ASIWAJU TINUBU TO THE RESCUE IN THE OSHIOMHOLE-OBASEKI IMPASSE
Yomi Oyelami, Trek Africa Newspaper
L-R: Governor, Edo State, Mr. Goodwin Obaseki; National Leader, All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and National Chairman, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a respected bridge builder whose capacity to broker peace has seen the governing party grown in popularity across all parts of the country.
It is this special grace and personality calibre that gave the Jagaban Borgu the presidential nod by President Muhammadu Buhari to head the party’s national reconciliation committee in 2018. The aim of the committee was to quell intra-party disputes which were almost tearing the political party apart. The result was a rousing victory for All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.
In the soon-to-be-published book ‘THE ICONIC ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU: An Inspiration for African youths’, the opening paragraph of one of the chapters read: For a relatively young party as the All Progressives Congress, decimation or decline should be out of place. However, for the huge successes it has recorded in such a short span it may face stiff opposition. In every human set-up it should be noted that while there are common goals, various individuals will also nurse personal ambitions which may be as diverse as the number of persons that constitute that organisation. The case of APC was no different. Ambitions which include the desire to build personal power bloc in various constituencies within the party structure, quest for ministerial and agency appointments, financial gain among others cannot but cause friction within the party, hence, toward the 2019 general election, the party needed to be saved from itself.’
The party is again in a fix. This time around in Edo state where two proverbial elephants are slugging it out but ‘it is only the grasses that will suffer’. The predecessor and his successor are fighting and this may cost the All Progressives Congress her 12-year reign in the ‘heartbeat of the nation’. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was able to wrest the Edo seat of power in 2008 and held sway for two terms. He successfully transferred power to his ally, Mr. Godwin Obaseki who is facing a re-election bid this year. But there is no love lost between the two political gladiators which may jettison the party’s hopes. If this happens, it means that the governing party, All Progressives Congress (APC) has effectively lost her foothold of the South-south region of Nigeria as the other five states – Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-river, Delta, and Rivers states are in the firm grip of opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP). This is not good for the party!
Lest things go awry, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu needs to bring his fatherly figure to bear on both the National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole, and Edo state Governor, Godwin Obaseki. This personality clash would spell nothing but doom for the party. It is time to broker peace, Asiwaju!
