Aristotle, the great thinker, demonstrated his unparallel understanding of the concept of justice when he opined with succinct clarity that justice, as we know it, should be about celebration of virtue – those who have distinguished themselves should be honoured without qualification. For, the society is better off when men of good virtues are celebrated. Civilized climes over the years have cultivated this noble moral policy as part of their social practice. In doing so, envy, bias, ethnicity, blame game and the pull-him-down-syndrome were all relegated to their deserved abode – gutter. It then becomes clear that merit and positive development are at the core of statesmanship. But not so in this corner of the world, and definitely not so in my beloved Nigeria. Ours is in marked contrast of the civilized social practice. This is conscience-shocking.  

Tinubu no doubt has paid his due in restructuring and sustaining the Nigerian project and this climaxed in the enthronement of the opposition party as the ruling party at the center. For many, that was the grand slam. Without sounding immodest, it is doubtful if there is any leader in this generation that has sacrificed so much for the advancement of the country’s democracy. But in their typical nature, his traducers would have none of that. For them, this man must be decimated and at all cost. Even in his silence and tranquillity, they are still having sleepless nights, knowing full well that the lion is merely taking a nap, lest he roars with unmitigated ferocity. The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo once told his cheerful audience, who had thronged his rally to witness the freedom of their revered leader, the story of a Dog and a lifeless Tiger. Hear him: “when a living Dog is given the tail of a lifeless tiger, the dog would embark on a barking spree from within without anyone noticing until the dog eventually drop dead out of fear of his chief tormentor”. This is the dilemma of Tinubu’s traducers. Active or passive, they cannot sleep.

Of course, Tinubu himself is no saint. He never pretended to be one and like the Sun, he has his dark side which requires self-evaluation. But the Bible says that we are all sinners that fall short in the glory of God and that only the good amongst men shall be rewarded and saved. Some people, in their warped understanding of life, believe that the only way they can reach the zenith of their political career is by destroying the legacies of others, which is why these men, in what appears to be a united front, have collapsed their structures and coalesced their strength with the sole object to obliterate this noble son of his fatherland. To them, whatever mischief that occurs in the country, Tinubu must be scapegoated. He is responsible for that woman that had a stillbirth at Onisha; he must account for the flood that destroyed the crops of Mallam Musa at Zaria; and should be prosecuted for the armed robbery that occurred at Abeokuta. On daily basis we are awash with news of how Tinubu did this or did that. Maybe the next headline would be: “Tinubu cause global warming”. These people have no shame.

 Rather than face their problems on the merit, they prefer to play the “victim” by dragging the name of Tinubu into it, hoping that it makes some political point even to the most adept. In their desperate attempt to deceive the gullible and twist public opinion, they would deliberately concoct fiction, breathed life into it so it could walk into the minds of their targets – unsuspecting public. Elevating lies and propaganda to an art is what they have obtained PhD at. But time, they say, is the best judge, and history is replete with the end results of those who once traded that path.     

In the end the just would be vindicated and the blackmailers would realised the futility of their actions.