President Bola Tinubu has said that he benefitted immensely from his close relationship with long-time confidant, Bisi Akande, and that he considered himself lucky to have him.
He had earlier extolled Akande’s defining principles of integrity, loyalty, truth and justice, recalling his exemplary leadership odyssey and selfless service to Nigeria.
Tinubu, who stated this during a dinner held at the State House Conference Centre to celebrate the 85th birthday of the elder statesman, said he was delighted that the sentiments he had about the former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who is also a former governor of Osun State, resonated well with other speakers at the event.
The President, while recounting the role of Akande in the process leading to the emergence of the APC as a mega party and its eventual election victory in 2015, said that the lessons in forgiveness and patience that he learnt from the elder statesman eventually led him to becoming the President of Nigeria.
He said: “Anyone, who wants to learn about forgiveness, candour and reliability, should see Chief Bisi Akande. You taught us perseverance, patience, honesty, and management of resources, be it human or capital.”
“You know how many times and how long that we spoke truth to power, deliberate on how to take the cuff off this nation, how to change and comply with our developmental objectives. You have been doing it whispering silently, ‘be patient, forget the past, look forward,” the President added.
In his response, Akande, who said he had concluded arrangements to have a discourse on ‘leadership’ to mark his birthday in Ibadan, thanked the President and First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, for the dinner, acknowledging that President Tinubu had always been pivotal in the celebration of his birthdays since the 70th anniversary.
He harped on the twin values of loyalty and honesty in dealings with friends.
