Such an exploration requires analyses from various perspectives, examining why he is known to admirers as the Lion of Bourdillon and to detractors as Thiefnubu, both sets of people attesting to his political dominance and the economic reach intertwined with it.
There is a lot at stake in the South-West, a pivot of Nigerian politics. Even though the South-West has often not been able to reach the Presidency, Tinubu's alliance with Muhammadu Buhari from the Muslim North was central to enabling Buhari gain the Presidency for the first time in 2015 after previous unsuccessful attempts, a development also relevant in the recent 2019 Presidential elections, regardless of what is described as the narrow victory for the ruling party in the South-West, an outcome suggesting deep rifts between expectation and fulfillment from the APC within the South-West.
One of the latest, if not the latest book on South West politics, is Wale Adebanwi's 2014 text Yoruba Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo and Corporate Agency, which takes the story of South West politics from Awolowo to more recent times.
There is a need for analyses of contemporary developments in the light of Tinubu's strategic role within the South West from the days of the June 12 struggles to his conflicts with the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidency, to the decimation of his South West leadership faction by opposition political victories, leaving him in the iconic 'last man standing' situation, to his recent efforts in leading the South West to the centre of national government after decades in the opposition and the controversial outcome of that success from 2015 to the present, to the 2019 elections and beyond, to the 2023 elections and the years after, as this strategy perhaps continues, against the background of opposing perspectives in South West politics represented by Afenifere and Odua People's Congress and expansionist orientations demonstrated by Miyetti Allah Fulani Socio-Cultural Organisation,in its alliance, in my view, with President Muhammadu Buhari, the central ally of Tinubu and his faction.
A serious study of Tinubu is needed, one that is frank and critical, updating and expanding such works as Adebanwi's, bringing up to date a historical account of the story to which Tinubu is critical and centred on him as focusing continuities and ruptures in South West political history up till the present time, a project persisting in the developments between now, and into the 2023 elections and three to four years beyond that beceause the events between now and 2023 and about four years after are likely to represent a climatic and perhaps a defining point in the significance of Tinubu's political history, and, to some degree, of the current stage of South West political development represented by the alliance between Buhari's Muslim North and Tinubu's South West.
These political dynamics demonstrate a very rich picture that needs depth and breadth of critical study, vital for contemporary illumination as well as for providing a scholarly foundation for later explorations of South West political history in relation to the development of Nigerian politics and its economic and social impact.
You are invited to have your say on this subject, in contributions of any length, from a paragraph, which can be developed over time after initial publication, to a full length essay. The core requirement is an effort to state a position and justify it or to critically examine issues even without holding a position or to to arrive at one after critical analysis. Feel free to post your view on any platform which is publicly accessible and draw my attention to it so I can retrieve your contribution from there. You can also send contributions to my email address at toyin.adepoju@gmail.com.
The opening essay and discussion in the work comes from the USA-Africa Dialogues Google group, accompanied by the discussion it inspired, enabling readers understand a variety of perspectives on the issues raised.
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