By Victor Ezemobi
If you have read Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Outliers‘, then you must have come across this:
Out . li . er\noun
1: something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body.
Some may have some misgivings of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, BAT, for one singular reason; the fact that he has a god-like hold on a big state like Lagos and almost the entire South West by extension, and by that surmise, a lot of power for one man to have without going to the polls. How he has managed this should puzzle the minds of Nigeria’s political history students. How he has managed this, over the years, is a nagging thought buzzing in my subconscious; there must be something about him as a person, as a politician, as the ‘governor general’, and as an institution that sets him apart.
Now, as a person, in all reckoning, BAT is a decent man, summarily speaking. No arguments here. Could this be why his kind of politics has been successful? In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, ‘the most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency’. As a politician, you can best describe him as a man that rose to power by one suspender. Tough work right? The gist of his sojourn from private life to politics is not new, neither is his battle with former President Obasanjo, when he had to govern Lagos state for some time without the Abuja largesse. Not forgetting the period of exile. Every political season, there is a seal of approval emanating from bourdillon that to a great extent is an imprimatur on selected political posters across the South West region, at least. A pointer to BAT’s ‘governor general’ status. Equating BAT to a state may leave a bad taste in the mouth of some readers. But, it should not. And this is why.
Since BAT held office as the executive Governor of Lagos state over a decade ago, Lagos State has grown from strength to strength. The growth is most visible in finance, via IGR and VAT to mention a few. In fact, Lagos is the highest contributor to national VAT revenue with 55% posting. The tax collection regime initiated by BAT administration is still being studied and copied by states looking to grow their IGR. No wonder his tax point manwas drafted to Abuja by the Federal Government and if the figures being reeled out by the Federal Inland Revenue Service are anything to go by, this tax idea has climbed to the top of the greasy pole! This certainly tastes nice.
In the political sphere, Lagos has since BAT, churned out technocrats as Governors. From Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF), Akinwunmi Ambode (AMBO) to Babajide Sanwo-Olu (BOSS), these leaders have emerged effortlessly from the succession ‘factory’ of BAT and all have to adhere to the BAT initiated ‘blueprint for progress’. BRF and AMBO took governance up a notch in the right direction. For BOSS, the whistle just sounded and the ball is in his court. That BAT has a hand in the emergence of these leaders is stating the obvious and that his advice is neither valued nor’consciously’ sought by Alausa, is trying to hide the sun.
At the hallowed chambers in Abuja, Lagos flag is flying high. From the fiery Sen. Oluremi Tinubu to the smiling and ever calm speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. The BAT signature is always visible on the flying flag. Jack Valenti, a former president of the Motion Picture Association of America once said of politicians and movie actors ”I think politicians and movie actors and movie executives are similar in more ways than they are different. There is an egocentric quality about both; there is a very sensitive awareness of the public attitude… And in a strange and bizarre way, when movie actors come to Washington, they are absolutely fascinated by the politicians. And when the politicians go to Hollywood, they are absolutely fascinated by the movie stars. It is a kind of reciprocity of affection by people who both recognize in a sense, they are in the same racket”. In this case, politicians went to Nollywood and Nollywood went to the Lagos State House of Assembly in the manner of Hon. Desmond Elliot. As the saying goes, ‘BAT has a hand in everything’. But for both the yea and naysayers of his political arrangement, one thing is common, to a great extent, LAGOS IS WORKING and it tastes good.
Nigeria is a country suffering from poor governance. Yet, Lagos thrives. It keeps attracting investments and private enterprise.Retail business is booming, with malls and super stores springing up here and there. Real estate business has churned out more billionaires than ever before. Beautifully designed and tastefully furnished apartments dot the landscape of the city. To keep Lagosians safe, the state is practically funding the Nigerian police in the state alone, thanks to Lagos State Security Trust Fund. Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) works round the clock to keep the state. A certain Visionscape lost the vision of the ‘blueprint for progress’ for Lagos, thereby loosing the job of keeping Lagos landscape clean. Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) works tirelessly to keep the roads free. Response to emergency has improved, by way of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).Recently, my wife took a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) bus ride to Lagos Island. The bus is one of the new blue and white buses introduced by AMBO in the twilight of his tenure, complete with chilling ‘amana’, USB charging ports, digital entertainment system and a passenger to driver bus stop call button by each seating row. The bus is even cleaned at each bus station (not bus stop) before passengers board. A few minutes after the bus left the station at Ojodu Berger, she gleefully sent me a selfie captioned ‘I am experiencing Lagos, Lagos is working’. The list of strides made by these BAT men is as endless as there are those who owe their success, politically or otherwise to the man.
I have lived in Lagos for about two decades now and I have not seen a group of people that are so fiercely loyal to anybody than the people I call the ‘Men with BAT’. These men hit hard. They hit you in line or out of reckoning if you are too stubborn. These men believe in BAT’s brand of politics, BAT’s brand of ideology and BAT’s brand of nation building. But, we are yet to see the home run. We are yet to see the crystallisation of all his years of politicking, horse trading and hanging with strange bed fellows, into the proverbial El Dorado. Maybe we will take solace in the words of Olumuyiwa Wahab Jimoh when he said of BAT’s precepts: ”He has grown his precepts into a national movement despite the challenges and obstacles expectedly mounted by forces of retrogression. The cries of liberty have enveloped our land as the agents of light which he stands as its chief apostle grapple with the remaining vestiges of darkness across the landscape”.
Cries of liberty have really enveloped our land; Liberty from bad governance, liberty from killings, liberty from poverty. I once described life as a transition from early childhood to late childhood, with a show of ‘I am a strong man’ in between. For the ‘Jagaban Borgu’, late childhood is fast beckoning. He has to further set himself apart from the ordinary. If I am in his state
(but of course I am. Is this a pun?), the time has come to bat the home run. After leaving Lagos State government house in 2007, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu stayed away from public office, when and in an era former governors retire to the red chamber. He rather devoted his time to forming a formidable South West political block. This he achieved and the ruling party rode on it. His home run then would be that he continues to resist the temptation of public office and afford himself the much needed time to form a sense of national unity across religions, ethnicities and political parties. This will truly put him up there, a world apart from his peers.
Out . li . er\noun
2: a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample.