BY SENATOR ROBERT BORROFICE

To be alive is to know the fear of death, and to be human, fear of every kind. From the womb, we are conditioned and excited by it, ashamed of it, yet ultimately governed by it. This is why fear is the main tool of any dictatorship.

A sage once said, “It is not life that matters, but the courage you bring into it.”

On the surface, this statement seems paradoxical; after all, the dead are incapable of courage, so how can courage be more important than life? But it is true. Any man or woman can live a life hidden in the darkness of fear, but every accomplishment in life demands courage, and courage demands self-sacrifice. To achieve success, one must risk failure. To win, you have to submit yourself to the possibility of defeat. Does this then mean that our lives matter only as much as goals and accomplishments or how much we have sacrificed? Of what value is the courage of a thief, a murderer or a dictator?

Once again, “it is not life that matters, but the courage you bring into it.” If your courage inspires fear in others, then the impact of your life is a negative one and it is the lives of others you have sacrificed for your own gain. If, on the other hand, you show courage, and your courage and self-sacrifice inspire the same in others, then your life is of great value. We know of men and women like this throughout history: Jesus, Joan of Arc, Mandela, Martin Luther King, people whose courage led them to great exploits, whose sacrifice etched their names in history, heroes for their just cause.

If Nigerian democracy is a just cause, then Bola Ahmed Tinubu is one of such heroes.

He was a chieftain in NADECO, resisting the Abacha regime, going into exile in order to provide logistical support for Radio Kudirat, then the mouthpiece of the opposition.

In his first term as Governor of Lagos, Tinubu warned his fellow party members in AD against cooperation with the PDP in 2003. His advice went unheeded and, as a consequence, he was the last of the AD governors left standing in the wake of the Obasanjo political tsunami.

Alone, but undaunted, he pressed forward with political reforms in his second term, despite every attempt of the Obasanjo administration to lay political siege to his Governorship. When the statutory allocations for Lagos State were denied, Tinubu improved the State’s Internal Revenue Collection service, harnessing the economic strength of Lagos to deliver on the ambitious promise of progressive governance.

Not content with the vindication of his stewardship of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu once again fought to build a new progressive party from the ashes of AD. Despite resistance from the Afenifere, who mischaracterized his political vision as an attempt to hijack Yoruba leadership, his courage nevertheless inspired leaders and voters alike in Ogun, Oyo and Osun states to abandon the PDP and pitch their tent under the ACN banner.

But it was the joint effort with Muhammadu Buhari and Ogbonaya Onu to integrate their parties and midwife the APC that would turn the tide in Nigeria’s democratic journey in a manner never seen before, producing Buhari, himself a man of courage, as the President of Nigeria.

There is no question as to the greatness of Bola Tinubu’s political acumen and skill; Nigeria never fails to produce individuals of remarkable talent.

But he stands alone today as a National Political champion and leader of the Yoruba people because of his uncommon courage and his willingness to make personal sacrifices so that the cause of good governance might go the distance. Like all heroes, he has faced betrayals, insinuations and stigma, maligned by those whose personal ambitions are threatened by his prominence.

But those who seek to demystify do so in vain, for there is nothing mysterious about courage.