Progressives Congress (APC), has opened up on his
experiences on the journey to the top, recalling how a
naval officer slapped him in his days as a cab driver in
the US.
In a special interview with TheNews, Tinubu also spoke
on how he did menial jobs to survive during his
undergraduate days. The former Lagos state governor
also made comments on how he excelled as a
technocrat in the US, and his contribution to the growth
of the country’s democracy.
“One experience I will not forget was when I over-
charged a naval officer who was returning to the
country. It was not intentional. Apparently, I didn’t
know the direction; there was no GPRS in those days to
locate directions,” he said.
“He gave me the direction to his house in a Virginia
suburb. I gave him the price and the man responded
with a slap to my face. He said I should know the
correct fare to charge to the location he mentioned. He
slapped me and gave me the money.
“Another experience was when I took a guy whom I
didn’t know was drunk. When I drove to his house, he
pointed a gun at me instead of paying the fare. He took
my leather jacket and said: ‘Get into your car and get
lost.’ He did not pay.
“Another interesting one was when I was taking the
third accounting class and equally working as a security
guard at a construction site. They were very serious
with their kind of security. You just had to do that job.
There were about six points with six clocks at the site,
which the security man must wind every hour and with
a dog in hand. So, there was never a chance of trying to
catch a nap.
“As I was doing my accounting assignment, I fell asleep.
I was dead asleep! The inspector came to the site and
found me sleeping, with my head on my books. He
simply pulled the register and wrote: ‘I have been here.
You were sound asleep. So, see me tomorrow.’ When I
woke up, I found that Skiddo (the dog’s name) was
gone, and then the register. I just went to a corner,
cleaned my face and concentrated on my assignment
because I knew the job was already gone.
“You can’t lose two things. I ensured that I read well for
my test and passed the next day. I opted to post their
uniform and the cap to them, but suddenly ran into the
man and he handed me my cheque and said the job
was gone. I told him I knew and we said goodbye to
each other! I had to start looking for another job.”
On how he managed to escape during the crisis that the
military plunged the country into after annulling the
June 12, 1993 election, Tinubu said: “I disguised with a
huge turban and babariga and escaped into Benin
Republic on a motorbike.
“My old Hausa friend gave the clothes to me. In fact,
when I appeared to Kudirat Abiola, she didn’t know that
I was the one! I gave her some information and some
briefing. I left at 1 a.m. While in Benin Republic, I was
still coming to Badagry to ferry people, organise and
coordinate the struggle with others on ground. We put a
group together, ferrying NADECO people across. It was a
very challenging time. I can’t forget people like Segun
Maiyegun and other young guys in the struggle. I would come from Benin to hold meetings with them and sneak
back.
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