With the pace things are going, it will only be a matter of time before the immediate past governor of Lagos State , Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, gets his name listed in the Forbes world’s richest list. Recent information reaching us is that the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has actually acquired the troubled Bellview Airlines of Dr. Kayode Odukoya and has in fact rechristened it First Nation Airline.
Though the airline has not begun flight operations, the Jagaban Bornu has acquired some aircraft to herald the smooth take-off of the business. Those who have seen the new aircraft parked at the domestic wing of the MMA 2 claimed that they have the same colour with the Tinubu-owned The Nation newspaper.
Though the amount the master politician purchased the airline could not be confirmed at the time of going to press, it will no doubt set the former governor back by millions of dollars. In fact, Aviation workers claimed that the ex-governor could not have paid anything less than $300 million for the acquisition of the airline.
It would be recalled that Chief Jimoh Ibrahim had earlier bought EAS Airlines, which he starved of funds before he later bought 49 percent shares of Virgin Nigeria which cannot be said to be in a steadier state than Bellview for more than $250 million.
We also gathered that in the politician’s strategy to shield his investment in the airline he decided to appoint the immediate past Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the company, Dr. Kayode Odukoya as the Chairman of the airline. This is not the first time the politician would do such. Tinubu’s Commissioner for Information and Strategic Planning when he was the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Dele Alake is the man at the helm of affairs at the broadcasting outfit Radio and Television Continental, also owned by the Asiwaju of Lagos.
A recent visit to the Ikosi office of the TV/Radio Continental further lays credence to Tinubu’s stupendous wealth. If he’s truly the owner of the companies linked to him, it is just a matter of time before Forbes list names him among the richest men in the world, as the structure that is being put in place there can only be rivaled by that of the satellite news station Aljazeera, and is believed to be in the range of hundreds of millions.
It was gathered that the man popularly called Asiwaju because of his chieftaincy title recently took over the cable TV that is gradually fading out of the market because of the right to beam the English Premier league that was takening away from it last year when the owner could not get a bank guaranty to enable it pay for the right. The involvement of the master political strategist may have brought a new lease of life into the cable station.
The accountant turned politician has also been linked to many properties outside the shores of this country, most especially in neighbouring Ghana . This is making many to wonder if the former director of Mobil Producing Nigeria is getting money from other sources other than politics.
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