Leadership in troubled times, By Temitope Ajayi

So, I was in a meeting presided over by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday with other leaders such as Senator Kashim Shettima, the APC Vice Presidential Candidate, Chief Bisi Akande, Adams Oshiomhole and others.

At the meeting, the discussion veered towards the state of insecurity in the country and how his campaign should address the issue since it’s a no-brainer that opposition parties would certainly make it talking points to assail him and his party.

While those present were making various arguments and trying hard to be politically correct, Asiwaju stepped in, critically dissected the issue with uncommon clarity and statesmanship.

First, he interjected with a question to redirect the debate when someone made a point that seemed to blame President Muhammadu Buhari for the spike in insecurity.

Asiwaju asked: “which President or leader would be happy to wake up everyday to hear the news of his or her people being killed by criminals of whatever name?”

A pin-drop silence enveloped the room.

Having taken charge of the proceedings with his thought provoking question, Asiwaju thereafter proceeded to marshal out his perspectives.

In Asiwaju’s view, solution to the challenge of insecurity is not recriminations, blame game or buck passing. Furthermore, he isolated the challenge of insecurity as one of system failure that needs to be tackled holistically. He concluded by saying that once the challenge is defined, and admitted as one yet unresolved, the campaign must tell Nigerians how, if elected as President, he would proffer and deploy multi-layered strategies to tackle and solve the menace of insecurity across the land.

What thrilled me the most was the calm and suave manner Asiwaju redirected the discussion with serious introspection. I saw in a him a leader who can weather any storm without losing his mind and one who can show courage even when passing through fire. That is the stuff Presidents are made of.