Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu is a Nigerian accountant, politician, and the president-elect of Nigeria in 2023, he was born on 29 March 1952.
Bola Tinubu was elected Senator for the Lagos West constituency in Lagos State, Nigeria in 1993, he also was elected governor of Lagos State (1999 – 2007). He is said to be among Nigeria’s most successful politicians ever.
Early life and Education
Tinubu was born and raised in the southwest of Nigeria. Abibatu Mogaji, his mother, was a businessman who later rose to the position of Iyaloja in Lagos State.
He attended Children’s Home School in Ibadan and St. John’s Primary School in Aroloya, Lagos.
In 1975, Tinubu moved to the United States to further his education. He originally attended Chicago’s Richard J. Daley College before transferring to Chicago State University.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Accounting and Management) in 1979.
Read Also: INEC declares Bola Tinubu of APC winner of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election
Career
Tinubu worked for the American companies Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, Haskins, & Sells, and GTE Services Corporation.
During his time in the United States, Tinubu was noted for his suspiciously high income before being investigated by federal authorities.
His assets were ultimately frozen in 1993 as a result of a court case where it was claimed that the American government had “probable cause” to believe that Tinubu’s American bank accounts contained the proceeds of heroin dealing.
Later that year, he would reach a settlement with the authorities and forfeit close to $460,000. Tinubu worked as a bagman for two Chicago heroin dealers in the early 1990s, according to court records and subsequent coverage of the case.
He returned to Nigeria in the early 1980s and took a job as an accountant with Mobil Nigeria before joining politics in 1992 as the Social Democratic Party’s candidate for the Lagos West senate seat.
His political career started in 1992 when he joined the Social Democratic Party.
He was a part of the Peoples Front faction, which was headed by Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and included politicians like Umaru Yar’Adua, Atiku Abubakar, Baba Gana Kingibe, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Magaji Abdullahi, Dapo Sarumi, and Yomi Edu.
In the brief Nigerian Third Republic, he was elected to the Senate and served as the senator for Lagos West.
Tinubu created numerous housing units in Lagos for the underprivileged after taking office as the governor of Lagos State in May 1999.
He made large improvements in the state’s educational system during his eight years in power and also decreased the number of schools by handing back many of them to their original owners who had already built their homes there.
As a result of the state’s population’s rapid growth, he also started building new roads.
President Buhari received Tinubu’s formal announcement that he intended to run for president of Nigeria on January 10, 2022.
On 1 March 2023, INEC declared Tinubu winner of the 2023 presidential election. He was declared president-elect after he polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his opponents.
Personal Life
Tinubu is a Muslim, who is married to Oluremi Tinubu, the current senator of the Lagos Central senatorial district.
Tinubu’s mother, Abibatu Mogaji, died on 15 June 2013 at the age of 96. On 31 October 2017, his son Jide Tinubu had a heart attack while in London and was later confirmed dead.
Tinubu holds both the chieftaincies of the Asiwaju of Lagos and the Jagaban of the Borgu kingdom in Niger State, Nigeria.
References:
- Wikipedia: Bola Tinubu
- Nairaland Forum: Full Biography Of Bola Tinubu (The Jagaban) – Politics – Nairaland
- “Fayemi salutes Tinubu at 69, says he is leader of leaders”
- “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-1999-2007 – BabaJide Sanwo-Olu – Governor of Lagos State”
- Premium Times: INEC declares APC’s Bola Tinubu winner of Nigeria’s presidential election
- The News Nigeria: “Tinubu at 69: His life story, from rugged early period, escape to exile, others”
