By Wale Alonge
It is so comical to see how much energy and bandwidth are being dissipated on social media on the most trivial and most inconsequential issue that has zero impact on the crushing problems that confront common everyday Nigerian. Rather than focus on the existential structural problem of a center-heavy unitary system that is crushing our country’s future, and working out a way to hold the major presidential candidates accountable and committed to deconstructing and restructuring unitary house of cards, social media busybodies are consumed with whether or not Tinubu lied about the primary and secondary schools he attended. Really!!! That is the most important determinant of who will deliver our country out of the social, political and economic Hobbesian abbsy it has fallen into.
It goes to show that there is no cure for bad belle. When the virus of bad belle and hate has infected a person’s soul and has penetrated into his or her anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) the center of empathy in the human brain, all logic and empathy are replaced with raging and blinding hatred, sanctimonious moralizing, pettiness and character assassination.
Nowhere in the constitution does it say that a candidate has to disclose which primary or secondary school he or she attended as a precondition for running for the presidency.
No one has provided any evidence that a man who worked in some of the top notch accounting firms in the globe and the global conglomerate Mobil Oil did not possess a college degree which more than meets the required education qualification to run. By the way, the same guy have previously been cleared to run for the senate and the governor seat twice. His case has been thoroughly litigated.
It is quite obvious that Asiwaju Tinubu came into this world under some of worst of circumstances for which he could not be blamed. When a young person had to abandon his identity, his parents, his lineage, and origin in order to reconstruct a new life story at a tender age when most youngsters in his age group were enjoying the warmth, pampering and love of their parents, the natural reaction under normal circumstance, would be to show compassion, empathy and humaneness.
When that youngster in question then went ahead to beat the greatest of all odds and despite the worst hand that the universe dealt him, to become the most influential political leader of his generation and on the threshold of becoming the president of the largest and most influential Black Country on the planet, rather than vilification and sanctimonious moralizing, by people who probably have more stench in their past than Maroko waters, one would expect admiration and inspiration. If the story about Tinubu’s divine encounter with Alhaji Mogaji is true, Tinubu’s life story is the textbook definition of “when the universe gives you a sour and rotten lemon, not only make a lemonade but a priceless vintage wine.
Granted that Asiwaju Tinubu obviously have had to make some morally questionable choices in his past, however given the circumstances of his early life, what choices did he have? How much trauma must it have taken for a young person at a tender age to have to strip himself of his biological identity? He didn’t make that choice thinking he would one day run for the country’s presidency. The man was simply trying to survive. In law, motive determines culpability and punishment.
This is a man who should be applauded not vilified with such venom, rage and hate one encounters today on social media, sadly championed by his own kith and kins. Yes, Tinubu owes the country and the world a true narration of his life’s journey not only because he is seeking the highest office in the land but to inspire the millions across the Nigeria who have been dealt the short end of the stick through no fault of theirs. His life story retold can inspire many that it is possible to turn one’s life around with a little bit of luck and a ton of hard work, determination, grit and unbendable will to succeed.
His primary and secondary school education is obviously clouded in mistery because his life circumstance is clouded in mystery which has caused his own identity as a human being to be altered. Those of us who are more fortunate by the circumstance of our birth (which is a grace we cannot claim credit for) cannot even imagine what excruciating pain it must cause a young person very early in their life to have to strip themselves of their birth identity. Those who work closely with foster and adopted children can relate to the life-long trauma these youngsters face. It is the reason that the life outcome for most foster and adopted children is almost always worse than children raised in a wholesome family with their birth parents.
Tinubu has had to embellish, transform and remake himself due to the circumstance of his birth. If every Nigerian who has changed their name, birthdate or made a false declaration and used assumed identity (ori olori) on an international visa application is jailed, there would not be enough jailhouse in the world to accommodate them. We all know people who applied ten times using different combinations of names and date of birth on their application.
Asiwaju Tinubu’s transformational personal life story is so inspirational. It does not take away from his incredible, out of this world life story nor does it disqualify him from seeking the highest office in the land. If Nigeria needs anything at this crossroads of its existence, it is transformational leadership.
The hate mill and members of the sanctimonious sainthood who have not committed any “sin” in their past or who have nothing in their past they would rather the world does not know about, can howl at the top of their rage and hate filled voice, but they cannot turn back the hand of destiny. The ultimate deciders of Nigeria’s next president would be the electorates not social pundits.
Love him or hate him, one thing you cannot do with Asiwaju Tinubu is to bet against him. Before the presidential primaries many of the lazy armchair political analysts were already writing his political obituary. They lost. Now they are throwing every bit of the remaining kitchen sink and arsenals at him. They are doomed to fail if past result is the best predictor of future performance. Yorubas are indeed the most enigmatic and confusing creatures in the universe and our competitors must be giddy about our self-destructive nature.