Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Bola Ahmed Tinubu: Nigerian President and Political Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu GCFR (born March 29, 1952) is a Nigerian politician currently serving as the 16th and current President of Nigeria since 2023. He is recognized as a key figure in the return to democratic governance in 1999 and a foundational architect of modern Nigerian opposition politics. Early Life and Education Tinubu was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He emigrated to the United States in 1975, where he studied at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago before transferring to Chicago State University, where he graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. Following his education, he worked for several American companies, including Arthur Andersen, Deloitte and Touche, and GTE. Upon returning to Nigeria in the early 1990s, he joined the mobile oil company, Mobil Nigeria, rising to the position of treasurer. Career Progression and Political Ascendancy Tinubu's political career began in 1992 when he was elected Senator for the Lagos West constituency in the short-lived Third Republic. After the annulment of the June 12 presidential election and the subsequent military takeover, Tinubu became an activist, co-founding the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a group that fought for the return of democracy. He was forced into exile in 1994, returning in 1998 after the death of military dictator Sani Abacha. In 1999, following the transition to the Fourth Republic, Tinubu successfully contested and was elected as the Governor of Lagos State under the Alliance for Democracy (AD) party. He served two terms, from May 1999 to May 2007. His tenure as governor is often credited with improving Lagos's infrastructure, public finance management, and initiating reforms that significantly increased the state's internally generated revenue (IGR). Major Achievements and Notable Works After concluding his tenure as governor, Tinubu remained a dominant force in Nigerian politics. He played a pivotal role in unifying several opposition parties, leading to the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013. This coalition successfully defeated the incumbent president in the 2015 general election, marking the first time in Nigeria's history that an opposition party democratically won the presidency. For his role in this political movement, he earned the widely used title, "National Leader" of the APC. Notable policy achievements from his political and administrative career include modernizing Lagos State's judicial and financial sectors and laying the groundwork for many of the state’s massive infrastructure projects. Current Status In June 2022, Bola Ahmed Tinubu secured the presidential ticket for the APC. Following a highly contested election, he was declared the winner of the 2023 Nigerian presidential election. He was inaugurated as the 16th President of Nigeria on May 29, 2023, the role he currently occupies.