Details are beginning to emerge on the behind the scene moves of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the handling of the affairs of the country that Nigerians are not privy to.
Some of such behind the scene moves were revealed in an article by Presidential Aide, Tunde Rahman, in an article.
The article, by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, was titled: “100 Days: Untold stories of Tinubu’s leadership acts.”
In it, Rahman, a former Editor of Thisday on Sunday Newspaper, said beyond the many achievement of the President in his first 100 days in office are the heroic decisions he took behind the scene.
He wrote: “This intervention is not really about these accomplishments, which are very remarkable by all standards within just 100 days.
“It’s about President Tinubu’s acts of leadership.
“The untold stories of courage, the boldness and audacity he has brought into governance, the ability to accept mistakes and make correction, the empathy he has demonstrated, how he engaged youths in government, the vision behind it and the way and manner he carried it about.
“Stories abound about all of these, which are either not properly highlighted or remain largely unreported.
“The true test of a leader’s capabilities emerges when his actions and utterances are gauged in those moments he lets down his guards, oblivious that he is being watched.
“These are the stories told in this article.”
Rahman, a seasoned journalist, worked in The PUNCH before heading to THISDAY and founded Western Post from where he emerged as Tinubu’s spokesman in his private capacity, shared four of such largely unreported events.
He wrote: “The first is about the empathy President Tinubu has brought into governance. The President lived in his Asokoro, Abuja residence for around two months or so, while the Presidential Villa accommodation was being readied, before he eventually moved in. Sensing that the main residence at the Villa was going to take much longer to be fully repaired, he caused the three-bedroom apartment, popularly called The Glass House, which will take a shorter time to be put in good shape for use, to be worked on. However, in the meantime, before that Glass House got ready, and uncomfortable that he was causing the people around his Asokoro house some discomfort by his daily movement to and fro the Presidential Villa, he instructed his staff to print a letter of apology, circulated in and around Asokoro, appealing to the people for understanding and urging them give him a little time to sort out himself. That was awesome and humbling in my view.
“Secondly, while not dwelling so much here about his boldness in removing the twin subsidies – the one on fuel and foreign exchange – even as he acknowledged that there would be some accompanying difficulties, you would recall that the President at every turn kept urging Nigerians to be patient and to know that the pains would be temporary. He even made a broadcast to the nation on this. Appealing for patience and understanding, he had said in the broadcast: “I understand the hardship you face. I wish there were other ways. But there is not. If there were, I would have taken that route as I came here to help not hurt the people and nation that I love. He would say the present pains could be likened to birth pangs and that the moment the baby is born, the pains disappear and that the ultimate joy of a woman is in seeing her baby.
“Thirdly, in 100 days, President Tinubu demonstrated his ability to accept mistakes and make corrections, which is rare among many leaders. The President, on further reflection, dropped a ministerial nominee he felt was not up to the billing to be the minister representing conservative Kano. He also reshuffled and readjusted the portfolios of some ministers even before they took office, accepting some mistakes were made and correcting the errors. He effected changes in the composition of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission with respect to the nominations of Ondo and Cross River States representatives. In my view, it is an act of good leadership and courage to accept mistakes and to correct them.
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“Fourthly, appointing young persons like 37-year-old renowned surgeon and former Cross River State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu; former House of Representatives member, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; and tech expert, Bosun Tijani, as ministers is commendable. President Tinubu, however, upped the ante when he went ahead to pick 32-year-old entrepreneur and another tech-expert, Khalil Halilu, as Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure. As he assumed office, Halilu pledged to use STI to drive the President’s socio-economic priority areas.
“But the real story here is about the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani. Visiting the Presidential Villa to thank President Tinubu for his appointment three weeks ago or so, just before the inauguration of Ministers, he met the Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake; this writer; and one or two others in the President’s Office that fateful day. And then one of us in that office mentioned something about how Tijani in the heat of exasperation with the country excoriated his fatherland and upbraided the governing All Progressives Congress. President Tinubu promptly shut the person up, saying what Bosun did in the heat of anger was understandable and should be forgotten, adding that he too had at one point during the dark days of the military frustratingly condemned the country. That was a forgiving and fatherly leader on display in that statement. Any need to tell more stories that President Tinubu, like many people had remarked, is indeed an appropriate man for the present time given his leadership experience, temperament, unique skills, competence, international exposure and extensive contacts which are required to take Nigeria to the next level.”
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