Opinion

Will Tinubu’s Love Affair With The North Fester Into Bad Romance?

Published

4 years ago

Mar 27, 2021.

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There is no gainsaying that one of the likely flagbearers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming 2023 presidential elections is its national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

As it is peculiar to Nigerian politics, a politician regardless of how influential or popular, needs strong alliances in the Northern part of the country especially as it concerns garnering the two-third of total votes cast across the six geo-political zones. This may be as a result of the Northern majority and how the four Ks (Katsina, Kaduna, Kano and Kebbi) have become election swing states during the Fourth Republic.

With a considerable measure of influence in Lagos – the commercial capital of West Africa – and the Southwest generally, Tinubu is sure to clinch the presidency if it were up to these variables alone.

Albeit, the former Lagos governor and godfather to an array of 21st century politicians in the Southwest, may have been making moves to woo the North as part of a strategic move leading up to the 2023 presidential elections.

Just within the week, he donated a sum of ₦50 million to victims of a fire incident at the Katsina Central Market (one of the four Ks), a move that has been described by political observers as calculative.

Tinubu was received in Katsina by Governor Aminu Masari and other top government officials in the state.

Also, very recently, Tinubu’s 12th colloquium has been scheduled to hold at the Kano State Government House hosted by the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje as part of his 69th birthday celebrations. Last year, Tinubu had met with religious leaders at the wedding ceremony of Naisa Mohammad Bin-Uthman, daughter of the famous Islamic scholar and Imam, Sheikh Mohammad Bin-Uthman in Kano where a host of other notable clerics pledged to support his 2023 bid. It is general knowledge that religious leaders in the Northern part of the country are highly regarded.

His decision to make President Muhammadu Buhari, who he is rumoured to be “not in good terms” with, as Chair of the colloquium may also be part of a calculated move to get the blessings of the incumbent.

Tinubu & President Buhari

Be that as it may, any conscious Nigerian who have witnessed the build-up to at least three general elections in Nigeria since the start of the fourth republic, may deem it fit to warn the Jagaban Borgu to be wary of who he frolics with as regards the actualisation of his 2023 ambition. The North especially, is a vast area and boasts of a number of influential politicians as well. Will the north vote against its own irrespective of the political party? The answer is a likely ‘NO’. However, Nigerian politics can be dynamic when it wants to be.

This may be one of the reasons the Acting Leader of the Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba, socio-political organisation, Ayo Adebayo, said in an interview published in the The PUNCH newspaper on Sunday March 21 that “Buhari is deceiving Tinubu and Tinubu is deceiving Buhari.”

Another notable politician, who has warned Tinubu about his romance with the Northern political class is a former lawmaker who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Shehu Sani.

Sani, via his verified Twitter handle and in words written in archaic (or biblical) English, enjoined Tinubu to be wary of those pretending to take him to the promise land (which may possibly mean the 2023 presidency) but may let him down when it seems like he is in reach.

“Oh ye Jagaban; Be Thyself. They shalt smile and whisper to taketh thee to the peak of Mount Sinai Only to throw and drown thee in the turbulence of the Euphrates River,” Sani tweeted.

Oh ye Jagaban;Be thyself.They shalt smile and whisper to taketh thee to the peak of Mount Sinai Only to throw and drown thee in the turbulence of the Euphrates River.

— Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) March 27, 2021

It is important to note, however, that there has not been a president from the Southwest since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo which means many might see it as the ‘time’ for Yorubas to occupy the highest office in the country, especially at a time when the country is most divided along religious and ethnic lines.

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