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13Years of The Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Colloquiums: Nationalism Personified By Leadership Exemplified

For 13years After His Governorship Tenure Ended in Lagos State, He Has Been Focused on #NIGERIAFIRST! #NIGERIAONLY!! and #NIGERIAALWAYS!!!

The Jagaban Borgu did not wait

2. until one year to elections every four years, did not seek to divide using religion, did not speak because he wanted to be President...

He has been at the forefront of Nigeria patriotism and defiant nationalism exemplified by his management of Lagos for and to the world.

3. The Theme of The Bola Ahmed Tinubu First Colloquium held on March 29th, 2009 was ‘Every Vote Must Count’ inspired by the country’s preparation for the 2011 general elections against the backdrop of lessons learnt from the conduct and outcomes of the 2007 elections.

4. A major outcome of the first colloquium was the inauguration of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER).

The second colloquium was held on March 29, 2010 with the theme – ‘This House Must Stand! Pulling Nigeria Back from the Brink’. Renowned economist and

5. innovator Dr. Hernando de Soto spoke on extralegality as it affects world economies and human rights.

The third colloquium addressed the pertinent question – ‘Nigeria-Why isn’t it Working, How Will It Work’? Presentations were made on the state of the economy

6. in comparison with like countries to measure growth. According to Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the ideas expressed at that colloquium gave valuable insights.

The fourth colloquium held on March 28, 2012 had the theme ‘Looking Back, Thinking Ahead’ was in response to the need to

7. review the successes & failures of the Asiwaju administration & its successor towards articulating the lessons learnt in drafting a direction for the future.

Also, at the 4th colloquium, the book ‘Asiwaju : Leadership in Troubled Times’ was formally presented to the public.

8. In his foreword to the book Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, mni, CFR, Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs stated that

“ the book we must also admit, is being presented at a critical period in the history of

9. our beloved country. The security challenges, especially in the Northern states, are becoming worrisome. Poverty in the midst of plenty has become the lot of the majority of our people”

Hon. Justice Uwais, GCON, in his preface noted that Tinubu’s testing of the judiciary

10. with constitutional cases that invoked the powers of the Supreme Court helped in expounding our nascent democracy and enriched our constitutional jurisprudence.

Another significant outcome of the fourth Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium was the launch of the Bola Tinubu

11. Institute for Politics and Government, a non-governmental think tank that focuses on issues of politics and governance in Africa with a distinct emphasis on Nigeria.

The Centre conducts research into challenges that affect the capacity of governments to deliver

12. universal basic access to social services as well as to provide solutions to the complex challenges and issues plaguing the African continent.

The Centre also provides fresh intellectual ideas in electoral practices, pro-poor government policies, regional integration,

13. and fiscal federalism in the coming decade, education, and health & social service strategies for Nigeria’s ballooning population.

The Theme for the fifth colloquiums' held on the 28th March, 2013 was ‘Beyond Mergers: A National Movement for Change, A New Generation Speaks’.

14. The theme is in response to the recent merger of major opposition parties in Nigeria to form the All Progressive Congress, (APC) a party which it is hoped, will provide a real alternative to the ruling party.

The optimism for the future that this development has engendered

15. has also somewhat excited the thought that perhaps this might be an opportunity for a more broad-based movement for National transformation. The fifth colloquium seeks to create a platform for encouraging that possibility.

Held on the 29th of March, 2014,

16.

the sixth Bola Tinubu colloquium was tagged “The Summit of The Common Man”.

This edition was different as the common man was the centre of the symposium as he has been neglected for too long.

According to the organizers, “there are 20.3 million unemployed youth.

17.

75% of Nigerians have no access to primary healthcare.

10.8 million Children of primary school age are out of school, 24.4 million Nigerians would be homeless by 2015 and 55,000 women die annually”.

18. These numbers are alarming and something needs to be done to reduce it to the barest minimum.

The seventh colloquium was a two in one event. It was both a symposium and a book launch. The program took place on March 25th, 2015.

