PROFILE: Bola Tinubu: The Kingmaker becomes Nigeria’s President, 16th Leader

After he joined the Peoples Front, a political movement headed by Shehu Yar’adua, a retired general and former chief of staff, Supreme Headquarters, in 1992, the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, spent the next two years working for two men — Mr Yar’adua and Moshood Abiola — to become Nigeria’s president. But the two never made it.

Mr Tinubu himself was not considered by many as a likely future president, until he informed Nigerians in January 2022 that becoming a president had been his lifetime ambition.

Today, Mr Tinubu will become one of the 16 Nigerians privileged to occupy the nation’s highest political office since its independence in 1960, and also its seventh civilian to do so.

Although Mr Tinubu, holder of Asiwaju and Jagaban traditional titles n Lagos and Borgu respectively, is one of the most popular names in Nigeria today, the man himself remains a mystery to many. His age, education and family background have over time become contentious and outrightly…