I’ll Swim Across the Atlantic for Tinubu if He Upholds What We Fought For — Momodu

Publisher and former presidential candidate, Dele Momodu, has said he would give President Bola Tinubu his full support if the administration consistently practised the democratic principles they fought for during Nigeria’s years of military rule.

Momodu made the statement during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, explaining that his criticism of the President was primarily driven by his concern that Nigeria could move from military dictatorship to a form of civilian dictatorship.

The media personality said he would be willing to go to extraordinary lengths to support Tinubu if the President governed in accordance with the democratic ideals they championed during the pro-democracy struggle.

“I will ordinarily swim to the depth of the Atlantic Ocean for Tinubu if he was practising what we fought against when we were fighting the military,” Momodu said.

He added that he would be contradicting his own principles if, after fighting military dictatorship, he supported a system in which democratic freedoms and institutions were weakened under civilian rule.

Momodu stressed that his criticism of Tinubu was not personal and that he still had great respect for the President.

He noted that Tinubu was among the political figures who influenced him and encouraged him to develop the courage to challenge established authorities.

According to him, he would not join those who resort to personal attacks against the President, despite his disagreements with some of the administration’s policies and actions.

“Everything else, you see, when they are abusing him, you won’t see me abusing him. I have tremendous regards for him, and he was one of those who trained me and instilled this kind of discipline that, look, you can take on the establishment and win,” he said.

Momodu also acknowledged Tinubu’s political achievements, particularly his rise from Lagos politics to the national stage.
He said the political record Tinubu established in Lagos helped build the reputation that eventually followed him into national politics.

The relationship between Momodu and Tinubu goes back more than three decades to Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle in the 1990s.

At the time, Tinubu was a serving senator and a founding member of the National Democratic Coalition, a group that campaigned for the restoration of the mandate believed to have been given to the late Chief Moshood Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was annulled by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Momodu was also actively involved in the struggle and had worked for Abiola’s presidential campaign before the election was annulled. He was later detained because of his involvement in the June 12 campaign.

Following the emergence of the late General Sani Abacha as military head of state and the subsequent crackdown on pro-democracy activists, Tinubu left Nigeria in 1994 and spent years in exile in the United Kingdom and the United States.

He returned after Abacha’s death in 1998.
Momodu also left Nigeria during the period, travelling through the Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana before eventually settling in the United Kingdom during his period of exile.

Although their relationship has endured for decades, the two men have occasionally disagreed publicly since Tinubu became President in 2023.

Momodu has become an outspoken critic of aspects of the Tinubu administration, particularly its economic and political direction. However, he has continued to acknowledge Tinubu’s influence on his political development and his role during the struggle against military rule.

Momodu, who contested Nigeria’s presidential election under the National Conscience Party in 2011, has in recent years become associated with the African Democratic Congress and remains active in opposition politics ahead of the 2027 general elections.

His latest comments therefore reflect a distinction between his personal respect for Tinubu and his concerns about the direction of governance, particularly the need to preserve democratic institutions and the principles for which pro-democracy activists fought during the military era.

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