With us live today the 13th of July 2020, is the Senior Special Adviser to the President, Office of the Vice President having just read his extensive resume. He traveled out of the country in 1998 to further his journalism career in the United States of America, where he was until 2015 when he returned to become the Senior Special Advisor to the Vice President. Can you highlight your involvement with the Nigerians in Diaspora and the relationship to Nigerians at home?

Abike Dabiri has done a great job trying to bridge the gap between those at home and those abroad especially in America, the UK, and some other western countries. But I'm talking hopefully in the nearest future we would be able to have a symbiotic relationship with Nigerians everywhere and they'll be able to vote and have a say in the running of the country Nigeria.

What can you tell us about the activities of the Vice President in conjunction with his constitutional limitations?

Safe to say that without a joke, this is the most active vice president ever with the amount of work he has been saddled with and taking on most of them having had them delegated to him by the President. Anyone familiar with constitution of Nigeria would know that the obligations of the Vice President is limited to being the head of the national economic committee which comprises himself as well as the Governors of the 36 states of the Federation as well as the FCT minister, and then being a member of the National Security Committee, Every other activity that he takes on is ceded to him by the President.
In light of this, it is quite pertinent to know then that he has headed such Committees as NEMA, NDPHC, Power Sector Reform Committee, the Polio eradication Committee and the last but not least the recently approved Economic Sustainability Committee.

In light of this why do people think he has been pushed aside?

it is one of the wonders of the world. It is a very wrong perception and as much as possible we try to put out information on things we are doing. I think because he is an easy-going person people actually tend to expect more from him. He and the President have mutual respect for one another so while the Vice president might be limited by the constitution; his job completion rate is very high.

The Helicopter crash of last February, how did you feel?

It was surreal, one of the first things that I did though ensured that no one was doing any hanky panky recording. There wasn’t any real panic which was good. There was a person calling n Jesus and it only fortified our belief that God actually designed us for this assignment. Persons like Myself and Professor Osinbajo are originally not your regular politicians so we were reinforced to work for the average and common man.

How do you deal with the deluge of fake news?

I would first like to commend the Traditional media who have refrained from hopping in the bandwagon of sensationalism as some persons still try to sustain the integrity of the fourth estate. The rising profile of the VP as a person who connects with the people puts him at loggerheads with those with despicable agendas, who try to smear the characters of those they think, might be against them.
The very first time we had to deal with such was; a couple of weeks upon resumption of the first term and it was alleged that the VP stormed out of a meeting with state governors after a burst up with the Gov. of Kaduna. El-Rufai. Our initial plan was to ignore the insignificant blog that published it but within a week, he was being inundated with phone calls that we had to do a story to counter the lies. There was another incident during the campaign period when it went viral on WhatsApp that he’d resigned.

Do you think they are after him because of future political activities?

Vice President Osinbajo currently does not have any plans right now apart from that one he'd been elected to. As his spokesperson, he’s yet to inform me of any intention to contest the 2023 election at the moment. He simply wants to get the job of the now done.

What would you say is the style of the VP?

One of the many things that has defined him is his active empathy, He believes that it all about the people. There was an occasion where we ran into a protest by a community that was protesting against the Nigerian Army who had taken over parts of their land. He made us get down and with the most minimal of security approached the mob which actually left them stunned. Ultimately, they let us through and upon his return to Abuja he kept his word and there was a sit down between the people and representatives of the Nigerian Army.
There was another occasion that saw protesters camped outside the villa and with the changing weather he asked that we invite them into the villa’s conference center. So his style is one that ensures that he constantly meets the needs of the yearning people.

How does he manage to traverse freely between political parties, ethnicities, and religions?

Since he was previously a pastor, it is quite easy to understand how he sees everyone as equal partners to the cause. Political differences shouldn’t contaminate public service. A good example is how all NPower applicants registered online and didn’t need to know anyone before they were assimilated into the scheme, a first of its kind in Nigeria. The motto is Public good for the many regardless of the bickering few.

What is going to be the lasting legacy of this Administration?

