This is a rejoinder to the article In Retrospect With Bucky Hassan: Bola Tinubu – Political Genius? published in Skytrend News on Thursday, January 9th, 2013 written by our Editorial Columnist, Bucky Hassan. This rejoinder is written by one Agha Egwu and published here for balancing and objectivity.
This is a very interesting article and so is the ensuing debate but many issues are mixed up which I will like to clarify.
1. Is Tinubu a genius? What kind of genius? Is either Oyenusi or Anini the robbers a genius? You really have to clarify what type of genius. A criminal genius? A progressive genius? You cant know till you analyse further the intricate details. Anini could have been a criminal genius or a dumb bully who managed to evade the police and the press built him up. Is Tinubu a Progressive Genius? Maybe, but his criminality says no. A genius in Nigerian criminal politics, perhaps, if you consider Akintola genius for aligning with feudal NPC and creating wealth. If I ever decide Tinubu is a genius I will qualify it. Not progressive genius but Nigerian Politics genius with all the evil it connotes. Genius is too positive a word to use without qualification.
2. Is genius the same as opportunistic? No. Any bully that steals money and clobbers people into submission can be a genius or just opportunistic. A dumb person who answers the call of his people by cunningly pretending to be what they want can appear a genius for some time. Like Idi Amin of Uganda. Even Ojukwu of Igbo was opportunistic because he lost his wizardry after the war, whilst Awo proved to be a true genius like Zik. Are Tinubu and Akintola opportunistic or genius? The Yorubas once followed Akintola to their detriment after hailing him. Awo rescued them later.
3. Tinubu’s opportunism grabbed the mantle of Lagos as did opportunists all over Nigeria become Governors. He had the money from Lagos to resist Obasanjo’s assault. He was a failure as Governor. Fashola’s clear leadership and performance genius rescued him. His Tax company gave him a vision and drive to make money from other States as their Tax consultant. Genius or Opportunism? The money raked in gave him power to bully or negotiate. Genius or opportnuism.
4. Did Tinubu unite the so called Progressives? No. There was a clear desire by all the small parties to coalesce together. Buhari could be called the genius also but I doubt it. But it was not genius that brought them together but desperation. It is now tribe, religion and Jonathan’s crassness and Nigerian opportunism that made new PDP jump ship swelling APC. Opportunism, theft and the moment in history could be called genius or just bullyish opportunism. My instinct favours the latter. Thugs are usually opportunistic but you can get genius thugs.
5. Is the new merger creating a new opportunity for Nigerians? Too early to say. Nigerians are usually ideologically vacuos opportunists and will all soon defect to the winning ship and create another mega party with losers in small broken parties as happened to APP and ANPP the fore runner of APC. If PDP survives, APC will collapse. If PDP wins, APC will likely collapse. However if these APC guys were geniuses they would not be so crass to allow themselves be seen as a muslim party at worst or yoruba hausa fulani at best. Christians amongst yoruba are waking up to a sense of Islamic dominance and will be used by PDP to split the yoruba vote. Suddenly PDP are looking like saints. Meeting Obasanjo and Ibb was not genius but elite opportunism. They could have won without that.
6. The Solution. There are a new breed of Nigerian thinkers being formed through social media who are ideological and learning from one another. Until they organise and go out to reach and teach the populace to support the right people, change cannot happen. These new thinkers must begin to organise and give themselves at least 10 years to change the landscape through teaching and winning like minds into legislative houses to check governors and finally go for executive posts. They must contribute their funds and win social trust from Nigerians to contribute to them. That is probably one way to finally break the opportunism of robber barons posing as geniuses.
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