Asiwaju Bola Tinubu: The Presidential Candidate With The Highest Demonstrated Capacity—Olatunji

Looking at other candidates, particularly those who have at one time or the other served at the level Asiwaju Bola Tinubu served, what makes you conclude that he has the best demonstrated capacity?

The beauty of this coming election is that all the major contenders has been opportune to occupy one position of leadership or the other, we have a former Vice president, former Governors and so on. None of them is new to public service and that gives us a very good basis to evaluate their performances and delivery while in office.

Nigeria today can be likened to what Lagos was in 1999 when Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over. From revenue generation to security, from urban development to infrastructure which is the bed rock of modern development and economy, Lagos was a state performing below its vast potential. Asiwaju Tinubu took the mantle of leadership in 1999 and assembled an A team that midwife the birth of a new Lagos.

Within the space of eight years, he pioneered what could be described as the best of ingenuity, innovation and creativity in governance and leadership by any sub-national government in modern history of Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

But others also did in their right, so what in concrete terms did he do that made the difference in Lagos?

Absolutely! Every of the candidates no doubt served their states and Nigeria to the best of their abilities. I am only saying Asiwaju’s “best of ability” is the best of all the best of abilities being offered to Nigeria in the coming election. Lagos is one state that can be described as a mini Nigeria. It a perfect model of the Nigerian ecosystem. Therefore, anyone that can successfully pilot the affairs of a state that is as diverse, complex, heterogeneous and populated as Lagos with outstanding achievements, will no doubt manage Nigeria successfully.
Asiwaju developed functional solutions to societal problems, by creating structures, agencies and institutions to address them. He repositioned Lagos Internal revenue services and moved the states IGR from 600 million naira per month to about 7 billion naira monthly. He created LASTMA to address traffic management, LAWMA to address waste management, He pioneered the creation of LCDAs to strengthen local government administration, he reformed the, he reformed the judiciary in Lagos, he paid WAEC fees for all secondary school students. The list is endless and unique because they are novel initiatives in the history of Nigeria. That is the power of vision, that is the power of ‘demonstrated Capacity’.

Nigeria obviously requires not just a leader that can improve it’s economy but one that can also unite the diverse Nigerian people that appears divided. Would you say Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu fits in this category?

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a unifier par excellence. He has proved over the years that he has capacity to unite Nigerian to build the country of their dreams. Asiwaju Tinubu has demonstrated convincingly that he is a detribalised Nigerian leader. He once offered Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the opportunity to contest for presidency on the platform of the defunct ACN, he played unassailable role in the formation of the APC as a national party and the emergence of the incumbent as the candidate of the party. If you measure the overwhelming support given him by the Governors of the APC controlled northern and Southern states during the primary that produced him, you will be convinced that he is a figure that represents the unity in diversity of Nigeria.