TwoCents | BAT - by Tari Ogbowei

The Tinubu certificate saga has been one hot topic in the past few days. A few days ago, a picture of Chicago State University's reply concerning his studentship from 1977 to 1979 was making the rounds. Just last night, I stumbled upon another narrative saying that a "Bola A. Tinubu" attended Chicago State University but it wasn't our beloved BAT. Personally, I take this rumor with a pinch of salt but this is what you get when your facts don't line up. It's quite easy to get dents in your image especially politically, when your stories begin to sound like "Tales by Moonlight". Imagine BAT saying he didn't attend primary and secondary schools and then saying soldiers took (stole) his university certificate. We are about to enter our exodus from Buhari's hellish two tenures after he told us, he didn't have a WAEC certificate and now another one without certificate from the same party is offering to rule us? Is this the new norm? That our leaders don't have the minimum certificates required, as demanded by the constitution for such an important job, the office of the president. But Bachelor's degrees aren't enough to get our youth an entry level position in a firm. One pertinent issue is that of his age. Why has his age been altered so much on Wikipedia? It got so bad that Wikipedia had to lock Tinubu's page for persistent vandalism after his age was edited a whopping 84 times. What is he hiding? In some quarters, it is said by those who claim to know him that he may be as old as 80 years as opposed to 70 years which he claims to be. This leaves a huge question mark. Another point to note is the issue of his name. There seems to be this unsubstantiated discovery that BAT's real name is Yekini Amoda Ogunlere. It is alleged that he changed his name at some point but for what reasons. Could this be true? If this is true, it dents his image even further. Three days ago, it was reported that BAT had flown to France for a "business meeting", a cover up for medical checkups and treatment. The same person who is being touted to have made Lagos state what it is, travels abroad for medical tourism. Did he forget to add hospitals when he was making Lagos? This same BAT returned from a three-month medical trip to London last October. Knowing the effect of Buhari's medical tourism on the economy and state of the nation, we can't afford to have another sick president who takes a three-month medical vacation to treat an ear infection that his personal doctors and our health system can't handle. It is the country that needs a revival and not the other way round. Yet, he wants to be president. His only justification, "Èmi lòó kán" which translates to, "It's my turn". Èmi lòó kán which was introduced into our political lexicon by none other than BAT himself is one of the newest and hottest phrases right now. It seems to be the unofficial campaign song for the BAT camp. Laying his stake on the presidency with nothing other than "Èmi lòó kán", BAT depicts a complete disregard for our democratic processes. His now infamous phrase holds a lot of hidden, negative connotations. This man with an obvious lack of probity is who some Nigerians, even youths who should rather be contesting for the same office are rallying behind. A man whose public persona is clothed with deception and his defence riddled with too many holes. The only thing that seems true is that, BAT is a relic of the past, a memento of a bygone era and an ancestor that needs his rest.

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