By Fejiro Johnson
One could tell from reading through the diatribe with the title above written by one Shehu Bashir Esq that this was an author that feigned ignorance of the dynamics of politics in Nigeria. First of all, the video that the author referenced was the latter simply trying to be clever by half. In the video, which was during a church service, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN was seen giving a testimony of his rise in politics.
In that video, the Vice President was thanking God and highlighting the grace of God in the lives of men in elevating them to higher positions, like him, to the position of number two man in Nigeria. It is a known fact that God uses men to do His bidding. That the Vice President was once an Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State when Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was Governor between 1999 and 2007.
Yes, Prof. Osinbajo was introduced to Asiwaju to work for the State Government as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. Yes, that role gave him prominence in the political circle. The VP has publicly thanked Asiwaju for giving him that opportunity on many occasions. But the author also forgets that, like the Good Book says, a man’s gift makes room for him and causes him to stand before kings and queen. Simply put, if prof. Osinbajo was not excellent and a man of integrity in his previous positions as university lecturer, dean and international lawyer of repute, no one would have recommended him to Asiwaju for the position. Here was a man, a Professor of Law at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, flying high in his career as an academic, suave, brilliant, with a strong sense of purpose, discipline and integrity, who wouldn’t want such person in his team, talk les of that person being the former governor of Lagos State?
It is known fact that prior to his Lagos State appointment, Prof, Osinbajo was already an accomplished scholar, teacher, lawyer and administrator. He became a Professor of Law and was appointed Head of Department of Public Law, University of Lagos. Osinbajo is also renowned as one of the nation’s leading experts on the Law of Evidence, National and Regional Corporate Commercial Laws and Public Law. He was also Senior Partner at SimmonsCooper Partners, Nigeria, a commercial law practice.
Early in his career, from 1988–1992, Prof. Osinbajo was an Adviser (Legal Advice and Litigation), to the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, KBE. In a nutshell, this brilliant professor of Law and Evidence was no lightweight in the scheme of things, His resume and intimidating spoke excellently for him. He didn’t lobby to become an Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State or for the position of Vice President. His works and achievements spoke highly for him, even when he was not in the room where those decisions were made.
It is also a now open secret that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu desired to become vice president under President Muhammadu Buhari, and he didn’t get the position simply due to the highly combustible political equation of a Muslim-Muslim ticket that the President, as many of the APC stalwarts, was skeptical about. It was a suicidal political gamble to then candidate Buhari’s aspiration to become president. APC and Tinubu knew this. So, Tinubu had no choice that to cede that VP candidate position to someone one, which happened to be Prof Osinbajo. As a matter of fact, there have been controversy about if Tinubu actually handpicked Osinbajo and recommended him to Buhari. Nominating Osinbajo was not one man’s idea. In fact, it was former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola that even informed Osinbajo of the party’s decision to nominate him for Vice President on December 18, 2014. So why is Tinubu’s name only being mentioned in the matter, if not for the mischief of the author’s narrative? Also, according to the memoir by Chief Bisi Akande, Aregbesola and former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun were the sole reason Osinbajo was chosen by Buhari as VP. Akande, in his book, narrated how Tinubu became miffed with Buhari for refusing Muslim-Muslim candidate which would have made him VP.
Again, it must be stated unequivocally that Prof. Osinbajo’s decision to run for the highest office of the land – President, was his constitutional right, as vice president and a qualified citizen of Nigeria. There was no betrayal or moral burden not to contest. There was no loyalty being tested. Osinbajo’s first and supreme loyalty was first to God, and as deputy, to President Buhari in the scheme of things, and the politics dictated, not to Asiwaju whom he had worked under 15 years prior.
Truth be told, Osinbajo was the man many Nigerians had yearned for to become the presidential flagbearer of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). Osinbajo was and still is a man of the people. If it were the choice of a people’s ballot in picking the APC candidate during its primaries, I dare say, Osinbajo would have won the ticket with a landslide. It was also alleged that delegates also spoke in hushed tones, how they were influence and induced by large sums of cash to vote.
That aside, the author was just rambling about the appointment of the Executive Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, is ably qualified for the role and didn’t need a second guessing. There was no grey matter here. Owasanoye was most qualified for the job and President Buhari saw this too, just like his deputy, Prof. Osinbajo did.
The epistle by the author, Shehu Bashir, was needless and he also knew it was a good gamble on the emotions of a section of his readers who may be more loyal to Asiwaju and blindly so, despite the facts of the matter on ground.
So, I would not waste words like he did to respond to his diatribe. This is sufficient enough for the reading public who can decipher facts and truth from editorial insinuations of a paid writer playing to the gallery.
Johnson is a public affairs analyst and social commentator

Both

Never late than never. This is setting esq straight and guarding him from being ignorant

Anything contrary to Osinbajo's humble personality are handy work of mischief makers

Osinbajo is not a traitor or coward, Osinbajo I a man of principle 💙💪🙏

dododawa1:
Both

What is this one saying. You see "Re:" and you are saying both 😂😂😂. Olodo

The APC presidential primary was a day light robbery scene. However Osinbajo remain a hero and a true democrat who is not is not a thief!

Osinbajo will forever remain a true hero, he fought for what he believed in and history will be kind to him.

"Osinbajo was and still is a man of the people. If it were the choice of a people’s ballot in picking the APC candidate during its primaries, I dare say, Osinbajo would have won the ticket with a landslide. It was also alleged that delegates also spoke in hushed tones, how they were influence and induced by large sums of cash to vote".

VP Osinbajo will always remain a man of integrity in the hearts of well meaning Nigerians