Ismail Omipidan

The saying that “we must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us,” is perhaps apt in describing what played out last Thursday at the 10th Bola Tinubu colloquium, where President Muhammadu Buhari and the former Lagos State governor, who until recently appeared not to be on the same political wavelength, have now found reason to work together again, ahead of the 2019 presidential contest.

Coming barely 48 hours after Buhari, against all known permutations, kicked against tenure elongation for the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and members of his team, a position earlier taken by Tinubu, which seems unpopular at the time, Buhari’s physical presence at the colloquium and the things he said on the occasion, was for many, an icing on the cake in the new found political romance between Buhari and Tinubu.

Expectedly, Oyegun and majority of the members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) shunned the event, which held at the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Unlike the 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions, which paraded virtually all the NWC members of the party, at this year’s edition, only the deputy chairmen for South and North, and the vice chairman (North-West) were present. Oyegun was not present. He did not send a representative.

Their absence did not, however, distract from the huge political capital Tinubu and his august guest, Buhari, harvested from the event, as the colloquium which had as its theme, “Investing in people,” was turned to  a platform to only showcase the Buhari-led government’s achievements in the last three years, especially in human capital development, it also provided opportunity for APC party leaders to further lampoon the immediate past administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which it claimed looted the country’s treasury blind.

The event had at least 12 governors, several ministers, captains of commerce and traditional rulers in attendance.

Tinubu arrived the hall ahead of Buhari at exactly 10.50am. Dressed in blue agbada with his signature cap, he stepped in with his wife, Senator Remi Tinubu and a large entourage of associates, including his long time political associate and former Presidential Liason Officer (Senate) to former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Kashim Imam. The Borno-born politician, like Tinubu was also dressed in blue agbada, with a cap to match.

Buhari, dressed in white agbada, stepped in by 11.40 am.  Before both men arrived the hall, a playlet written by Ifeoma Fafunwa, starring the multiple award-winning thespian, Joke Silva and others was staged.

The playlet  , with the title “iOpen Eye” was a reflection of the impact the Buhari’s government Social Intervention Programme (SIP) was making on the lives of the ordinary Nigerians.  Buhari stepped into the hall, just as the playlet was ending.

First to speak after the national anthem was Governor Akinwumi Ambode, who eulogised Tinubu and praised President Buhari for his commitment to the progress of Lagos State. He said: “I’m grateful to the president for his immense support for Lagos. We have flagged off the Lekki Deep Sea port project and the completion of the Ikeja Bus Terminal. It is important to invest in people because creating impactful programmes for our people is my priority.

“As we celebrate Tinubu, if you look around, you will see that there are only a few people that can match his unquestionable thirst to invest in people. His era as governor shows the depth of his governance capacity that is why he is acknowledged for his role in the emergence of our great party.”

Although, by the original design of the programme of events, Buhari, as chairman of the occasion was supposed to speak after the governor, once he was done with his address of welcome, officials of the SIP, which is directly under the office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, took the centre stage.

Noting the impact of the SIP, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said that seven million school children were being fed daily in 22 states, 260,000 persons have been enrolled into the Government Enterprise Programme (GEP) while the government at the moment was focused on providing a legal framework for the programme to allow for sustainability.

Mrs. Abimbola Adesanmi, the national programme coordinator of the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, brought forward several beneficiaries of the programme to give their testimonies.  First to speak was Mrs. Rosemary Ignatius, a food vendor who serves hot meals to pupils in Anthony Udofia Elementary School in Akwa Ibom State.

She said the programme has brought change to her life and other women involved. Next to speak was Mohammed Annas Ishaq, a school pupil from Kaduna State, who said: “It is bye-bye to hunger for us. My friend didn’t want to come to school but changed his mind after the programme started.” Also, a primary school pupil from Akwa Ibom State, named Janet, caused repeated laughter from the audience with her exclamations “If you come to my school, oh my God.”

 A poultry farmer from Kaduna State disclosed that the advent of the feeding programme has helped to lift her laying birds from 8,000 to 20,000, saying that in Kaduna State alone, 32,000 crates of eggs are in demand every week to sustain the programme.

