-Blank NEWS Online (NIGERIA) —By Ogbeide Osas KENNEDY:
Chief Obafemi Awolowo the only Nigerian referred to as the late SAGE. Have you ever wondered the dictionary meaning of a sage ‘’wise, knowledgeable, learned; shrewd, skillful”. No other Nigerian till date has been described as a sage, he was referred in death as the best President Nigeria never had by his perceive antagonist Late Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
He was responsible for modern Nigeria making what is today known as South West as the economic power of the country, his contributions were countless , 1st ever TV Station in West Africa, he introduced free education at all levels, cocoa boom, the palm business , let me not re-write history. He authored several books (22) in number and the most popular of them all was ‘’My march through prison.’
His image, many Nigerian folks, especially in the South West believe in the moon (a folktale). Nigerians obviously were the looser as he was denied the seat of power severally, yet we knew he was sagacious enough in making Nigeria an envy in the committee of nations. We lost an opportunity.
Chief MKO Abiola, a Nigerian businessman, publisher, politician and aristocrat of the Egba clan. He was the Aare Ona Kankafo XIV of Yoruba land. He later became a politician and contested for the Presidency under the political platform of the now defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) on June 12, 1993.
The election was declared Nigeria’s freest and fairest presidential election by national and international observers, with Abiola even winning in his Northern opponent’s home state of Kano. Abiola won at the national capital, Abuja, the military polling stations, and over two-thirds of Nigerian states. Men of Northern descent had largely dominated Nigeria’s political landscape since independence; Moshood Abiola, a Western Muslim, was able to secure a national mandate freely and fairly, unprecedented in Nigeria’s history.
However, the election was annulled by Ibrahim Babangida, causing a political crisis which led to General Sani Abacha seizing power later that year. We eventually lost him to the cold hands of death while still under custody of the then military junta which eventually pave way for the 4th republic in 1999, he is today better known as the Symbol of Democracy. We lost an opportunity.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban of Nigeria, the Lion of Bourdilion, the NEWSUN.
He is a master strategist who has dominated the politics of Nigeria’s commercial capital for over two decades, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has long been expected to make a run for the country’s top job – his formidable political network, propensity for deal-making and substantial personal wealth give him a head start over many other contenders. Tinubu has not held an official position in government since his second term as Lagos governor, which ended in 2007, but his influence in national politics has grown.
He is credited with the social and economic progress seen in Lagos over the past two decades. He has also ensured that progressive governors run the state since he left the post.
Some of Tinubu’s notable achievements as governor includes improving the state’s waste management system, and better incentives for civil servants (salary increases and better quality of working environments). A notable Nigerian and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka described BAT as follows: “I do not admire BAT because he is saint, I do not admire BAT because he is from the South, I do not admire BAT because he is a Yoruba, If I want saints, I will proceed to heaven not on earth for every man is fallible, I admired BAT because he saved Nigeria from falling into ‘one party state’”. Away from Soyinka, testimonies are abound, he made Kings, he made Ministers, made Senators, he made Federal Legislators, he made Chairmen, he made LEADERS, those who followed him never regretted, he made Lagos better, he sure will make Nigeria even greater and a new nation.
Et tu, Brute—Then fall, Caesar!. “The noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times’’. Awo fell and died, MKO fell and died. They were both noble men,
BAT another refined aristocrat, a noble man will not fall, he will rise to the occasion to take his mantle. An opportunity gained, never again will it be a lost opportunity.
“Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.”
BAT- The NEWSUN an opportunity GAINED.
#Jagaban#newdawn
- Ogbeide Kennedy write from Lagos.
