Meant to be a rallying cry intended to bring attention to attempts by fair-weather political friends to stifle his 2023 presidential aspirations, the meaning of Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu’s epochal remark, “emi lokan,” has continued to be explained in ways that fail to denote what the president intended.
Tinubu, not known to shirk from his life-long ambition to be the president of Nigeria, formally threw his hat into the ring when immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, was near serving out his full eight-year tenure as president. It was Tinubu’s best chance to contest and it did not matter whose ox would be gored.
However, while all the intrigues and drama that characterised Tinubu’s political party, the All Progressives Congress’ presidential primary were ramping up, the former governor of Lagos State sensed that he was about to be boxed into a corner by the body language of the president he (Tinubu) perceived to be unfavourable to his aspirations.
Tinubu was also uncomfortable with the fact that some of those he built-up into political heavyweights or helped to put in the upper echelons of the political world were not reciprocating the level of support he anticipated for his own journey into politics, this time, to capture the presidency.
Trying to avoid being thrown under the bus, Tinubu had on June 2, 2022, during a campaign stop in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital and Yoruba heartland, met with APC delegates and voiced out his concerns. The Jagaban also said that Buhari, a Fulani man from northern Nigeria, would never have been president without him and that it was his turn to preside over the affairs of Nigeria.
Tinubu, whose campaign trail had by then gotten bogged down by the currency redesign and cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as a crippling nationwide fuel scarcity which brought untold hardship on Nigerians, said in his speech, which he delivered in sublime Yoruba language, “Emi lokan,” or, it is my turn.
Damning the consequences, Tinubu explained how Buhari “cried” to him about his failure to win the 2011 presidential election – his third failed attempt – and how he dissuaded the former military dictator from quitting politics; most Nigerians say that Tinubu crossed the line at this point and that the polity has not remained the same because of the magnitude of the ground shaking exposition, which registered high, on the political Ritcher scale.
Thus, Tinubu faced a barrage of criticism which rocked the APC to its foundations. And to prevent a crisis in the party, Femi Adesina, a former media aide to then president Buhari decided to get his boss, who was out of the country at the time, acquainted with Tinubu’s speech.
In Adesina’s book, Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015-2023), which was launched in January, the media aide said he narrated all that transpired in Ogun State while Buhari was airborne to Abuja as it would not be right for him “to get to Nigeria and be reading different versions and interpretations (explanations) of what happened, which may be right or wrong.”
Although Buhari, according to Adesina, had simply responded: “Asiwaju said all that? Thank you for coming to brief me,” other not-too-impressed Nigerians scolded the whole idea of “emi lokan,” explaining it as they deem fit.
Before the February 25, 2023 presidential election, the lead pastor of Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare, condemned “emi lokan” politics, saying it is bad and leads to entitlement.
Bakare said, “This ‘emi lokan’ politics that insists on one’s turn, even if circumstances do not align, is bad.
“I disagree with people who have been berating the president because of the ‘emi lokan’ speech he gave in Ogun State. They are jealous, plain and simple”
“Politics of entitlement also manifests as perennial candidacy, not with the intent to serve, but to gratify long-time personal ambitions.”
The candidate of the Labour Party in last year’s election, Peter Obi, had also lambasted Tinubu because of the brouhaha over “emi lokan” and got much needed support during the presidential campaign from former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who concurred with him (Obi).
Obasanjo said, “Let me say straight away that ‘emi lokan’ and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are the wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now.
“They cannot form the new pedestal to reinvent and to invest in a new Nigeria based on an All-Nigeria Government for the liberation and restoration of Nigeria.
“The solution should be in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and not in ‘me’ and ‘I’.”
In his own view, a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Usman Yusuf, recently said that “emi lokan” meant Tinubu as a leader had forfeited his right to make any excuse as president and had to be blamed for the current hardship and food insecurity in the country.
Yusuf said, “Tinubu was the one who said ‘emi lokan’ and that it was his turn.
“This is not Buhari’s time. We spent eight years criticising Buhari and we are tired; I honestly don’t want to hear his name. Buhari messed this country up but you, Tinubu, said ‘emi lokan’ – it is my turn – I can do it.
“There is a saying that leaders have forfeited the right to make any excuse. It is not Buhari that took away fuel subsidies flippantly. It is you and you (have to) bear all the consequences of that reckless policy.
“So, it is you that we will hold. It is not Buhari’ or (Goodluck) Jonathan. You said you can do it. Now do it.”
In defense of “emi lokan,” Tinubu, after he won the election, had gone on a “thank you” visit to the palace of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, and there he explained that “emi lokan” symbolised the invocation of the spirits of freedom and determination to overcome obstacles in the election.
“Our money was confiscated (before the election). The cashless policy didn’t work, it was terrible then … .I came to this palace to invoke the spirit of freedom which we are noted for.
“The second spirit (determination) is that money or no money (we will do the election and we will win),” Tinubu said.
A political analyst, Muyiwa Bello, told The Point that those who have been explaining the meaning of “emi lokan” were free to do so.
He also said he agrees that ‘emi lokan’ was centred on arrogance, entitlement and the pursuit of selfish political glory.
“I believe that those who have been explaining the meaning of ‘emi lokan’ are free to do so. We are in a democracy, are we not?
“I agree with those who have said or are still insisting that ‘emi lokan’ is centred on arrogance, entitlement and that it is in pursuit of selfish political glory.
“The truth is that ‘emi lokan’ is a responsibility and the president must know that Nigerians will hold him accountable if he does not fully deliver the dividends of his Renewed Hope promises.
“Tinubu must arrest corruption in his government and in other arms of government, especially the legislature with their alleged padded budget, but if not, ‘emi lokan’ will just mean their turn to steal,” Bello said.
While disagreeing with some of the views held by Bello, a public affairs analyst, Amara Ugorji, said the intention behind “emi lokan” was noble and that those who had continued not to explain the meaning correctly were doing Nigerians a disservice.
In addition, Ugorji said she agreed that with the right support, Tinubu would excel and reposition Nigeria for greatness.
“I disagree with people who have been berating the president because of the ‘emi lokan’ speech he gave in Ogun State. They are jealous, plain and simple.
“In 2023, it was ‘emi lokan.’ In 2027, it will be another slogan or mantra – whatever you choose to call it – and Nigerians will once again show their love and support to the president.
“The intention behind ‘emi lokan’ is noble and those that are not explaining the meanings correctly are doing Nigerians a disservice.
“And I stand to be contradicted, if Tinubu is given the support and encouragement he needs, he will excel and reposition Nigeria for greatness. Unfortunately, the politics we play in this country will not allow such a thing,” she said.