On her part, Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, noted that the National Cash Transfer programme was helping to put money in the hands of many productive persons who had been left redundant on account of lack of capital. Jeremiah Mkpa one of the beneficiaries from Cross River State, confessed that he had been a beggar before but that he no longer begs owing to the programme.

For those who have followed the colloquium since 2015, the testimonies of the beneficiaries can be located in Tinubu’s objectives of the programme when he first mooted the idea shortly before the presidential contest that ushered in Buhari.

Tinubu had barely 72 hours to the 2015 presidential contest during the seventh edition of the colloquium said among other things that “there is too much poverty in the land. We need a government that will improve the social safety net to help those who, through no fault of their own, cannot help themselves.”

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Testimonies over, Osinbajo, who served in the Tinubu’s administration for eight years, told the gathering that his former boss ran an unusual government.

“Most of us had worked with the then governor of Lagos State,  Bola Tinubu, for several years, some for four years, some for eight years. And we decided that every year, on the occasion of his birthday, we would take time to discuss matters of national importance. Part of the reason why we did so was because Tinubu was an unusual governor in Lagos State.”

Explaining why he described him as such, Osinbajo, said, “it was unusual because it was a government where there was a great deal of argument and he, as the leader of that government, allowed so much argument and so many different shades of ideas. I recall a particular occasion, when we started talking about the land use charge. I know that there are issues around the land use charge today. But when the old concept developed around the land use charge, there were so many arguments. One group felt that we shouldn’t even introduce the charge; another group felt that we should do so. I remember that in Ikeja, where this argument was taking place, we were in a small room; Lai Mohammed was there, Wale Edun, Yemi Cardoso, I think Dele Alake, and a few others.

 “We were all there arguing on both sides. At some point, when Asiwaju was losing the argument, he said, ‘Ah, were you the people who were voted for?’ Then he stormed out of the room and left. Then, we all waited. Nobody left. He came back a few minutes later and said, ‘ah, are you people still here?’ Then we continued the argument. Now he came back with more facts and figures. So we suspected that when he stormed out of the room, he actually went to bring some more facts. In the end, we instituted the charge and so many other different ways by which the foundation for what we see in Lagos State today were developed.

“And I want to just commend Tinubu again, for ensuring that, not only did he develop a whole generation of persons who have become, in various respects leaders, but also that he allowed that group of people to develop ideas to contradict him many times, to controvert his own ideas many times, and many times, he gave in to those ideas, and we’ve seen the results of it.”

Focusing on the testimonies of the beneficiaries of the SIP, the vice president noted that the testimonies from the beneficiaries were “the empirical evidences” of the programme’s success, insisting that such a feat was possible because “if you do not steal the resources of the people, you can spend it on projects that concern the people, it is as simple as that. “

On the administration’s fight against corruption, Osinbajo further said, “We realised, as Mr. President said, that if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us. Corruption is an existential problem for Nigeria. Let me pause here to reiterate that from all I have seen in government in the past three years, the corruption of the previous five years is what destroyed the Nigerian economy. Every time we talk about this, every time we talk about corruption, our opponents say, ‘Don’t talk about it, just do your own, don’t talk about it.’ The Yoruba have an adage, they say, and I will translate that. It says, ‘When the conversation comes to the matter of tails, the frog will say, let us skip that, don’t talk about it.’ We will talk about it. And the reason we will talk about it is, first, we must let our people know that we cannot afford to go this way again; never again should we allow a system where people take the resources of this country and skew the resources of this country, use the resources against the people of this country, and at the same time, they want to continue in ruler-ship. The second is that, we as a party and your government must show the difference between us and the party and government that impoverished our nation. We must show that difference,” he declared.

Buhari pours encomiums on Tinubu

Buhari, who spoke immediately after Osinbajo, who got a standing ovation for his presentation, caused the hall to erupt in laughter, when he said he wondered what he would say after listening to Osinbajo.

“I have a prepared speech, I will stick to it. And I will rely on your judgment to see how I operate with such a vice president,” he said. 

He poured encomiums on Tinubu, who he called  a friend and political partner. “I call on all Nigerians to join me in celebrating this man.  Asiwaju Tinubu is widely known as a political strategist.  But strategy is barren unless wedded to a higher purpose than just itself. Here, Asiwaju also sets himself apart.  I have come to see him as a man who cares about people and who is a fountain of ideas for economic development and improving the situation of the common man and woman. He is a true humanitarian and we appreciate his contributions to Nigeria’s and Africa’s progress,” he said.

Reiterating the commitment of his administration to making Nigeria a better place, Buhari who said he was sure Tinubu would be happy with such a birthday gift further said, “we, as a people and a nation are in the midst of a grand endeavour.  We seek to change the ways and means of our collective existence, we seek to construct a nation where leaders no longer rule by whim but govern according to law and for the betterment of the people. We seek to replace corruption with correctness, insecurity with safety and poverty with prosperity. The road we tread is rough and hard in spots. The search for progress and reform has its rough patches.  Many will fight you and connive to deter the march toward a better land. But that march is inevitable. There is no mortal hand that can keep us from our best destiny unless   that hand be our own. Thus, we invest in people; we invest in ourselves because we are enlivened by God-given faith that tomorrow can be better than today and that good will triumph over evil. Forums such as this present ideas and spark important discussions that enliven our national discourse and enrich our policy options. We seek to rebuild what has been wrongfully constructed and to plant a firm  foundation for progress where nothing now exists. Our goal is to bring together every section of the nation and every Nigerian of every creed, every region and ethnic group in mutually beneficial, productive, social, economic and political relationships. To accomplish our historic mission, we must invest in people,” he said.

Obaseki proposed the toast

 Once Buhari was done, Tinubu, the celebrant was invited to respond. But before responding, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State proposed the toast. Obaseki, who thanked Tinubu for encouraging technocrats like him who were hitherto apolitical to go into politics, also reminded the gathering that the day was a Holy Thursday, which was reflective of Jesus’ agony on the cross. He noted that Jesus cared for the people and that Tinubu’s life was also about service to the people.

On your mandate…

As the celebrant, Tinubu spoke last. As he walked towards the podium, his supporters electrified the hall with their song of “On your mandate we shall stand.”

Apparently excited by all that had taken place before he was invited to speak, Tinubu abandoned his prepared speech and spoke extempore. He advised Nigerians not to accept the apology from the PDP and its leaders for their mistakes while in power, saying it was another ploy by the opposition party to hoodwink Nigerians into voting it next year.

“For 16 years, they made fake promises, gave us fake figures and they tell us, ‘Don’t talk about it’. It is like, after catching a thief and he tells you, ‘Don’t look at me, go and steal your own’. We are soldering on. We have a good leader to rely on. We have hope.

“We believe and we are strongly determined that we can change Nigeria for good and we believe that we are still going to do it. Our logo is not honey or sugar, but broom; a united Nigeria, which bonds together against terrorism, corruption, insecurity and for the revival of the economy. I can see the positive things that the government is doing and the fact that it has demonstrated it in practical terms is what we need to get our country from the throes of corruption.

“The PDP says we should not talk about corruption but we must talk about it. We have to report to voters what we found when we got into government. We won’t encourage corruption. Forget about the PDP, they won’t come back. PDP looted, wasted our resources and they didn’t do what they promised. The markets gave them the maximum, yet the economy was stagnant. The difference between the PDP and the APC is like night and day and I urge Nigerians not to accept their apologies.

 They lied; they falsified and changed figures for 16 years. We won’t take that. We have a good leader to emulate and a nation to treasure. I don’t want to address those writing bad belle letters as if they have not been there before. “I am happy that the president is moving the country in the right direction, I am happy that the president can change the course of this ship that was headed for destruction, the voyage of hope is on and we are reclaiming Nigeria. We are going to work with the president on strengthening the pension plan to stimulate growth for the economy. Every Nigerian knows that there are challenges but we make a promise to Nigerians that hope is back,” Tinubu said.