Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet
By Ken Okorie, an attorney, and Editorial Board member of USAfrica
While uncertainty and confusion about the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT), speak volumes but reveal very little about the man, it seems larger volumes show the more unpleasant background of the man, about Nigeria and its system of governance.
Here is a man who governed Lagos State (second only to Kano in population) for eight years and is credited with enhancing retired General Buhari’s strategies to the Nigerian presidency in 2015. His dominant shadow and control over the affairs of Lagos, center of the economic gravity of Nigeria’s economy, remain frighteningly unparalleled.
Tinubu is also reputed as the kingmaker that crowned all his successors in office. In effect, BAT has had an endless reign over Lagos.
What manner of man wields such power within the political stratosphere of a nation yet everything about him remains a mystery wrapped in fluidity and speculation? How is this possible? Is Nigeria’s nearly 220 million population all mouths and noses without brains? Does Nigeria have intelligence apparatus, and what is their responsibility?
Tinubu is currently a frontline candidate of a major political party with real (even if improbable) chance to become the next president of a country ranked 7th in world population. Yet no one can say with certainty his age, place of birth, parentage, what schools he attended, or source of his unimagined wealth! Practically everything about BAT is smothered in unclarity! No midwife, doctor, maternity or hospital has come forward to say I delivered this man when he was born or know who did. No headmaster or principal has claimed him as his pupil or student! No boss or colleague has stepped up to affirm knowledge of endeavors that yielded his uncommon wealth. For that matter no priest, Imam to Rabbi has assumed the honor of baptizing or performing comparable Muslim or Jewish rites on BAT! Who is BAT?
Is the mystery because he is BAT? Igbo culture says “usu abughi anu elu o bughi anu ala”. Literally translated, bat is neither a bird that flies nor a mammal on the ground.
Similarly, Oyibo (English) etymology that gives the origin and nature of words also makes this curious distinction about bats: It is “mammals of the order Chiroptera. With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight”. Curiously, how do legs double as wings? To my knowledge, no other animal has this bat feature.
Photographs and other images of the largely nocturnal bat show it perches and sleeps hanging upside down! Yet in that position, gravity does not flow too much blood into the head to debilitate a bat!
Many other weird and largely unusual features are attributed to bats. They may even be among the least consumable of species to other mammals. I inquired of Google and was given that bats are eaten by people in parts of some Asian, African, Pacific Rim countries and cultures, including China, Vietnam, Seychelles, and the Philippines. I certainly can vouch that such delicacy does not exist in the corner of Africa I grew up. Or has anyone contemplated a bowl of pepper soup, soup or porridge made of bat? For that matter, does anyone imagine a buka, ‘mama put’ or restaurant offering bat meat for protein! I believe the answer to these questions is one every Nigerians can agree is No.
If a character half the toxicity or confusion of Tinubu emerged in the most remote jungles of the Amazon or heights of the Himalayas, the power structure within that jungle or height would decode him long before he became anything close to his prime spots in Lagos State; much less his choreographed current trip to the presidency. That is how nation states self-protect. What is wrong with Nigeria?
In Ikoyi, the prime of prime real estates in all of Eko (Lagos), one always knows when he drives past Tinubu’s residence on Bourdillon Street. Regardless the time of day or night, the glow of chandeliers steadily give the appearance of party that never ends. And so I ask again, who is BAT?
I suppose one could argue that if George Santos could lie his way into a seat in the Congress of the United States, what big deal is Tinubu! Like Santos, Tinubu’s age, place of birth, parentage, ethnicity, schooling, and working career, criminal background, and wealth are all nuanced in untruths and lies. The first difference is that one affirmatively lied about his profile, but the other is a mix of misrepresentations, lies and outright shroud of unknowns. Even in a case where the record of a forfeiture of substantial narcotics-related funds has been unearthed, the clear nature of that encounter has not been established.
Yet Lagos or Abuja is about 12 hours flight from Chicago where the criminal proceedings went on. Local lawyers have only enjoyed a field day in conflicting and conflating arguments that it was civil forfeiture or punishment for a criminal transgression. We know it can’t be both. Even if a civil matter, the implications for illegality do exist, and only worse if a criminal infraction. The other Santos difference is that the intelligence apparatus of the United States is able to establish that just about everything Santos has said about himself is a lie. In the case of Tinubu, on the other hand, Nigeria is not even able to scratch any of the unknowns about its presidential candidate, but has simply allowed speculation and hearsay to reign. What does Nigeria know about one of its presidents-in-the-making? Who exactly is the man that is angling to be the next Commander-in-Chief? Zilch!
Why is Nigeria so locked up in pre-Stone Age that it lacks the ability to unravel any of the Tinubu mysteries? Is it lack of will or fear of the subject’s enormous political and financial clout that could unleash worse than havoc on any intrusion? It has been suggested, though I have no way to confirm, that Funsho Williams, who ran against Tinubu for the Lagos State governor seat in 2003, learned this lesson too hard and too late.
A man that sits at the helm of power of a country literally has the keys to that country’s welfare and future in the palm of his hands. That prospect does not emerge after the individual is elected. It is part of the persona, the candidacy he takes to the seat. If the Nigerian government has a finalist presidential candidate about whom it knows, or has uncovered, practically little or nothing amidst spiraling funnels of allegation, suspicion, and speculation, how does it intend to shield the nation from the disasters that could follow? Donald Trump of only two years ago in Washington, DC is living proof that being foresworn to uphold the law and constitution does not ensure compliance, and that the commander-in-chief can sometimes actually become the destroyer-in-chief of the state and its institutions he is entrusted to protect.
Nigeria’s case is peculiarly more serious because the Police wields more power than any other institution of governance. From paramilitary to civil responsibilities, the Police is the engine of the criminal justice system. They receive complaints, investigate and prosecute in court. One must wonder what curiosities or concerns the uncertainties about Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) have raised in Nigeria’s law enforcement circles, especially the Police. Is anyone paying attention to ensure that our national security will remain intact even in the hands of elected top guns in government, including Aso Rock?
Ken-Okorie-Edt-board-member-USAfricaIn this case, it is about an individual and candidate for office. What does Nigeria know about other potentials whose influence and connections could have far deeper national security implications. As an example, what does our national security and intelligence know about Lebanese and other foreigners who control other premier real estate and venues of national significance. Again, as an example, the expansive Eko Meridien and its ancillaries and suburbs on Victoria Island!
Does the government keep track of what these foreigners do and how they go about it? Shooting war is only one for a nation to be cornered or defeated, there are more just as potent even if not as noisy. In an environment of exploding Islamist extremism and insurgency, too much care could not be expended on these and similar targets.
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