Ajomale

Chief Henry Ajomale, Chairman of All Progressives Congress in Lagos State and head of all APC state chairmen in Nigeria has explained why Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos and leader of the party, has loyalists all over Nigeria.

In an interview with TheNEWS, he said: “I told someone recently that if you know your friends, there is no way you can quarrel. Asiwaju is a teacher, he is someone who will never betray his friends, he will rather prefer his friends to betray him than betraying his friends, which they did most of the times.”

Ajomale added that Asiwaju is a leader, a very brilliant person, who has the interest of this country at heart. “If he were to be another rich politician, why should he fight for the common man, why should he fight for the poor man? Bam bam ni mo yo, mio mo boya ebi npa omo enikan (I am rich, I care less for the poor). Why will Tinubu go out of his way to risk his money and everything to fight the last administration? Other people that had money did not do much. They went with the government in power and the people who moved with the government in power are the people criticizing the government today because they didn’t get that free money they were getting before. So they must criticize the government to open up, so that they can get to the treasury which has been blocked against them.”

Ajomale explained that he is not the type who would follow people like a zombie. “I don’t. I’ am a lawyer, I was a diplomat and I have served this country in various capacities before I joined politics. It is not because we don’t have money or something to do. When you look at it, if somebody did not say something in defence of the poor, nobody will do it for them, but you have to encourage them to be bold enough to criticize that government that is not caring for them, you must be bold, if not the rich will continue to be richer and the poor will continue to be poorer,” he added.

The APC chairman revealed further that Asiwaju Tinubu can spend his last kobo on any poor man that he finds in a bad situation. “I have never seen any person who is overwhelmingly concerned about the poor like Tinubu. But I believe genuinely that he has the interest of this country at heart and that’s why some of us follow him, you know his age and you know mine but it is not age. God can put a small boy somewhere who is so brilliant and if God says he is the one that is going to do it, so be it.

“Why should I be jealous of him? I will rather learn from him in order to enrich my own knowledge as far as politics is concerned, and we are very close because we have the same attitude. I don’t betray my friends, the worst I can do if I feel your ways are not my ways is that I can withdraw. That’s my nature.

“But I learnt a lot from Asiwaju. We quarrel, we disagree on some issues, but that is not for public consumption but overall I think he is a good leader. He is someone that the Yoruba and Nigerians can rely on for advice and strategy, how to move this country forward. That’s why we are close.”

Chief Ajomale’s full interview (appraisal of the Akinwumi Ambode and the Muhammadu Buhari governments at one and other issues) will follow soon.