68th Birthday: Bamidele Greets Tinubu , Says He’s a Legend of African Politics

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele has felicitated with former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as he clocks 68 on March 29, 2020.

Bamidele, who was Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development in Lagos State under Tinubu as Governor, said the All Progressives Congress National leader has carved an exemplary and enviable niche for himself as a legend of African politics, taking cognisance of the giant strides and humongous investment he had made in the evolution of democratic governance in the continent.

Bamidele, in a statement by his Media Office in Abuja, on Sunday, said Tinubu led other Patriots in the struggle against military junta leading to the advent of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, saying the epochal struggle had distinguished him as a leader with glowing passion for a government that represents the interest of the poor masses.

The Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District , added that Tinubu didn’t only grapple with military to entrench democracy in Nigeria and other African nations, but he contributed for its evolvement and consolidation as accentuated in the good governance he fostered in Lagos, making the state a Pacesetter and microcosm of development as the third largest economy in the continent .

“The fact that Tinubu has become a legend of African politics is incontestible. He struggled hard for it and earned the respect of everyone by walking the talk through good governance he pioneered in Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.

“Being a selfless leader with voracious penchant for democratic growth, Tinubu assembled the best brains across the southwest region under the successive umbrellas of the Alliance for Democracy, Action Congress and then the Action Congress of Nigeria and ensured that every state in the region savoured the pleasure of good governance and this he accomplished through hardwork and sacrifices .

“Asiwaju Tinubu didn’t stop at that, he took the gospel of good governance beyond the shores of southwest enclave by also coalescing efforts with other progressive elements in Edo State in the Southsouth region to enlist the state within the fold of progressives .

“To underscore how strategic and shrewd his leadership acumen was, Tinubu met Lagos economy in 1999 in a parlous and distraught state , but with iron cast resoluteness, he jacked up the state’s internally generated revenue from the paltry N600m to a staggering sum of N9 billion in 2007 while also leaving a blueprint for his successor that raised the bar to over N25 billion immediately following his tenure.

“This living legend also promoted mentorship to a higher pedestal under which someoone like me and other great compatriots like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Governors Babatunde Fashola, Rauf Aregbesola, Akinwumi Ambode, current Governors Kayode Fayemi, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Gboyega Oyetola; and Patriots like Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, Dr. Muiz Banire, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora and others too numerous to catalogue cut their teeth in politics and are today doing great for humanity”.

Bamidele added that history will continue to remember Tinubu for making great sacrifices in 2015 for the consummation of APC despite the daunting task, with the sole intention of ending the reign of holocaust brought into governance by the then ruling People’s Democratic Party(PDP).

“Asiwaju didn’t only collapse his well oiled political party (ACN) into the merger plan, he made huge financial sacrifices to fasttrack the process of creating alternative platform to PDP that was then wreaking havoc on the economy by creating a monopolistic cartel riding roughshod on the populace.

Bamidele stated that the entire African race won’t forget Tinubu’s enigmatic inputs to ensure stability in democratic governance and practice of constitutional democracy in African nations like South Africa, Sierra Leone, Ghana , Sao Tome and Principe and many other nations.

“My prayers and those of Asiwaju’s innumerable admirers have been that God would spare his life for many more years for him to further contribute meanigfully to the growth of Nigeria, African continent and humanity at large”.