₦airaland Forum

FROM BUHARI TO OSINBAJO: Succession as Transformation



We must look beyond the pervasive partisanship of this moment to find the essence of the impending power transition in the ruling party. The strength of the Buhari presidency in the last seven years has been the complementary character of the two principal players. President Buhari is the undisputed populist leader. He came with the myth of a no nonsense military leader who exhibited discipline and an intolerance for corruption.
But he was also a conservative northern Muslim whose political orientation can best be described as ‘old school’. He has retained a nostalgia for the old Nigeria in which groundnut pyramids, cattle grazing routes and peaceful pastoral villages were the essence of order and prosperity across Nigeria. No one can deny the president the right to long and work for a restoration of a peaceful orderly and prosperous nation.
In his deputy and Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, however, Nigeria saw the glimmer of a new nation that catered to the longings of a whole new generation. These are the Nigerians born in the euphoria and expectations of independence. A good number of them and those after them can be described as the bulk of a bulging youth generation. Their world is new and modern. They are impatient for results. They detest excessive bureaucracy and instead want results almost instantly. A certain sense of perennial motion and innovation defines their approach to the world.
Armed with the best tools of the information age and the power of new ideas in a world of shared global knowledge and instant results, the younger generation of Nigerians looked to the presidency for guidance and someone that reflected their aspirations and the spirit of their age. They saw Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
As Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo came armed with a certain modernist orientation conditioned by his intellectual grounding. He populated his office with a collection of youthful Nigerians armed with the latest ideas and the tools of information technology. Their immediate assignments were the social alleviation challenges confronting the country. Fast capital needed to be found for the petty and medium scale entrepreneurs in the nation’s informal sector. Cash transfers needed to reach the poor and needy, those who could not find the next meal or buy the urgent primary medication. The vice president and his staff found IT -driven solutions to these problems and delivered them seamlessly in a manner that caught the attention and admiration of the larger Nigerian public. Nigerians are desirous to be part of the modern world while maintaining security and stability.
The meaning of the Osinbajo presence in the presidency has been to complement the president. Unlike some previous deputies, Osinbajo has never come in competition with the clear powers of his principal. In a sense, those who have looked forward to a transitional and transformative successor to Buhari have naturally looked in the direction of Yemi Osinbajo. In the brief moments that he acted for the president in office, he showed the promise of an able deputy who would have no problems stepping into the shoes of his biss.
Osinbajo has carefully and seamlessly navigate the challenge of his office and position: how to be an effective political deputy without being overtly political in an activist sense. Although a card carrying APC man, the quorum of his party’s power moguls is likely to be complete without him in attendance. Yet, the elite of his party recognise him as the engine of the government’s technocracy and the face and voice of an enlightened Nigerian leadership.
Ordinarily, his pairing with Mr. Buhari was an ideal balancing act. It is not just in the familiar Moslem/Christian or North/South bipolarity of their ticket. Those are good and almost axiomatic. But in terms of effective governance, the pairing is a fitting and realistic mix for the Buhari presidency. While Mr. Buhari brought his cultic mostly Northern Muslim mob followership to garner the votes, Mr. Osinbajo came along with a Christian Pentecostal followership, a South Western cheer leading crowd and an intellectual depth that no government in today’s world can afford to do without.
For all his permissible flaws, President Buhari remains a symbol of power, authority and even some moral strength to many Nigerians. But yet, most young Nigerians see him as something of the old school conservatism that his generation has embodied. Buhari would not ordinarily don a pair of jeans and sneakers or snap open a laptop and spring up solution at the flick of a mouse
On the contrary, Osinbajo is the face of contemporary Nigerian modernity, He has been on hand to spew statistics to justify a policy. He is an effective link between the ancient and the subsequent generations ‘X’ and ‘Y’. In this regard, Osinbajo matches his opposite numbers elsewhere in the world in rhetoric, logic and erudition.
In sum then, the Buhari presidency is an admirable duality of ancient and modern fused into one institution of national unity. In terms of method, the Buhari presidency is a fusion of the old school military starchiness and the liberal flexibility that the politics and economy of modern Nigeria requires. Here is a fitting marriage between the orthodox and the avant-garde.

