It is a few days to go before D-day and the “thumb-print” has understandably become one of the most if not the most sort after action ahead of the polls on Saturday. The electoral umpire INEC says it is ready for the conduct of the elections with the recent choice of the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja to serve as venue for the collation center and situation room. It is within the hallow walls of the ICC that the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will be announced by the INEC chairman.
While fears of the usual suspects of violence and vote buying during every election still lingers, the 2023 election will be quite unique. Technology will play a key role as the Electoral Act 2022 allows the poll to feature innovations including the BVAS which combines finger print and face biometrics to verify voter identity. Another salient feature is the electronic transmission of result from polling units directly to the INEC result viewing portal.
All eyes will undoubtedly be on the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is because of a number of reasons. For me however, he is the man to beat. With all the bile, vile, scorn, lies and half truth thrown his way, Jagaban is still majestically standing and the favorite to win the elections. While this comes with the territory, it is still heartbreaking to read or watch such things said about someone who has the interest of Nigeria at heart and equipped to take Nigeria to greatness.
Officially, midnight of February 23, 2023 is the date for the end of campaigns by political parties for the presidential and National Assembly elections. Having traversed the length and breadth of the country concluding his campaign to a rapturous atmosphere in his home state of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is ready to take the mantle of leadership come May 29. He took his campaign to every state in the country including the FCT, endearing himself more to the hearts of Nigerians. This was evident in the huge crowds that always came to catch a glimpse of the next president of Nigeria.
Naysayers and political jobbers had cooked up stories concerning his health status to sway the electorates. They had peddled rumours that Asiwaju wasn’t of sound health. As such wasn’t fit to see through the campaign or even become president. They had casted aspersions to his good name and character, all in a ploy to score cheap political gains. They cooked up all manner of stories, tried manufacturing falsehoods, paid charlatans to project their agenda; but all to no avail. Surely Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s name will be on the lips of the INEC Chairman, when he announces him the winner.
Has one observed that whenever Asiwaju Bola Tinubu wears a cap, it is always accompanied by a logo? This has engendered grounds for rumors and nasty aspersions. Well to clear the air and to educate every discernible Nigerian reading this, the distinctive cap has become one of his trademarks. The cap is often seen as a symbol of his political style and his connection to the people of Lagos. It has been widely reported that he first started wearing the cap during his campaign for Governor, as a way to connect with the people and show that he was one of them. The symbol of the broken chain on his cap represents breaking free from the constraints of poverty.
Many have been asking why Asiwaju? Well he is well equipped for the job due to a number of reasons. He has this superpower of being a spot-on head-hunter. His knack for selecting seasoned professionals and technocrats regardless of creed, ethnicity or gender is legendary. Whether in a team, a department, a company or a country, leadership is always about a collective project. A true leader knows how to pick a formidable team that will help deliver the goods and vision. Asiwaju’s antecedents have shown that he is not a one-man squad. Rather, he is a leader that strongly believes in a collective.
Another reason why he is the best candidate for the job is his achievements as Governor of Lagos state. If one is wondering why Lagos has witnessed tremendous development since 1999, look no further than to Asiwaju’s vision. He has ensured that Lagos has turned into a mega city. Upon assuming office, he immediately set up a think tank through which he was able to develop a vision for Lagos. His famous increment of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from a paltry N600 million monthly, to over N51 billion today needs to be a course that should be studied in Nigerian universities.
When he was Governor, it wasn’t a hidden fact that President Olusegun Obasanjo declined to give him the regular monthly allocation. He however showed that he is a leader who is dexterous and can think outside the box by generating the much needed income his state needs rather than going cap in hand to the federal government every month to beg for charity.
It is on record that during his tenure from 1999-2007, his state contributed more than 30 per cent to the country’s GDP, accounted for more than 65 per cent of industrial investment in Nigeria, 80 per cent of its international trade, and collected more than 60 per cent of the country’s value-added tax. It is also on record that when he was leaving office in 2007, the IGR of Lagos was N7bn monthly.
There is also something about Asiwaju that is rarely said. He is one politician who hardly jumps ship or cross-carpets. He was elected Governor under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and remained there even when the ruling party was the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It isn’t a hidden fact that after his two terms as Governor, he aspired to become President. However, he never jumped ship to realize this goal. He stayed true to his ideology and allowed the likes of Atiku and Ribadu to run for President. Even when he initiated the merger into the APC, he still didn’t run for President until President Buhari’s two term, hence the “Emi Lo Kan.”
As Nigerians troop out to cast their vote on Saturday, I urge everyone to conduct the exercise in an orderly fashion. President Buhari has promised us free, fair and credible elections and with the Electoral Act of 2022, this can be achieved. The electoral umpire has also indicated its readiness for the smooth conduct of the elections. Gone are the days when violence reign supreme, ballot box snatching becomes the order of the day and the prevalence of voter intimidation. Nigerians deserves a better Nigeria with none other than Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the helm of affairs, steering the country to greater heights. I hold my head up high with pride and stand behind a candidate that I truly believe has the best chance, vision, character, capacity, clout, capacity, sincerity or purpose to be the 17th president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The humming, the cheers, the victory drumming,
As the ‘City-Boy’ morphs into the one that’s ‘incoming.’
All hurdles succumbing, his pathway forthcoming.
‘Emilokan’ is ‘becoming’ because… “Asiwaju Is Coming!”
•Written By Hannatu Musawa
