Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has said that she has chosen forgiveness and peace over bitterness, even towards those who betrayed her husband during the 2023 general election.
Mrs Tinubu made this known in her new 52-page memoir titled ‘The Journey of Grace: Giving Thanks in All Things’, released on Sunday to mark her 65th birthday anniversary.
In the book, which chronicles her spiritual journey between 2021 and 2025, the First Lady reflects on her husband’s campaign, the controversies of the 2023 polls, and the personal lessons she drew from betrayal, loyalty, and faith.
“I do not have anything against anyone…the question is how I did not feel the betrayal anymore? I knew the Grace factor was evident, and the Holy Spirit continually comforted me. Never to avenge myself, assuring me that it is God’s prerogative. Mine is to thank Him for fighting for us,” she wrote
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The memoir’s foreword was written by Dr. Folashade Olukoya of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries.
Mrs Tinubu noted that during her husband’s 14-year journey toward the presidency, some of his closest allies failed to stand with him when it mattered most.
“Most people I thought would support the idea, because past relationships, were not forthcoming. Some were favourable, while others were neither here nor there. Some said no indirectly, while others would rather want to see the outcome before taking a position,” she revealed.
Despite that, the First Lady said she drew strength from scripture and the example of Jesus Christ.
“Letting go is what I did; doing good is what matters most. Like my Saviour Jesus Christ in Acts 10:38… So I do not have anything against anyone, and that also shows the frailty of man. Man is not God. We should never put our trust in any man; when they help, it is God using them to be a blessing. When they stop, it means their assignment for you from God has ended,” she added, citing Jeremiah 17:5-8 and Hebrews 12:2.
She explained that her decision to forgive was also inspired by the biblical instruction to give thanks in all circumstances.
“One morning, while I was in the bathroom, the Holy Spirit dropped this Word in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 in my spirit man… it is not in some things to give thanks, but in everything, both good and bad. Then I realised that this publication’s subtitle will be just that,” she wrote.
A long-time member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, where she rose to Assistant Pastor in 2018, Mrs Tinubu also recounted the backlash she faced within her church community after her husband opted for a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2022, calling it a “bitter pill.”
Still, she said she chose peace over resentment.
“Also, when the Word of God says we should bless our enemies, not curse them, and do good to those who persecute us, and despitefully use us. Also, that whatsoever we do, we should do unto the Lord… I am at peace, doing all I can to make Nigeria better and greater.”
LEADERSHIP reports that the first ladeflections come barely three years after the 2023 elections, one of Nigeria’s most divisive contests in recent history. President Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the February 2023 polls with 8.79 million votes, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP). The result was later upheld by both the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
