What City People Found Out About Pres. BOLA TINUBU
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has become the most talked about politician in Nigeria today. All over the country, the topic of discussion by many people is usually about Mr. President. Everything about him is news. There are 3 sets of people who usually talk about him – those who are fiercely loyal to him, those who dispassionately feel he is trying his best and those who are opposed to him, who are in the Opposition.
But the President doesn’t mind all these different views. He has always said that he does not get himself distracted by all the contending views.
Since he became President, he has been the main issue in Politics. It is either you are for him or against him. And he does not care if you are not for him. He says he loves criticism, but it must be constructive, not just criticizing for criticism sake.
Even before the 2023 presidential elections, he had been the main issue in politics. Historically, anywhere he finds himself he has always been the main issue. And he has a strong aura that attracts people to him. Beyond that is his unparalleled generosity. Over the last 40 years, he has continued to touch lives in many great ways.
Now, that he is the President, he has remained the main issue. Everyone describes him as the No 1 political master strategist in Nigeria. His mastery of Politics is superb. So far, no one has disputed that fact. All over the country, there is general agreement that he is the clear leader, especially when it comes to showing mastery of the game of Politics. He is seen as the leading political master strategist. Interestingly there is no other politician that comes close to him in ranking. This is because of his uncanny ability to squeeze water out of stone.
He knows how to plan and execute his strategies. He is good at investing in PEOPLE.
He also knows how to galvanise people to buy into his strategy. Thrice now, he has led the progressives to form 3 different political parties, from AC to ACN then to APC.
No wonder why at the just concluded 2025 City People Awards For Excellence he was honoured with the Special Award of The Political Master Strategist for the Year 2025.
A rigorous session that led to his choice.
Who deserves to be called The Master Stretegist of Politics in Nigeria, was the big question. Which politician has shown a remarkable evidence of being the political master strategist among the entire political class?
When the questions came up for debate recently, President Bola Tinubu’s name kept popping up, as that skillful politician whose unbridled influence radiates right across the entire political terrain. He is one politician other politicians look up to. He is not only politically sagacious, he understands the game and his deft moves achieve results.
So, at the City People Awards For Excellence held in Lagos, President Bola Tinubu was honoured for his exceptional mastery of national politics. It was a Welcome Development. Many said he deserves it.
The award came at a time the President was also celebrating his 2nd anniversary in office.
And he has received a lot of commendation for a job well done.
Why is he rated highly? It is because of his political sagacity and deft moves. For many people, the way he won in 2023 still defies all know logic because he was programmed to fail. But he won.
All odds were against him. Some have called it a miracle, because many of his close aides betrayed him. Those left, had given up on him, saying Oga can’t win. Even Aso Rock plotted against him.
They wanted another candidate from the North to win. That is why Asiwaju Bola Tinubu remains the 1st President of Nigeria to win without coming in through some godfathers. He is his own godfather.
In his case, all the godfathers ganged up against him. Even the so called Owners of Nigeria worked against him. He beat them all to their game.
That aside. How he was able to introduce bold reforms that are unpopular, but needed to move Nigeria forward and did that successfully also puzzles many. Immediately he came in, he embarked on Bold Reforms which only few Nigerian leaders can attempt to do.
In a very quiet way, he changed the narrative. He took on all the cabals in the various sectors. Once he became President, he won the Senate to his side. He also got the House of Reps to his side. He won the loyalty of State governors, especially those who are not even in his party. He cultivated the loyalty of the LG Chairman of the 774 Local Government Councils across the 36 states.
And it is quite interesting that a lot of PDP governors are for him and are openly fraternising with him. Quite shocking is the fact that those who were once opposed to him have decamped to meet him. For the 1st time in the history of politics in Nigeria, we see top politicians staying back in their different parties, but working for the Pres. Tinubu Nyesom Wike is a good example. He is still in PDP but works for Pres. Tinubu.
Pres. Tinubu’s greatest strength is in the fact that his opponents underrate him a lot, on account of his unassuming look and pencil-slim stature. Former Lagos governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, once said many underrate him because of his looks. “I think his looks are perhaps his biggest weapon. He wears a placid face that masks his intellect and quick thinking and probing mind”.
BRF said his looks give him a lot of advantage against his adversaries.
“It was always tempting to underestimate him, but many of his opponents have found out often too late that they have been outwitted by a man of razor-sharp mind and quick wit”.
When BRF wrote a Tribute in Asiwaju’s honour at 60, in 2012, he described Asiwaju as a man who has won all his political battles. “I do not remember one public contest where he has lost the war… Of course, he bears many battle scars and these attest to his tactical ability to surrender battles, in order to win, wars. He has been bruised and sometimes beaten, but certainly unbroken and remain undefeated”.
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola his former Associate, in his own tribute revealed then, before he fell out with Tinubu, that one trait that sets him apart is how Tinubu handles crisis.
“He is a natural crisis and disaster manager. Crisis is tonic for Asiwaju”.
“He never panics or buckles under. It is when the situation gets abnormal that Asiwaju is at his best…If any man could be said to have super human capacity for the management of crisis, threat, danger and disturbance, Asiwaju is that person”.
“He is unpretentiously a liberal person. Asiwaju can never have an enemy. Is there anybody who fell out with Asiwaju and still remains his enemy till date? It is not possible. He is so committed to friendship that no matter your indiscretion or offence to him, he will persevere and endure until you yourself fight him or promise your antagonism”.
“Asiwaju told me that it wasn’t in his style to fight with people. He said no matter your offence, you would even be the one to fight with him. And truly I have not seen him fight with anybody. He said none of his friends could claim that he fought with them. They would always be the one to fight with him”.
“This was because if you were the one who fought him, you would never defeat him”.
“He is never the aggressor”.
Aregbesola commended his political sagacity, generosity, and benevolence… Asiwaju is the epitome of brilliance in application of sense and intellect to the act of governance”.
Senator Ibikunle Amosun, in his tribute to Asiwaju at 60 described the man he called Bolatito Ahmed Akanbi Adekunle Tinubu as “one of the most potent strategists in the political power game in today’s Nigeria”. “He is a man who is ever ready to confront the surprises and challenges which opponents may spring on his route”.
“He is a long distance runner who engages in long time planning”. He described Tinubu as an insightful politician who is always startegising for tomorrow. He described him as a strategic political thinker, a visionary leader and grassroot politician.”