Most importantly, Mr. Osinbajo has brought to bear on his duties an unmistakeable stamp of efficiency, forthrightness and dexterity. His contributions to national service and governance have imbued hope in many Nigerians. On the few occasions when the president has been unavoidably absent for long periods at a time, Mr. Osinbajo has stepped in to hold the fort for his boss. Remarkably, Mr. Osinbajo used these windows to demonstrate his dexterity and competence in terms of policies and directives.
His memorable visit to the Lagos international airport left indelible marks and changes that took away most of the silly bottlenecks that helped militate against the ease of entry and exit thereby improving the nation’s image at major gateways. When the former Director General of the DSS drafted hooded goons to overrun the National Assembly, Mr. Osinbajo as Acting President ended the dangerous standoff and fired the errant security chief. The Nigerian public hailed the quality and swiftness of that quintessential leadership action.
In moments of grave national anxiety, the President has deployed Mr. Osinbajo’s formidable powers of conciliation, constructive engagement and fair minded patriotism to national advantage. At the height of renewed insurgency in the Niger Delta, the president pressed Osinbajo into service in negotiations with various militant groups leading to the stability that currently reigns in the area. Similarly, in the wake of the IPOB crisis in the South East and the spontaneous eruption of incendiary hate speech all over the country, Osinbajo was on hand in Enugu, Onitsha and Aba to assuage feelings and calm nerves with reassuring personal reminiscences. In Benue and Plateau as well as in the North East, Osinbajo has embarked on the same ‘diplomacy of healing’ and unity on behalf of the president to great national advantage.

Now that we are in the political succession hour, there is a sense in which the attributes of the Vice President correspond with what Nigerians are yearning for. He does not need to earn hw o be president. He has shown surefootedness on the job and acted with presidential decisiveness and decorum when he acted for Buhari. In terms of the generational challenge, Osinbajo is the credible bridge between the old school and the youth bulge. He understands the perspectives and needs of both. Above all, he is at home with all sections of the country with a calming personality that can only united Nigerians of all creeds, classes, tongues and persuasions. Above everything else, he has the enlightenment to transcend the bipartisan divide and arrive at policy decisions that will advance the national consensus.

Chukwuma Uzoegbu
Umuahia
Abia State

OSINBAJO GREETS ALL MUSLIMS AS RAMADAN SEASON KICKS OFF

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has sent greetings and prayers to all Muslim faithfuls as this years Ramadan Fasting season begins.

According to him "as another new moon ushers in the blessed month of Ramadan, I wish to felicitate with the Muslim community on yet another opportunity to witness this holy month of devotion, sacrifice, compassion, generosity and selflessness.

"This is a time for personal deep reflection and service to community. I urge you to be guided by the lessons of Ramadan, while renewing your spiritual connection, to offer prayers for peace and continued prosperity in our nation. May God accept all your acts of sacrifice and piety."

Ramadan Mubarak!

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
2nd April 2022

Osinbajo Supporters in no doubt took over the show at the last APC National Convention. The supporters were seen in their numbers with fliers, branded t-shirt and caps, Ankara and so on. Requesting Professor to run for the highest position in our country.

National Coordinator Osinbajo Support Organisation and former Deputy Governor of Kano State Professor Hafiz Abubakar in a courtesy visit to Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo this afternoon in State House Abuja

Still on OGO Membership Registration

We want to appreciate every member of the Osinbajo Grassroots Organisation (OGO) for the efforts that have been injected so far in driving this organization.
We however want to appeal to us, that we still have a long way to go towards mobilizing our supporters at our different cells and units to register on the OGO website.
The website has been dedicated to this organization and the promotion of the exemplary leadership of our principal, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
We are appealing that machineries be put in place to ensure the registration of OGO members across all local government in all states of the Federation.
We can simply do it by downloading our app OGOApp both on
Google playstore and IOS or on our website
https://osinbajograssrootorganization.com/ogong/register
We can only do this TOGETHER!

APC National Working Committee Full List

The Consensus list of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is finally out.

The list has the names of those who will form the next National Working Committee (NEC) of the ruling party.