The theme of the seventh edition was

19. “Change: How Will It work”.

Taking opportunity of the program being days away from the general elections, the agenda of the party along with the manifesto of things to be done once in power was reiterated.

20. The book launched was a book written by the celebrant titled “Common Sense Revolution”.

The 8th Bola Tinubu Colloquium with the theme: ‘Agriculture’ was held in Abuja in 2016. President Muhammadu Buhari reiterated the determination of his administration

21. to prioritize agriculture.

He said the cooperation of all Nigerians would however be required to make agriculture the country’s economic mainstay considering the shrinking crude oil price.

He said that his administration would prioritize agriculture to ensure that

22. the country is sufficient in the production of rice, wheat among other crops,
“We must produce what we eat, ” the President said.

To achieve that, he said investors would be encouraged towards speeding up agricultural production.

23. He also assured that his government will not renege on the school meal programme, adding that school children should not be made to search for food when they are supposed to be in school learning.

In his presentation, the governor of Kebbi State, Abubakar Bagudu noted

24. that government interventions have not been able to address challenges facing agriculture in the country.

He said of over three million hectares of farmland, less than five percent had been used. He urged the Federal government to encourage the production of wheat

25. while adding that the country can still do better with its current insufficient rice production. Dr Eleni Garbre Madhin of Tanzanian spoke on what Nigeria can do to develop its commodity exchange market.

The ninth colloquium theme was “Make It In Nigeria:

26. Make What We Use, Use What We Make.” The, policy makers, innovators, IT professionals, fashion designers and musicians spoke at the event.

The tenth Colloquium tagged “INVESTING IN PEOPLE”, brought together stakeholders including policy makers, academics,

27. members of Civil Society Organisations and ‘The People’ to tell their own unique Nigerian story of what it means for the government to act as a social investor in the lives and the future of its people.

The 11th, Bola Tinubu Colloquium focused on Jobs and the Economy.

28. The objective is to outline and showcase the government’s efforts to add millions of jobs over the next four years through policies and investment in agriculture, industrialisation, and technology/creative sector. This highlighted the Next Level initiatives to prepare

29. our people for the jobs of the future through education and skills development.

12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium Themed: “Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth” was held on the 29th of March, 2021. The theme, “Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth”

30. focuses on peacebuilding and national cohesion. It tried to interrogate from a national and regional perspective innovative strategies for sustaining peace, and prosperity in a heterogenous society.

The 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium to celebrate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s

31. 69th birthday was organised in the ancient and progressive city of Kano purposely to demonstrate the unity and oneness of Nigeria, it would appear that, that purpose was achieved bountifully given the huge success of the conference.

Not only was the colloquium

32. immensely successful with a rich collection of important dignitaries and first-class panelists in attendance and the high quality of ideas and recommendations thrown up on the pressing issues facing the country, the selection of Kano as host city for the colloquium

33. was also highly praised. The 13th Bola Ahmed Tinubu Colloquium had The Theme “Where should Nigeria, the largest black nation, be in the ranking of nations?”

How is this country affected by political and economic challenges? What does the future look like?

34. The raging debate of recent has been if Nigeria, with its many domestic problems, was ever a giant of Africa.

The argument has been whether a country struggling to get electricity to power its homes and industries, fighting protracted security challenges and unable to

35. crack many of its development knots, can be reckoned with in the unfolding new world order.

The theme for 13th colloquium seeks to explore the perennial question of good governance as a very critical factor in making Nigeria an active role player in the new world order.

36. The internet has changed the world from the way we know it. It has altered our way of life – how we live, work and socialise.

The Colloquium was to attempt to deconstruct the new world of technology, the businesses around technology and the future of work and

37. other human activities. Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to the bombing of the Abuja Kaduna Train.

PLEASE NOTE: A lot of these materials were sourced from bolatinubucolloquium.org and bolatinubu.com/about-colloqui…

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