Dear Sir,
MR PRESIDENT, RUN O!
The whole town has been agog and the media space filled with news about certain elements in the Aso Rock Villa allegedly working to truncate the presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and, by extension, the victory of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the upcoming general elections.
Top leaders of our party, who should know, insist that these people called “cabal” are within the Villa, while some other top leaders, equally acknowledged the existence of the members of this amorphous cabal outside the Villa. The discernible and inevitable conclusion, therefore, is that these people are within and outside our party!
Mr. President sir, there is a popular expression in Nigerian comedy skits, which is: “Run o!” Mr. President, I say: RUN O!
The people ganging up to frustrate Asiwaju Tinubu’s feasible and imminent victory at the polls are actually gunning for you and not basically against Asiwaju. Please Mr. President, RUN O!
The whole world knows that you cannot be pushed around sir. The world knows that you are genuinely committed to Nigeria, the world knows you are nobody’s pawn. The “cabal” has painfully tolerated you for about eight years and, therefore, feverishly dreads the emergence of another President that cannot be pushed around, dictated to or be manipulated for their ulterior objectives.
Sir, you are aware the flamboyant exhibitors of wealth went low-key after your emergence; and the rat race, car racing and demonstration of opulence on the streets and highways of Abuja have become a thing of the past. Sir, some of these people initially parked their private jets outside of the country. Your reforms and achievements are what they now want to reverse and undo in a way to spite you. Mr. President: RUN O!
Never in history have such highly placed people and politicians, especially in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) been so exposed. The hitherto untouchables were not only touched but also scorched. Many abandoned their mansions in prime locations of Abuja or had them taken over by the emboldened Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during your tenure.
Recall that the EFCC found $38m, £27,000 N23m abandoned in Ikoyi by unknown owners. On March 14, 2017, at the Kaduna International Airport, N49m was abandoned! The many of the collective patrimony of the Nigerian people auctioned by these people have been recovered by your administration. Sir, these people want a return to the status quo, they want to continue business as usual, they want to take their pound of flesh on you sir, like a baby whose feeding bottle has been taken away for long longing to bite the breast.
They are much aware that Asiwaju Tinubu as President will stand by you, protect you, defend you, not out of exceptional favour, but because he will not allow your name to be rubbished by people who are not qualified to lace your shoes in terms of integrity and commitment to the Nigerian project.
Mr. President sir, your landmark infrastructural achievements in eight years, though not too publicized, will however, live long after your departure from office. So, the only way to get at you and destroy your legacy, in their warped, self-serving clandestine calculations, manipulations and shenanigans, is to stop the person that is best placed to continue your legacy. That person, undoubtedly, is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It is true that Asiwaju Tinubu wants to be President of Nigeria and deservedly so, but the destinies of too many people, in fact, millions of people, are tied to Nigeria continuing on the path of reforms and recovery, and not in going back to Egypt where people unabashedly said they collected hundreds of millions of naira for prayers from the $1billion money meant for arms and ammunitions to fight insurgency; where people claimed in broad daylight that they took N500m to pay amorphous journalists and media owners from the funds meant for purchase of arms and ammunition to fight Boko Haram.
Mr. President sir, the Northern Governors who are unitedly, courageously and commendably clamouring for power shift to the south after eight years of your presidency, are your die-hard followers who are aware that those planning to stop Asiwaju’s presidency will not only come after you, but will also come after them, the Northern Governors. Their major sin will be that they supported Buhari.
My dear President it is not about Tinubu. It is about you. Mr. President RUN O!
-Tunde Oladunjoye
February 5, 2023
