t exist as far as Asiwaju’s presidential aspiration is concerned. We are talking of a leading hopeful of a leading and ruling party (APC) in Nigeria, with well-established structures in all crannies of the Country. We are relating with a presidential candidate who has long prepared for the race; who has been found worthy and exceptionally respected of the calling in terms of experience, exposure and wherewithal. We are talking about a presidential candidate who has built concrete bridges and structures across Nigeria. This is in contrast to a party that is fledgling. The Labour Party (LP) that Peter Obi is representing is a creation of the fifth columnist with an intent to fragment certain zones of the Country to their advantage. But surprisingly, the sub-structures are too weak to sustain any heavy weight of the contest. You can seamlessly begin to see the LP in some states and regions collapsing their structures and their leaders, and followers moving in numbers to APC to support BAT. In other words, the LP and its candidate have not established links with the generality of the electorates who will decide the fate of the eventual winner of the election. As his governor, Prof. Charles Soludo recently said, the likelihood of the success of the presidential ambition of Peter Obi amounts to next to zero. So, it’s a non-issue at all.
Question: What attributes would you say clearly mark out BAT for clinching the presidential race?
Answer: For a very long time post-First Republic, the Country is, once again, fortunate to have a leader with vision and mission, who has practical solutions to the myriad of problems besetting the Country. Secondly, in Asiwaju, we have a time-tested technocrat who has a governance template to run with and is not an accidental administrator like others. Thirdly, BAT uniquely stands out among his peers as a goal-getter who has demonstrated capability and results. We have in Asiwaju a firm, fair and equitable Team player who understands the need to ensure justice for all sections of the Country. And finally, Tinubu is a bridge builder among the various divides of the Country on all fronts – religion, ethnicity and politics. There is no other presidential candidate on display today that has these qualities.
Question: There have been insinuations in some quarters that BAT is not medically sound for the vigorous job of a president, and that age isn’t on his side. How do you react, please?
Answer: These are all speculations, and very difficult to justify. These are figments of the frightened imaginations of his already defeated opponents. We can’t be dwelling on such nonsensical fabrications when the performance of candidates at the rallies so far has shown that all other candidates combined don’t have the energy, the drive and the strength of BAT. His performance at the ongoing nationwide campaign has put paid to the state of his medical conditions. A man who isn’t medically sound wouldn’t do a back-to-back campaign throughout the length and breadth of Nigeria without breaking down. Simply put, Asiwaju is a great mind, who has a sound mind, emotionally and mentally. This in fact belies the constant reference to the issue of his age.
As for age, I don’t really know how a 70 years old man is too old to rule a country when the United States is being ruled by a man that is over 80. Come again, let’s look at his main challengers; Atiku is over 75, why is he not being heckled for being too old? Obi is 62, just eight years younger than BAT. His age should be a matter of concern too. If you have taken time to research the performance of great minds like Asiwaju, you will come to agree that great minds perform intelligently better with age. Anyway, let’s not straddle ourselves with the silly talk of Asiwaju’s health or age because they flow from the frightened and already defeated mindset of his opponents.
Question: Prof, you have taken the time to study the Renewed Hope 2023 Manifesto of Asiwaju. Can you share the snippets of the document for the sake of our readers?
Answer: Thank you for this germane question. I have often referred to the Renewed Hope 2023 Manifesto of Asiwaju as a modern-day Bible for solving Nigeria’s diverse problems. The Manifesto document broadly addresses sectorial and structural defects militating against the genuine growth of the Country. These are subdivided into security, education, health, economic, political, agriculture and infrastructural renewal (particularly energy, rails, roads, and ports), as well as youth/women empowerment, culture and rural-urban rebuilds. Of critical concern too in the document is the repackage of the Country’s polity to drive equity, justice and progress among various components.
Generally, the Manifesto rekindles hope in all concerned sectors of our nationhood.
Question: Please, let’s talk about the effects of the current fuel/ Naira currency swap crises on the election. Would you say they were targeted at BAT’s presidential aspiration?
Answer: We live in an uncertain period, and it will be wrong not to draw a parallel/link between the sudden appearances of these two variables. With less than three months to a crucial presidential election, it’s antithetical to the reason for a destabilising policy like the Naira swap within a short period. Worldwide, it takes up to a minimum of six months to wade through an effective process. It is also compounding when you have a fuel shortage supply, making all logistics difficult. As good as the Naira swap policy could sound, its implementation methodology and timing, leave much to be desired, and could jeopardise free and fair elections outcome.
But I want to assure you that in the long run, these won’t stop the victory of Asiwaju at the polls and won’t hinder the conduct of free and credible elections at the end of the day.
Question: What would you recommend as the panacea for the resolution now?
Answer: Frankly, it’s good to suspend the Naira swap policy till after the elections while Government works out easing the fuel shortage by doubling its supply, at least for this election period. The two issues should be treated as an emergency, please.
I can gladly assure you that the fuel supply nationwide has greatly improved since Asiwaju’s comments in Abeokuta. Hopefully, it would be totally resolved before the election.
Question: Finally Prof, what will be your advice to Nigerians at this critical time?
Answer: Nigerians have choices to make towards the regenerated and stagnated society. These choices are embedded in leadership selection, and an array of them has been presented before stakeholders. I will advise that we act wisely, and pick the truly visionary leadership, tested and proven. We can’t afford to experiment with the leadership equation again, as a lot of time has been wasted on this very independent variable of our Nationhood. If we squander this unique opportunity to elect the right leadership, our developmental growth will take a plunge.
At this time, I see Asiwaju as the right fit of leadership needed to provide the missing links in our collective growth.
Thank you
An excerpt of the interview conducted with Prof Emmanuel Ojo Ademola, a cyber security technocrat and a dispassionate follower of the leadership traits of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT)
