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City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE Recounts His Many Encounters
Each time I read the many stories that appear Online, and in many publications about President elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, I always marvel at the extent people can go to paint him in bad light.
I say this because this is a man I know intimately. And I have known him for over 30 years. I have interacted with him at close range. At some point, I even served informally as his P.A, just before he was forced to go on exile. I was with him that evening, in his hide out, off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi when he got a call from a trusted source, (an informant), who asked him to prepare to leave the country immediately. The message was that his safety could no longer be guaranteed. He was to be arrested. I felt sad. It dampened my spirit. He asked me to leave so that he can make adequate arrangements. I bid him farewell. And I left. That was the beginning of another chapter in his life. He had to go to London on exile, for about 6 years or so.
And the very first day he returned back to Lagos from exile, I was one of the first set of people he sent for to tell he was back. I saw that as a great honour. He sent Idowu Ogunleye, an ace Photographer with The News Magazine, to me and gave him specific instructions: Tell Seye to join me for Breakfast at 8.30am tomorrow at Sunday Adigun. Sunday Adigun is the popular street where his house is located at Alausa, Ikeja, in Lagos. That was where his late mum, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji lived. Initially, I doubted the message. How will such a great man like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu send for me. Who am I? I was inconsequential, just a restless Journalist. But I went, and got there at the exact time. And lo and behold I met Jagaban Borgu having coffee and I joined. Details of what he told me is a story for another day. And it will form part of the 2 books I am writing on my sojourn in Journalism, which started 39 years ago, as an undergraduate at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
The first day, I met him, I was sent by Bayo Onanuga, my Oga, at that time. He was my boss at African Corcord. He was also my boss at The News Magazine. He now works with Asiwaju. Mr. B sent me to meet this politician who was very popular and influential at that time. He was already a Senator. And he was easily the most popular in the Senate at that time. All I was asked to do was to take a document to him to sign. I gladly did. Off I went to his house in Victoria Island. Immediately, we met, he took to me. After signing the document, he invited me over to the table for breakfast. In less than 45 minutes we had bonded. He asked me a lot about my career which I told him. He then requested that we see regularly.
That was how our relationship started. He told me how and where to meet him. He was the first person to teach me how to be Security conscious . For security reasons, he never slept in one place for more than a night. He randomly changed where he stayed. Though he was happily married to Senator Oluremi, and they lived together, BAT was perpetually on the move. So, we would sometimes meet in Ilupeju, or V.I. or Ikoyi or in coded guest houses across Lagos. That was how I became like his errand boy or if you like, his dispatch man. But I did it with great joy and happiness in my heart. Did I mind? No. It enabled me study him at close quarters.
Before I knew it, I began to see him regularly, almost on a daily basis to do one thing or the other for him. With Asiwaju there will always be one thing to do. It was from my initial encounter that I began to form my opinion of him. He was not yet a Governor then. He was just a simple man who was a committed politician and a distinguished Senator. But I could see that he was ambitious. He was focused. He was destined to be great. I saw that he was naturally nice and generous. I saw the brilliance in him. He was quick-witted. He thinks ahead of his peers. He thinks 10 to 15 years ahead. He is ideas driven. He loves books. He loves to engage in arguments. He loves young people. He reads. He is quick to assimilate. He is good with crunching figures. He is bold. He seldom fights people. And when people fight with him, he leaves room for reconcilliation. He never closes the door on you. He is good at sporting talents. He knows many hate him for no just cause. But he doesn’t mind. He is used to it. He sees it as a cross he has to bear.
Our relationship continued till the 1993 elections that ended up in annulment. He was very close to The News magazine editors which I was part of. Because of my closeness to him, I got first hand updates on all the political developments that led to the annulment by IBB. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was at the centre of it all. He was solidly behind MKO Abiola. I witnessed a lot of what he did. How he spent his money to mobilise opposition groups both home and abroad. He was central to the success of NADECO.
I also got close to his wife, Senator Oluremi who was a perfect hostess to all of us who usually ended up at their Victoria Island home in Lagos, to atimes wait for Asiwaju. She would personally prepare breakfast, lunch and atimes dinner for us. She was the ultimate hostess. She would engage us in little talks about Politics. She would offer her opinion on the state of the nation and I got to realise that she is a brilliant woman, full of ideas.
My relationship with Asiwaju continued till the annulment when he had to go underground. I was with him that night when he got the call that saved his life. The caller told him matter-of-factly that he had to get out of town, because the military junta at that time had given instructions that Asiwaju be arrested. They were uncomfortable with his activities. He was also told that some military brass hats were of the opinion that he be get rid off. They saw him as an irritant who should be silenced. They just could not see how this bloody Civilian will be troubling the peace of the IBB regime. He escaped.
The only time I lost touch with him was when he went on exile. But we reconnected 2 days after he came back. It is a tribute to BAT’s uncommon gift that the day he returned from exile was the day he sent for me to see him the next day. And Over a cup of Coffee he asked after City People and wondered if I had heard about his decision to run for Lagos governorship. I said No. He then told me his plan. Against all odds, he got the party nomination. And eventually won the elections. The rest is history. For the 8 years he was Governor, I remained close to him and watched his activities at close quarters.
Getting close to Asiwaju made me know a lot about him. I have seen him in his high and low moments. Over the years, he has developed a tough skin to unconstructive criticisms, abuses, sponsored stories. They don’t bother him any longer. He is also used to betrayals. Many of those who are around him today have all betrayed him at some point or the other. And he has a large heart. He forgives and forgets.
Asiwaju’s greatest gift which many politicians pray to have is his gift of STRATEGY. That is what many other politicians lack. And that is what made him win this last elections. He was strategic in his planning and execution. Asiwaju is and remains the greatest political Master Strategist of all times. A man who single handedly packaged 2 strong political parties, back to back, who destroyed the PDP and made it lose elections, who installed Pres. Buhari President, who broke into the rank and file of the North and destroyed the proverbial Northern Mafia, who fielded a Muslim/Muslim ticket and won, who broke into the South/South. I can go on and on. He deserves at least a little commendation, if not a Great applause. Join me as I drink to the toast of the incoming President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is human like all of us. He is not a saint. He has never claimed to be one. Who is really a Saint? Show me one Saint in Politics, if you can, then I’ll tell you why he is not qualified to be called one.
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