From Lagos "Landlord" to Nigerian leader: 10 facts about Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinbu, will soon be taking over the seat of president from Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s next president.

chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced this on Wednesday making it clear that the presidential candidate of Nigeria's ruling party, All Progressive Congress, and one-time Lagos State governor has emerged as the winner of last Saturday’s (February 25) presidential elections.

Tinubu is however a divisive character in Nigerian politics and is Widely credited with reshaping Nigeria's commercial hub Lagos.

Below are some facts about the Lagos "Landlord" set to rule Nigeria:

1. Real name

His full name is Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu. He holds the revered titles of Asiwaju of Lagos and Jagaban of Borgu Kingdom, and has been identified as the individual behind recent political maneuvers in the region.

2. Date of Birth

His known date of birth is 29th March 1952, which makes him 70 years, a figure many has disputed due to unknown reasons.

3. Birth Place

Even though he has become more famed for his influence in Lagos (Nigeria's commercial hub) and his time as its governor, his birthplace is Osun State, southwest of Nigeria. He is a Muslim and belongs to the Yoruba ethnic group.

4. Education -Trained accountant

Tinubu had his education in Nigeria's Ibadan before he continued to college in Chicago and onwards to the Chicago State University for his undergraduate studies. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1979,

5. Career

He worked for a number of accounting firms in the States before he moved to Nigeria in 1983. Bola Tinubu joined Mobil Oil Nigeria, and soon after, he was appointed as the company's executive.

6. Politics

He joined politics in 1992 with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on whose ticket he became Lagos West Senator.

7. Tinubu joined pro-democracy groups after the 'electoral coup' of 1993 (when the military annulled the election of Moshood Abiola) and fled to exile in 1994 fearing the then Sani Abacha regime

8. He came back to Nigeria in 1998 after the death of Sani Abacha. In January 1999, he vied for the position of Governor of Lagos State on the AD ticket. He was elected governor of the state. He left the Lagos State government house in

2007 but has since influenced who becomes Lagos, governor. The last three governors after he left have all admitted publicly to being his prodigies Tinubu's influence has also extended across the southwest region and his political alliances have also seen him make very loyal friends in the Muslim-dominated north.

9. He became national leader of the ruling APC after its formation in 2014 before the party won elections in 2015 with outgoing Muhammadu Buhari as its flagbearer. He run on a Muslim- Muslim ticket, i.e. he picked a Muslim as his vice (Kashim Shettima from Borno State) contrary to the religious balancing of tickets by the major parties.

10. He is married to Oluremi Tinubu, a Reverend Minister and has four children – Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, Oluwaseyi Tinubu, Abibat Tinubu, and the late Jide Tinubu,

Tinubu triumphs over 2 main rivals

Tinubu was in the race along with the main opposition People's Democratic Party's (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).

APC polled 8,805,655 valid votes against the PDP's 6,984,520 and LP's 6,098,588. The New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) got 1,496,687 valid votes whiles the fourteen other aspirants together got the remaining 666,298.

Nigeria's peculiar means of determining the president means that the winner must get at least 25% of votes in two-thirds of the 36 states.

History

Africa's most populous country is facing a disintegrating economy, widespread insecurity and high inflation. Many, especially the youth will want Mr Tinubu to hit the ground running when he finally takes over as president.

A trained accountant, it was the activities of the pro-democracy National Democratic Coalition (Nadeco) group, where he was a member, that brought him into Abacha's crosshairs.

The opposition of groups like Nadeco, and Abacha's death in 1998, ushered in Nigeria's democracy in 1999 and in many ways, Mr Tinubu, a former Mobil oil executive, feels entitled to Nigeria's presidency.

Mr. Tinubu, will now be looking at unifying a country that is retreating into regional lines and religious blocs, as the election results show.

During his tenure as Lagos state governor between 1999 and 2007, Lagos massively grew its income through huge foreign investment, while a public transport scheme that saw new lanes created for rapid buses eased the notorious traffic jams faced daily by commuters.

But the city of around 25 million people has not lived up to its reputation as a megacity despite his claims of turning it around.