In the area of touching lives of the average Nigerian, the president has done very well especially with the inception of the NSIP’s which include TraderMoni, NPower, Conditional Cash Transfer, Anchor Borrowers, etc. But the COVID 19 pandemic led the President to mandate Professor Osinbajo and the other members of the Economic Sustainability Committee to come up with a plan to ensure that Nigeria bounces back strongly.
This led to the formulation of the Economic Sustainability Plan that has been approved by the FEC and the members of the committee upgraded to the Implementation Committee.
One key sector that will be receiving immediate attention is agriculture. Working in tandem with the 36 State Governments as well as the Federal Capital Territory, the economic sustainability plan seeks to inculcate at least 20 new hectares of Farmland in every state to help push the agricultural Revolution this, in turn, will drastically reduce the rate of unemployment across the country and boost our economy as we would need to import less while exporting more commodities.
The housing sector would also see 300000 houses across the nation within a 1-year span, these houses will be constructed within each State by the occupants of the State. The aim is to employ the indigenes and use materials and products found and located within those States.
The Nigerian people will be informed regularly about this plan. They would also be participants and furthermore, they would help keep an eye out on the level of implementation in their various locals. This stimulus package has been approved and Nigerians need to simply wait for the information from the government on how they can become part of the process.
MSMEs have been the most badly affected by the COVID 19 pandemic, how has the government sought to address this under the sustainability plan?

Half a million MSME jobs are the immediate target under the MSME survival fund. We are looking at helping MSMEs with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 50 employees to survive by paying part of their salaries via the 50 billion MSME payroll support for MSME survival fund.

Another 200 billion interest-free loans will go to artisans to enable them to stay in business. 15 billion off-take fund is also earmarked to help 100000 MSMEs that the government would be the primary consumers of their products. This is to enable the Nigerian people to become more productive. We employ the people to be the watchdogs and account managers in their respective locations to ensure that all these are properly implemented.

The various schemes will be handled by the various Ministries and Agencies that they fall under, for example, the solar power electrification scheme will be handled by the Rural Electrification Agency and Niger Delta Power Holding Company as well as the Ministry of Power, who will all come together to form an implementation committee.

As the implementation committees reach certain milestones, funds will then be released to them. So to answer your question, the monies will not be released wholesome. The survival fund will be disbursed via the Bank of Industry as well as the Ministry of Commerce. The rest will be released through the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Ministry of Finance.

Going by government Bureaucracy, how soon do you see these things happening?
If they do happen do you see him being waylaid by enemies from within and without?

There is a political will to get it done originating from the President himself who has mandated that all members of the drafting committee become the implementation committee members and these would be rolled out pretty shortly via a decentralized system as previously explained.
The enemies come with the territory for even the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent takes it by force. However, greater is he that lies on the part of them that are righteous than he on the side of evildoers. The president is determined to leave this legacy and we are all presently focussed on it.

Yes �sir it's better to be envied than pitied as you and VP osinbajo is not ordinary politicians but OSINBAJO was assigned by God to wipe tears of a common men and to revive Nigeria �� from the hands of previous pharaoh

This is 100% truth sir and no one performed excellently among the previous vice president than VP Osinbajo, may they good Lord support him, Amen.

Mr. Laolu' was spot on throughout the interview as he gave Nigerians some enlightening and insightful information.
When Dele ask about the helicopter crash, I cast my mind back to it, it was a great miracle. One need to be stead fast with his creator because there are enemies.

Concerning the NSE plan, I think Nigerians should be ready to tap and key Into the scheme when the implementation phase start.

okefrancis:
Yes �sir it's better to be envied than pitied as you and VP osinbajo is not ordinary politicians but OSINBAJO was assigned by God to wipe tears of a common men and to revive Nigeria �� from the hands of previous pharaoh

And to cash out stolen money from Magu

Naturopathic:
This is 100% truth sir and no one performed excellently among the previous vice president than VP Osinbajo, may they good Lord support him, Amen.

Will you keep quiet

Only the enemy of progress won't accept the fact that Osinbajo is the best vice president Nigeria has ever produced but some evils in human flesh are trying to tanish his good image but they failed as usual. May God save Nigeria and Nigerians from enemies within (Amen)

VP osinbajo is not an ordinary politicians, but God Direct OSINBAJO to be helper and wipe tears of a common men and to revive Nigeria from the hands of the wicked

The only thing I found interested in this interview is the quote "Its better to be envied than pitied"

SpatialKing:
And to cash out stolen money from Magu

You and ude will rot in jail. continue

The interview was a very interesting one. The VP like we all know is a man of the people, the welfare of Nigerian citizens is his top priority. I want him as President come 2023.