By As Asiwaju Bola Tinubu crisscrosses the length and breadth of Nigeria in his attempt to sell his candidacy to Nigerians ahead of the 2023 presidential elections, one person that has been consistently captured is his son, Seyi Tinubu.
Seyi is the Chief Executive Officer of an out-of-home advertising company, Loatsad Promomedia Ltd and he is obviously not leaving any stone unturned in supporting his father’s “life long ambition” to lead the most populous nation in Africa.
Since January 10, 2022, that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his desire to take over the reins of governance from him come 2023, his son Seyi often referred to as ‘Oju Eko’ loosely translated as ‘Eyes of Lagos’ has become more visible in the consultation campaigns of his father.
Amongst the young people and in the entertainment circle which Seyi Tinubu has a viable patronage, his involvement in the Tinubu’s 2023 bid will in some people’s opinion give his father a soft landing. @kelecie sometimes in February wrote on Twitter, “A lot of celebrities and Lagos big wig entertainment plugs wouldn’t speak against a Tinubu candidacy because of their relationship with his son Seyi Tinubu.I don’t blame them tbh cos he who pays the piper…….”
But Seyi Tinubu will not be the only son wanting his father to ace the top seat of his country. Ahead of the 2016 presidential election in the United States of America, Donald Trump Jr. was a major frontman in getting support for his father, he met with an Israeli social media specialist and an emissary for the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia who said the countries wanted to help Donald Trump win around the election period and introduced.
At the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, United States in 2016, it was Donald Trump Jr. that introduced his father with a passionate speech painting him his “best friend”, father and most qualified candidate to lead America. He went on to mesmerise the convention attendees with personal anecdotes seeking to humanize his father and which sought to expand Trump’s paltry appeal among minorities, presenting him as a man who can do the impossible.
For Chelsea Clinton, her involvement went way back to 2000 when she joined the campaign during the closing months of her mother’s first Senate race in New York. In Hillary Clinton’s first trailblazing quest to win the US presidency in 2008, Chelsea joined her parents onstage at a campaign fundraiser in Manhattan but did not address the audience. However, in 2016, Chelsea, daughter of former President Bill Clinton took a more decisive seat in the campaign to earn her mum the Democratic Party’s nomination ticket. She appeared in Metuchen at The Brown Stone to help kick off the opening of the Middlesex County Hillary for New Jersey office on Friday May 13, 2016 and went on to make impressive appearances until Hillary lost to Donald Trump at the general elections.
Undeniably, there are key lessons to pick from these examples. Chief of them is the inseparable bond which typifies parent-child relationships, an affirmation of the oft-cited saying: “blood is thicker”. In a world where partisan leanings divide families and ruin age-long friendships, having a child openly take the lead in the pursuit of their parent’s political ambitions is instructive. It no doubt reminds us of one of the firm ideals of family: loyalty against all odds.
