Like loyalty, betrayal can be classified under two main categories: betrayal of a person, and betrayal of a cause. These are distinct, albeit sometimes overlapping categories. That is because there are times when a person embodies a worthy cause, in which case betraying the person is effectually a betrayal of the cause. I would argue that an individual embodiment of a cause is a like spectrum. An individual can never fully embody a cause, because causes are transcendent. Causes are always something beyond the self, to which a group of people summon their collective aspirations. So when we talk about individual’s embodiment of a cause we are talking in effect of sufficient or adequate embodiment, not full representation.
The moral authority of a leader, their shield against betrayals, consist in their ability to adequately embody a cause. That embodiment can be measured in terms of their actions and their outputs. There was a time, a brief time, that Tinubu was seen as an adequate, even if not perfect, symbol of resistance against the destructive tyranny of the all powerful central, federal government of Nigeria. When, in 2003, the AD governors in southwest Nigeria all feel by the way side, partly due to their own presumptuous lethargy and failures, and partly due to PDP’s and Obasanjo’s subterfuge, Tinubu was the last man standing. He went ahead to initiate moves such a creating new local government development areas in Lagos, in defiance of the all controlling federal government. He commanded the admiration of many ordinary citizens. However, at this point also he was already beginning to accumulate personal power and wealth, as well as empowering his cronies. By the time he finished his second term as a governor, he was no longer an adequate embodiment of any collective struggle or cause for good. Tinubu was all about Tinubu and his cronies. He empowered them. Like Bashorun Ga’a of yore, he has become the powerful godfather who single-handedly pick and fire governors in Lagos at will, appoint his daughter as iyaloja, instal his wife as senator, and forced the middle class of Lagos state into submission as hapless serfs under a tax regime that serves to enrich his pocket, a la Alpha Beta. He was the personification of hubris. Nemesis was only a matter of time.
Tinubu forgets that the only shield a leader can summon in times like this is his own loyalty to a cause bigger than himself. Instead, he has devoted most of his time in public life to the service of one cause: himself, himself, and himself. He suddenly realises and therefore tries to project himself as champion of Yoruba nation- a move that reeks of naked desperation.
When young men and women were gunned down during the #EndSARS protests, he played dumb. He couldn’t bring himself to condemn the barbarous attack by the state on its own citizens. Those are young men and women, singing the national anthem, driven by patriotic fervour and hope that this nation can be better. Those were young men committed to the dream of a great Nigeria. Tinubu betrayed them. He betrayed that noble cause of nation building because of his personal lust for power. When the daughter of Afenifere leader was murdered by suspected terrorist herdsmen, Tinubu played the ostrich. He mockingly asked: “where are the cows?”, even as the old man was mourning the loss of his beloved daughter.
You want to feel pity for the man, until you realise that this is an exercise that is neither merited nor necessary. A man who is committed only to himself will sooner or later be betrayed by others with another cause other than himself- for better or for worse. The jury is now out on Osinbajo and the army of Tinubu betrayers. Do they have a higher cause in view, or are they enacting another round of a selfish will to power?
