By Oluwafemi Popoola

Last week, I stumbled on a news publication from Daily Trust, an online media platform with an headline that says “Don’t Weaken North’s Economy With Your Privatization Plans, Northern Coalition Tells Osinbajo”

This allegation of sabotaging the northern economy to protect the interest of the southern region levelled against the cerebral Osinbajo by this faceless northern group is something that ignited my curiosity being an ardent follower of the 64 year old's numerous activities that transcends beyond ethnic and tribal poles. The allegation as I summed it undermines the VP's numerous achievements and outstanding successes in the entire northern region.

The Group in the media report had said that the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s economic team was planning to weaken the economy of the Northern region through his team’s recently approved privatisation plans of five power plants. They include Calabar, Ihovbor, Olorunsogo, Omotosho and Geregu power plants.

The group's spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman was quoted to have described the plans “most dubious, unreasonable and unacceptable act of injustice” against northerners and in particular, asked leaders of the region to raise the alarm over the move.

In order to make sense out of this, it is either the northern group overrates the powers of the VP being the chairman of the National Council of Privatization (NCP) or the group was only being hypocritical or playing a tribal card on the VP .

The CNG must have issued that statement in swift reaction to the decision of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to sell these five National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs) to prospective power investors.

The decision to sell these government's properties was however made known by the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the agency overseeing the privatisation of the five plants barely three weeks ago quoting the federal government as the major driver of the policy and that aligns with its interest.

While it is true that Osinbajo is both the chairman of National Privatization council, (NCP) and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC) ,but it should also be made clear that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), is the only agency empowered without any interference from the member of the executive to oversee the privatisation of those five plants which also has a task of implementing government’s several privatisation programmes.

Let's not forget that Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited, a subsidiary of Forte Oil Plc owned by a southerner, Femi Otedola acquired the Geregu power plant 1 in 2013 and invested a whooping $94 million in the power plant, while also in 2014, the Federal Government handed over Olorunsogo Power Plc to SEPCO Pacific Partners Ltd, with another southerner as its Chairman Adedeji Adeleke.


It is not out of place for someone to think that some northern forces are not happy and comfortable with the manner at which all these power plants are falling into the hands of some rich southern private individuals hence the dragging Osinbajo being a Southerner into their false campaign of a Southern agenda against the North

Some of us and many others who have been a keen observer of the vice president's significant contributions to national development and to humanity as a whole, would rise in his defense against any libel, falsehood, or statement that may sully his long years of selfless service to his country.

Osinbajo has championed and overseen a lot of projects in the Northern Nigerian more than what he has ever done in the South or even in his home town Ijebu where he come from and there are evidence to back it up.

It is in this spirit of nationalism that the vice president yemj Osinbajo and his wife Dolapo built a state- of- the- art primary schools and learning centers for the orphans of those affected by the insurgency in the North east region.

This is a testament and a reflection of Osinbajo's humaneness and passion for the Northern people especially Borno state where he has personally raised funds to cater for the education of out of school children when many of the northern leaders looked other way.

Due to his unassuming personality and his quiet life of not wanting accolades or recognition, some of these achievements have been underreported which explains his own kind of politician as opposed to the traditional Nigerian politicians that would deploy all the instrument of propaganda even on a smallest project.

It would also be recalled that as Acting President in 2017, Prof. Osinbajo, in total disregard to safety concern amidst security fears, visited Borno state a day after a Boko Haram attack.

Many Nigerians and security experts and stakeholders during that time said it was unsafe to do so, but he exhibited true service and commitment to not only the victims of the incident in Borno but to the entire nation at large, yet a civilian with no military training. That is bravery and unadulterated nationalism.


In a one-day working visit to Maiduguri, Borno state capital. Osinbajo flagged-off the distribution of 30,000 metric tonnes of assorted grains for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in the north-east. Coincidentally, this was a time the North East and the entire region was facing a severe humanitarian crisis. That was a demonstration of love and real humanity.

Prejudice and logic they say are strange bedfellows. This display of vitriol and animosity directed at the vice president by some faceless group is a distraction he can't afford at the moment for the sake of national development.

My candid advice to this group is to jettison politics and desist from attacking Osinbajo that many Nigerians see as a great nationalist who believes in the progress of every region in Nigeria, which has been made manifest with his deliverables thus far.

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The proponents of such baseless and groundless theory are mere mischief Makers.