“President Tinubu is ineffable because he cannot be reduced to one story. To the economist, he is the market reformer. To the politician, he is the master strategist. To the Yoruba man, he is the Omoluabi. To the Northern elder, he is the ally who keeps his word. To the Igbo man, he is the bridge-builder who sees merit beyond tribe”
INEFFABLE TINUBU
Reasons they can’t catch him
By Segun Dipe
They have tried to define him. They have tried to box him. They have tried to predict him, to trap him, to finish him politically. They have failed. Not because he is perfect, but because President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is ineffable.
Ineffable means too great, too vast, too deep to be captured in words. That is Tinubu. You cannot capture him in one headline, one narrative, one cliché. And that is the reason they can’t catch him.
Ask yourself: how many times have they written his political obituary?
In 2003, when the PDP tsunami swept the entire South-West and left only Lagos standing as an AD island in an ocean of PDP, they said Tinubu was finished. He was not. He survived, alone, and turned Lagos into a laboratory for governance.
In 2007, when he left office and many thought his influence would evaporate like that of many ex-governors who became political pensioners, they said his era was over. He did not only survive; he built a political machine that produced Fashola, Ambode, and Sanwo-Olu, and a network of disciples across Nigeria.
In 2015, when he helped forge the impossible – merging ACN, CPC, ANPP and a faction of PDP and of APGA to form APC, to defeat an incumbent President for the first time in Nigeria’s history – they said he had reached his peak and would be used and dumped. He was still climbing.
In 2022, when they said the APC presidential ticket would never come to the South-West, when dollar-bag politicians and consensus merchants gathered in Abuja to stop him, he went to Abeokuta and uttered that historic phrase: “Emi lo kan.” It was not arrogance. It was a statement of destiny backed by 30 years of political investment. And he won the primaries, and then the general election.
Since May 29, 2023, they have again tried to catch him — with protests, with prophecies of doom, with social media wars, with deliberate misrepresentation of reforms. Yet he keeps moving, steady and strategic.
Why can’t they catch him? Five reasons.
One, he is a master of political arithmetic others don’t understand. Tinubu does not play politics like a novice playing draughts. He plays chess while others play ludo. He sees alliances where others see enmity. The same man who fought President Obasanjo for eight years as Lagos Governor could still negotiate with him when Nigeria needed it. The same man who they said was anti-North built the most potent North-South alliance that delivered 2023.
Two, to the Igbo, he is a bridge-builder, not a barrier. They spent millions to sell him as anti-Igbo. The facts shamed them. As Governor of Lagos, he ran the most detribalised cabinet in Nigeria. He entrusted the economic nerve of Lagos to an Igbo son, Ben Akabueze, as Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget for eight years. Joe Igbokwe served for over a decade. In Alaba, Ladipo, Trade Fair, Igbo traders had peace and prosperity because Tinubu secured Lagos for business. As President, he has not changed. He appointed Rear Admiral Ikechukwu Ogalla from Enugu as Chief of Naval Staff. He put an Igbo son, Dave Umahi, in charge of the biggest legacy road projects in our history — Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry. He brought Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu into the Federal Executive Council. He approved the South-East Investment Company and is opening the South-East to new industrial and medical infrastructure. To Ndigbo, Tinubu is not the man of hate propaganda; he is the man who gives the Igbo his due as a full Nigerian.
Three, to the womenfolk, he is He-For-She. This is not tokenism. As Governor of Lagos, he appointed women as Deputy Governors back-to-back, made women Head of Service, Chief Judge, Commissioners for Finance, Justice, Health and Education. He built women into his political dynasty, plus countless female council chairmen. As President, Nigerian women have never had it so visible. From Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, to Ministers of Women Affairs, Arts and Culture, Humanitarian Affairs, and key MDAs – women lead. His Renewed Hope initiatives – market traders’ grants, MSME support, student loans for girls, CNG jobs – deliberately put money and power in women’s hands. To the Nigerian woman, Tinubu is the President who does not just clap for women on International Women’s Day; he appoints them, funds them and trusts them.
Four, he has a thick skin for pain and patience for results. When he removed fuel subsidy on Day One – a decision four presidents before him postponed because they feared the backlash – they said he would burn. When he floated the naira to kill the dual exchange rate that fed a few cabals, they said inflation would consume him. It was tough, yes. But today, states that were borrowing to pay salaries are now getting almost three times their FAAC allocations, fuel importation has dropped by over 50%, and investor confidence is rising.
Five, he believes government must touch the streets. As Governor, he created 37 LCDAs to bring government closer to the street, started RRS that became national standard, started LAMATA and the Blue Line vision they laughed at for 20 years. As President, same philosophy — Student Loan for over 500,000 indigent students, Consumer Credit, new minimum wage, CNG revolution to crash transport cost by 60%, and return of local government autonomy.
President Tinubu is ineffable because he cannot be reduced to one story. To the economist, he is the market reformer. To the politician, he is the master strategist. To the Yoruba man, he is the Omoluabi. To the Northern elder, he is the ally who keeps his word. To the Igbo man, he is the bridge-builder who sees merit beyond tribe. To the Nigerian woman, he is He-For-She who opens the door and keeps it open. To the youth, he is the President who said “I know your pain.”
His opponents keep trying to catch him with yesterday’s weapon. They bring insults; he brings strategy. They bring noise; he brings roads. They bring anger; he brings appointments that cut across tribes and religions.
Tinubu cannot be caught because you cannot catch an idea whose time has come.
* Segun Dipe writes on politics and governance
