It is crucial at the beginning of this submission to indicate some facts and disclaimers to set precedence for my arguments herein.
I am not a member of Nigeria’s ruling APC, neither am I a member of any of Nigeria’s several opposition parties. I write from my position of a tax-paying, youthful, objective, and perhaps most importantly, from a logical position.
Nigerians have never elected a perfect leader. And for the despots who forcefully seized power from elected leaders, no arguments can be made to defend their perfection or integrity by the singular reason that they unconstitutionally and forcefully ascended to the Presidency. It is a matter of opinion (and data) to point out the extent to which this country is far off where it ought to be in terms of its development and prosperity. It is equally up to our differing opinions (and data) to agree the extent to which each leader, from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to Muhammadu Buhari, have contributed to the country’s present ‘sorry’ state. The present leadership led by Muhammadu Buhari and deputized by Yemi Osinbajo is taking the stick for all failures directly and indirectly caused by them, and rightly so.
Central to these failures are the provision of security and working on the economy, which were top of the agendas they promised to work on, and are visibly struggling with after 7 years. To remind us about the extent of how bad things were in 2015, though, the current leadership defeated a sitting President who was seeking re-election.
With 2023 approaching and with most of the aspiring candidates known, I strongly believe that Professor Yemi Osinbajo, (yes, the Vice President) is the most suitable for this seat, and is in fact, the man the job needs due to current exigencies.
You will agree with me that Nigeria must have learned its lesson in the expectations it tends to place on its aspiring leaders, vis-a-vis the campaign promises of the candidates. First of all, there is no such thing as a perfect messiah when it comes to a leader. President Buhari never was and those who believed so must be shocked at the level of their gullibility. Nigeria’s problems are as complex as they are numerous. We cannot and should not believe anybody who claims he wants to solve them or ‘reset’ this country if elected.
Prof. Osinbajo, in his declaration speech admits that these challenges remain and he will strive to ‘complete’ what they started with President Buhari. I know this part of his address is not popular. But it is true, and I will explain why. The infrastructure development drive of the administration through its investment rail-way and air transport is perhaps only a quarter-way down. The Vice President needs to continue with this. We have taken one loan too many to even consider abandoning them or delaying their completion. This (abandonment) is something an ‘alien’ President could most likely do.
The social investment programs of the current administrations are, in paper, a perfect blueprint for poverty alleviation. In practice however, they have failed to live up to expectations, to say the least. The VP should know this as much as anyone, and would be best suited to handle and give it the needed tweaks to make it reach the expected beneficiary faster and more effectively.
The vice President, even though a team member in this administration, still answers to the President not as an equal. And even though he may have several reservations as to how he expects the country to be run, he can only get the chance prove his own initiative if he is given the same position as his principal.
His declaration speech, in all its wordings are indicative of a man who remains loyal to his principal. Even though it would have been much easier to please an angry mob of critics by admitting to viewers that the administration had failed, he argued that the country was a work in progress and he would work hard to complete the good works of the administration. Loyalty.
The nature of Prof Osinbajo’s declaration is unprecedented. Being the IT enthusiast that he is, the VP pre-recorded and posted his speech on his social media handles, for the whole world to hear. Digitization is aimed at making hitherto tasks easier, cost-saving and more convenient for all and the VP’s digitally posted address did just that. We are in for a true digitally-minded, futuristic President, should he get the opportunity to serve. Imagine the cost implication of organizing a live declaration event in which millions of Naira would have to be spent in addition to the logistical cost.
The VP has even ticked the boxes for the zoning enthusiasts, being a Christian and a Southerner, in addition to the above.
Prof. Osinbajo is not perfect and is far from being a magician or messiah. He is part of the mistake that led us to where we are. But then, so also are all the handful of the other aspirants. One can write a book explaining their imperfections and he or she would be correct. The vice President, however, stands out for one major reason. He is pragmatic! He never claims to have all the solutions, because nobody can have them. He never promised to solve all the problems, but promises to tackle them as best as he can. He admits that we are far from being a united country, but promised to do his best to unite us.
Perhaps most importantly, the VP has proven to be extremely intelligent and adaptable. These are the traits we need for now, and for the future. He has adapted to President Buhari’s ‘style’ of leadership, hasn’t he?
