Bola Tinubu at 71: the kingmaker who has also won the crown
Bola Tinubu has officially clocked 71. Anyone can dispute that age, but he has given it as his age and everyone must stick to it until someone can convincingly and logically prove otherwise. The ex Lagos state governor is indeed a kingmaker who has decided to wear the crown.
Normally, kingmakers do not ascend the thrones. They are to choose or select from the princes the one that is most suitable to take the reigns and rule the community. But the president-elect wouldn’t want his own history to end as a mere kingmaker.
Bola Tinubu has really impacted to so many lives albeit several allegations against him. He has made his own mark by bringing up several political and social leaders in the country. Since 1999 till this moment, he has been a part of the political system by anointing or installing political leaders.
He was the Lagos State governor from 1999 to 2007 spanning eight years. Since that time till at least early 2022, he was a kingmaker selecting governors, senators, House of Representatives members, speakers, and in fact the president and his vice.
At 71 the winner of the 2023 presidential election can look back and nod his head. He contributed to the success of both Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo in the 2015 and 2019 general elections. As a matter of fact, Tinubu nominated the vice president in 2014 ahead of the 2015 poll.
He didn’t stop at that, he ensured that one of his followers occupied the seat of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. In Buhari’s cabinet, lots of loyalists of Bola Tinubu are there. Mr. Sunday Dare, Mr. Olorunmininbe Mamora, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, Mr. Lai Mohammed have one way or the other worked for Tinubu in the past.
He elevated most of them in politics. Since 2007, no governor takes over the Lagos State Government Secretariat without the input of the ex governor of the state.
But the kingmaker said last year that he was done backing and putting crowns on others. He also wanted to taste power and wear the coveted crown: the office of the president. He specifically said that it’s his turn.
Rotational system is peculiar to the monarchial system of government. Bola Tinubu was confident when he announced that it’s his turn to lead the country. And king-making is a feature of the monarchial pattern.
When he said it’s his turn, one would expect him to get the crown on a platter of gold. He fought doggedly for it amidst betrayal, uncertainties, bickering among others. He secured the ticket of the All Progressives Congress even though the kings he made revolted against him.
Bola Tinubu is now 71 and he said that God has given him the greatest gift: presidency. It’s uncommon for kingmakers themselves to ascend the thrones. Their duty and power end once a new king emerges.
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