A glimpse into Emmanuel Macron's long journey to fame, presidency

Beginning from his university days in Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA), Emmanuel Macron, France's youngest president, was known to be cut out for fame and greatness. Leaving the public service domain for the private sector, Macron was dogged in making changes that defy convention both in business and politics, before he finally became a head of states.

Emmanuel Macros' dream to become exceptional and great started in 2004 during his undergraduate days. Below is a brief look into his life and some of the major marks he made earlier in life.

2004: Graduates from elite "French President's" university

Macron's journey to both national and international fame can be traced back to his university days when he bagged a degree in philosophy and a masters in public affairs, after which he was accepted into the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA), one of the top tertiary institutions in France, The Local reports.

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ENA has been tagged the training school for French heads of states since it has produced three former presidents, namely, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Jacques Chirac and François Hollande

Moreover, most of the nation's dignitaries who now occupy major offices both in the public and private sectors passed through ENA, so that when in 2004 Macron graduated, he was certain of fame in the nearest future.

2004 to 2012: Becomes wealthy

Macron began his employee experience by working as a finance inspector at the inspectorate general of finances in the ministry of economy between 2004 and 2008.

This afforded him the opportunity to work for a year under the supervision of Jacques Attali, one of his present advisors and mentors as deputy rapporteur for the commission to improve French economic growth.

However, in 2008, Macron defied his friend's warning and paid €50,000 to buy himself out of his government contract in order to go into the private sector full time.

Macron soon became an investment banker at Rothschild & Cie Banque, a major achievement which some of his acquaintances said might ruin his chances of ever becoming a politician.

He went ahead to earn €2.9m for part advising Nestlé on its $12billion acquisition of a unit of Pfizer in 2012 as well as getting the nickname "Mozart of Finance".

Although Macron was attacked by rivals for his past in banking and was tagged "the candidate of finance" by Marine Le Pen, his amazing victory in the presidential election proved him right for his doggedness and consistency.

Macron was gathering needed experience to become his country's president. For instance, as banker he worked with François Hollande as an unofficial aide to help the future president win the Socialist Party's nomination for the 2012 poll.

With Holland's victory in the election, Macron was employed as the president's deputy chief of staff at the Elysée Palace. He pushed for business-related reforms, and acted as Sherpa at G8, G20, and European summits.

Although he quit the position after claiming that not much reforms were achieved, Macron left a legacy in the public service domain.

In fact, speaking of him when he was leaving office,Hollande said: “I often introduce myself, when I'm abroad, as the man who works with Emmanuel Macron.”

Macron's time as France's economy minister was marked by his frequent straying from the conventional party line by probing and going against strict socialist policies, such as the 35-hour week and fortune tax which was a cause of worry among his colleagues.

“He knows exactly what he is doing,” French political expert Bruno Cautres told a media outfit during the time

April 2016: Launches En Marche! movement

As economy minister, Macron made the first move that got the rumour mill turning about his bid to become the nation's next head of state.

In April 2017, Macron launched the En Marche! party, which he described as being "neither right, nor left".

Although he was a member of the Parti Socialiste between 2006 and 2009, Macron has never referred to himself as a socialist.

He said, his aim was to win over a majority of French people in a bid to bring about "new ideas for the country" that could be used in the future.

He said: "That's the only ambition one should have. It's radical, it seems a bit crazy talking about it tonight, but there is such energy in the country!". But when he told his supporters that he would "lead En Marche! to 2017 and to victory", it was becoming clear that he will leave government work in no time.

2016, August: Quits government work

Macron announced his resignation from government at the very end of August - four months after launching En Marche! - confirming to most that he was indeed planning to make a brave move.

2016, November 16: Announces he is running for president

Soon after quitting the public service appointment, Macron finally declared his bid for presidency, a decision which did not surprise anyone during the period.

He is known to have said in his objection to the then French political status quo: "We can't respond with the same men and the same ideas." Macros was poised to "pull France into the 21st Century". He also said: "I'm ready, that's why I am candidate for the French presidency," said Macron.

November 2016 - January 2017: The boulevard to the Elysée opens up

With the Republicans moving for right wing social conservative François Fillon rather than centrist Alain Juppé and the Socialists choosing true leftist Benoit Hamon over centre left Manuel Valls, the fertile middle was available for Macron and he went ahead for it.

2017, February 1: Surges past Francois Fillon in the polls

This was the moment when it looked like Emmanuel Macron could actually pull off his gamble. Republican candidate Francois Fillon, dogged by scandals over alleged fake jobs, could only watch as Macron whizzed by him in the polls. In a couple of weeks he went from around 15 percent to 24 percent. Macron, for his part, eventually ends up leading the polls ahead of far-right Marine Le Pen.

2017, April 23: Wins the first round of the presidential election

Macron won the first round of the election, with 24% of the vote, advancing to the second round together with Marine Le Pen at 21.3 %.

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But the fact he finished above Le Pen by a clear margin gave him the energy and legitimacy that he needed and left the far right disappointed.

2017, May 7: Wins second round of the election and becomes president of France

The young visionary finally made history by beating Marine Le Pen in the second round of the election and became France's youngest president.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Macron expressed some emotions as Kareem Olamilekan, an 11-year-old Nigerian, artistically drew a portrait of him during his visit to the 'New Afrikan Shrine' in Lagos.

Legit.ng gathered that the event held to showcase and celebrate African culture and was hosted by artist and performer, Banky W and Kenturah King.

The report said he praised and congratulated the talented boy on his official presidential twitter account.

Like France, can Nigeria have a young president too? On Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng