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Tinubu’s First Son And 7 Others Who Begged For Sanwo-Olu

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Sanwo-Olu Tinubu feud

Quite a number of persons, had intervened in the feud between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, but some very important personalities – about eight of them – played very prominent roles and made the eventual truce feasible.

They include Tinubu’s longtime friend and business ally, Chief Dipo Eludoyin; the president’s renowned billionaire business associate, Mr. Gilbert Chagoury; the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka; and the Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr. Dele Alake.

Also, on the list is a former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba; a former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande; a former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori and a former governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, who in the Thisday report is described as Tinubu’s first political son.

These people had met with the president at different times to intervene on behalf of the governor, and did not give up on ending the feud, even when President Tinubu was not yielding and still appeared angry and visibly displeased with Governor Sanwo-Olu.

But because of their relationship with Tinubu, they remained adamant and kept making a case for the governor until the president eventually soft-pedaled and forgave the governor and ended the feud with Sanwo-Olu.

Dipo Eludoyin

Chairman and Executive Officer of the Paragon Holdings, Chief Dipo Eludoyin, has been friends with the president for almost their entire youth, and had stayed close even as they grew older. He is one of the few that could look the president in the eyes and say his mind without pandering to sentiments. He commands huge respect with the president, and it was on account of this that he was able to speak to the president and pleaded for mercy on behalf of the governor. Perhaps, his peace offering has been accepted.

Gilbert Chagoury

A billionaire with chain of businesses all over Nigeria, including the prestigious Eko Hotel and Suites, Mr. Gilbert Chagoury, has moved from being a close confidant of the president to being a family member. They’ve both come of age.

Their relationship is one of mutual respect and close ties as Chagoury’s construction company, Hitech, has stepped in to replace Julius Berger, who for the last 30 years of building roads, bridges without let, has been the federal government’s development partner. But the Chagourys have proven to do the same quality infrastructure as Julius Berger cheaper and faster in terms of delivery.

Although he is not one to take inconsequential requests to the president, he is definitely not one the president could glibly say no to. His intervention in the matter could not be quantified, and even if he had looked at it from a business point of view, it has ultimately paid off with yesterday’s truce.

Wole Soyinka

The Revered Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has never shied away from discussing his relationship with Tinubu, even if it would earn him knocks from certain quarters. Yet, he would not abuse the friendship. Prof has met with the president, at least, about two times that’s known to many over the Lagos matter in general. His recent visit to Tinubu was also connected to the governor’s plight and he reportedly made a case for him. Tinubu probably considered the old man’s plea.

Dele Alake

If there was any man, who has been consistent, not because he liked the governor more than his current job, but because he has been able to see the bigger picture and could read the political implications of some of the developments very well, then it is the Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr. Dele Alake.

For whatever it is worth, the governor owes Alake a bouquet of gratitude. Even more instructive, is his love for the president and the need to protect him at all cost, and also save him from himself. This is why the peace route has been Alake’s only path for the period the crisis lasted. He was the real deal.

Olusegun Osoba

Although older, a former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba and the president had crossed paths politically for almost 40 years. They were also elected governors together in 1999 on the platform of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), in addition to their SDP background in the early ‘90s.

Respectable and always mindful of self-reservation, Chief Osoba is another man, who could also look the president straight in the eyes, tell him his truth and walk away. He, too, had been worried about the larger implications of the situation and continued to intervene until peace was achieved.

Bisi Akande

Call him their political uncle, Chief Bisi Akande, a former governor of Osun State, has always been a balancing force among the various political tendencies, either in his state, Southwest or national.

The protem national chairman of the APC, Chief Akande, like Osoba was worried about the Lagos situation, and didn’t like the optics coming from the fact that the president’s homestead was contending with an artificial storm. Even though he was constantly wearing a smiling face, he never allaowed the president to savour a moment of peace until truce was achieved.

James Ibori

One of the former governors in Nigeria, elected alongside President Tinubu in 1999, and who shares incredible closeness with the president is a former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori. Not many people knew this fact about Ibori and Tinubu.

The Odidigboigbo of Delta State always has the president’s ears and curiously, he never abused his relationship with him hence not many people knew this about him. In fact, Tinubu sees Ibori as one governor, who paid a very high price under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s highhandedness against governors in 1999.

He was as worried as many others, who had intervened and quietly, he, too, spoke to the president on the need for peace. Let’s say his efforts have yielded good fruits.

Babatunde Fashola

Call him the intellectual bulwark of the president, working from the situation room, you still would not have aptly captured the place of Fashola in the heart of the president. Interestingly, they too have had a rough past. That experience has however brought them closer.

However, knowing Fashola’s capacity in terms of content and character, he is not one of those the president would look away from. As ‘the first son’ of Tinubu’s political family, having succeeded him and understood the import of the office, his selfless but reasoned intervention in the matter is incalculable and definitely, the result is what manifested yesterday at the Queen’s Drive home of the president in Lagos.

Apart from the above eight individuals, who have the president’s ears, the roles played the GAC members in the quest for peace until yesterday cannot be understated. As a matter of fact, they have had to endure indignation in the name of ending the feud between Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu.

Thus, either as a group or individual members, the GAC did not just justify the essence of its establishment but has also lived up to the moment. At the end of it all, it was a collective win and Lagos will now know peace again.

Source: THISDAY

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