Akanbi was supporting the progressives as a private citizen when he was working at Mobil. It was because of that gesture that he was advised by Baba Olusi and other elders in the progressive family in Lagos to join politics. They felt that he would be more 'useful' in a public office than he was in a multinational organization. He resigned and joined politics and in 1992, he won election to represent Lagos West in the senate with the highest number of votes in Nigeria as a senator. He was to be the senate president until MKO Abiola showed interest to contest for president under same party, the real SDP, Social Democratic Party, not this present platform for the aggrieved. He felt that a country as ethnically diversed like ours can not have one geopolitical zone producing the senate president and the president and so without Abiola approaching him, he let go of his ambition and supporter Iyochia Ayu from Benue state to take that office. Abiola won but Babangida annulled the election and so Tinubu again used his enormous resources to finance pro-democracy groups and when Abacha wanted to eliminate him after setting ablaze his home where he lost some vital documents, he wore one of his wife's clothes to escape through the Nigerian-Benin Republic border and continued to sponsor the struggle for restoration of democracy to Nigeria. He was not the only rich man sponsoring these groups, Pa Alfred Rewane was doing same and that was why he was killed. Abacha died and Tinubu came back home to a rousing welcome by Lagos progressives. He wanted to return to the senate when Abdusalami seemed serious about returning us to democratic governance but those leaders who wanted to appreciate his contribution to the struggle for return to democracy turned him down and said that the only befitting office was the Office of the Governor of Lagos State. And that was how Ogunlere became Governor in 1999. He was in office for 8 years. He then wanted to return to the senate but there was a certain Fashola whom he had identified as a worthy successor but Fashola had no political structure anywhere in Lagos and so Tinubu felt that he would have to devote his whole time and resources to Fashola's project, his project. He therefore, asked Ganiyu Solomon to go to the senate instead of him. Tinubu backed Fashola and did not hold any position in office since the day he left office for Fashola. Rather, he was working underground, identifying great minds across SW age Edo state and supporting them to become governors with his resources as he was doing even before he joined politics. The climax came when he formed APC with Buhari and others. Tinubu was mocked for being irrelevant under Buhari government but Akanbi had installed fPMB and he knew that he must not rock the boat. He therefore, did not run to any tv station to run down the Buhari government just because he was mocked for not recognized by that government. He did not become the mouthpiece of the opposition. He was calm, observant and strategic. He was building more bridges across the country. When Buhari imposed Abdullahi Adamu on the party and did not allow election to take place where Al-Makura was poised to defeat Adamu, neither Tinubu nor Al-Makura went to a tv station to lament. Tinubu waited until when APC started selling presidential nomination form. He got his and because he was the best and the most prepared with patience and ability to control his emotions, he defeated a sitting vice president, a senate president, governors and ministers yet the last time he was in government was 2007! All of them combined did not get 50% of the votes he got. Again, he is calm now. He is focused on the job at hand which is to fix Nigeria while those who feel entitled to every slot that is allocated to their state including Kayode Fayemi are running to every tv station telling Nigerians that the party has failed them. They know that subsidy had to go. In fact they agitated for its removal when they were governors. They also know that the unification of the foreign exchange market was also necessary. At least, their emir, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi told them and they all agreed. They knew too that those two policies would cause us a temporary hardship but they have decided to become activists today. Lol They forgot that Tinubu was patient, calm, quiet and strategic after leaving office and did not become the mouthpiece of the opposition because he was not in office after 2007. 2027 will be interesting as Akanbi is poised to again trounce his opponents again without running from one tv station to another. #swa