The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, is a pope who clearly has a soft spot for Nigeria. It will be no surprise if he visits the country within the next one year. Immediately, he was announced elected as the Supreme Pontiff, fact-checkers dug out pictures showing his previous trips and engagements in Nigeria, a country he has visited no less than ten times previously to commune with the Augustinian order to which he belongs.
Thus, during his inauguration on May 18, it came as little surprise that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was invited to attend, an invitation that was graciously and elatedly accepted by the presidency, even if many Nigerians were quick to pour scorn.
At the inauguration, the president had the opportunity to greet the Supreme Pontiff, an honour extended only to heads of states. Many Nigerians have unsurprisingly picked up the moment the president’s son, Seyi Tinubu, was politely redirected by Vatican protocol as his father greeted the president.
For all his flaws and foibles, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains a master political strategist who knows how to build social and political capital from the kind of raw materials that repulses others. In less than two years as president of Nigeria, he has shown that his brand of politics, which is far more inclusive than any of his predecessors, is just what a bitterly divided country riven apart by divisive politics needs. His recent visit to Anambra State where he broke a 13-year jinx, becoming the first sitting president to visit the state since 2012, was an opportunity to hold out a hand to a state that has been calculatedly cold towards the center for more than a decade now. It was also an opportunity for President Tinubu to make a statement in the home state of Mr. Peter Obi, his direct rival and most formidable opponent, who is wildly loved by many Nigerians. Mr. Tinubu masterfully achieved both.
In many ways, Seyi Tinubu is the spitting image of his father. Controversial, conversational and painstakingly strategic, he appears to have mastered the art which has made his father Nigeria’s most powerful politician today, guiding him through many years of trials and tribulations to Nigeria’s highest seat.
For all his baggage and he will do well to watch it, Seyi Tinubu brings the same clarity of purpose his father brings to politics. But the most endearing trait he has taken from his father is his ability to build political bridges while pulling down political walls.
Nigeria’s situation today is a fallout of the kind of noxious politics played in the country since independence. It is why it is so important for Nigerians to encourage and engage in political participation to change the narrative.
Much of the criticism directed at Seyi Tinubu seems to revolve around the fact that he marches in lockstep with his father. There has been much misplaced rejoicing over the fact that he appears to have been snubbed by Vatican protocol when he tried to greet the pope. But no one can blame him for being too eager to greet the pope, who is easily one of the most powerful people on earth.
It is an opportunity he may never get again. Moreover, while Nigeria’s presidency should never be reduced to a family affair, there is nothing wrong with a son accompanying his father who is the president of a country on engagements at home or abroad. Familial relationships which transverse a lifetime cannot and should not cease or be suspended because of a presidency which has a maximum lifespan of eight years.
It is the height of hypocrisy for anyone to criticize Seyi Tinubu because he shadows his father, the president, or to criticize President Tinubu for always allowing a son who is very much like him to stand by him as he confronts the monstrous challenge of leading Nigeria as president. Even the Bible says that a son knows his father.
It is scandalous to criticize people based on family and religion alone. Should Seyi Tinubu stop being a son to his father simply because his father is president, or should President Tinubu cease to have anything to do with his first son simply because he is now president?
It is time for cynics and critics to sheathe their swords, lest they find themselves handling the sharp hooks of hypocrisy.
Ike Willie-Nwobu,
Ikewilly9@gmail.com