There are a total of 76 names on the list which has been reproduced below:

1. National Chairman: Senator Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa State)

2. Deputy National Chairman (North): Senator Abubakar Kyari (Borno State)

3. Deputy National Chairman (South): Chief Emma Eneukwu (Enugu State)

4. National Secretary: Otunba Iyiola Omisore (Osun State)

5. Deputy National Secretary: Barr Fetus Fuanter (Plateau State)

6. National Vice Chairman ((North Central): Muhazu Bawa Rijau (Niger State)

7. Deputy Vice Chairman (North East): Mustapha Salihu (Adamawa State)

8. National Vice Chairman (North West): Salihu Lukman (Kaduna State)

9. National Vice Chairman (South East): Dr Ijeomah Arodiogbu (IMO State)

10. National Vice Chairman (South South): Chief Hon Victor Ton Gladom (Rivers State)

11. National Vice Chairman (South West): D. I. Kekemeke (Ondo State)

12. National Legal Adviser: Barr Ahmed El-Marzuk (Katsina State)

13. National Treasurer: Uguru Matthew Ofoke (Ebonyi State)

14. National Financial Secretary: Bashir Usman Gumel (Jigawa State)

15. National Organizing Secretary: Suleiman M. Argungun (Kebbi State)

16. National Welfare Secretary: Barr (Sir) F.N. Nwosu (Abia State)

17. National Publicity Secretary: Bart Felix Morka (Delta State)

18. National Auditor: Sen Abubakar Maikafi (Bauchi State)

19. National Women Leader: Dr Betta Edu (Cross River State)

20. National Youth Leader: Abdullahi Dayo Israel (Lagos State)

21. Special (Persons With Disability) Leader: Tolu Bankole (Ogun State)

22. Deputy National Legal Adviser: Barr Ibrahim Salahu (Kwara State)

23. Deputy National Treasurer: Hon Omorede Osifo (Edo State)

24. Deputy National Financial Secretary: Hon Hamma-Adama Ali Kumo (Gombe State)

25. Deputy National Organizing Secretary: Nze Chidi Duru (Anambra State)

26. Deputy National Publicity Secretary: Yakubu Murtala Ajaka (Kogi State)

27. Deputy National Welfare Secretary: Dr Christopher Akpan (Akwa Ibom State)

28. Deputy National Auditor: Olufemi Egbedeyi (Oyo State)

29. Deputy National Women Leader: Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim (Taraba State)

30. Deputy National Youth Leader: Jamaluddeen Kabir (Zamfara State)

31. National Ex-officio (North Central): Oluwatoyin Opawuye (Kwara State)

32. National Ex-officio (North East): Sirajo Dahuwa (Bauchi State)

33. National Ex-officio (North West): Aliyu Ahmed Yako (Kano State)

34. National Ex-officio (South East): Rt. Hon. Agunwa Anekwe ((Anambra State)

35. National Ex-officio (South South): Hon. Diriwari Akedewei (Bayelsa State)

36. National Ex-officio (South West): Mrs Bunmi Oriniowo (Ekiti State)

37. Zonal Secretary (North Central): Yakubu Muhammad Adamu (FCT)

38. Zonal Secretary (North East): Muhammad Wali Shettima (Yobe State)

39. Zonal Secretary (North West): Barr Bello Goronyo (Sokoto State)

40. Zonal Secretary (South East): Azosu Innocent Itafa (Ebonyi State)

41. Zonal Secretary (South South): Dr Ita Udosen (Akwa Ibom State)

42. Zonal Secretary (South West): Vincent Beewaji (Ekiti State)

43. Zonal Legal Adviser (North Central): Barr Hadiza Aliyu (Kogi State)

44. Zonal Legal Adviser (North East): Barr Dauda Chakpo (Taraba State)

45. Zonal Legal Adviser: (North West): Barr Bashir Usaini Dutse (Jigawa State)

46. Zonal Legal Adviser (South East): Barr Mayor Ogbona Ernest (Ebonyi State)

47. Zonal Legal Adviser (South South): Nil

48. Zonal Legal Adviser (South West): Ismail Kolawole Majoro (Oyo State)

49. Zonal Organizing Secretary (North Central): Hon Ahmed Attah (Kogi State)

50. Zonal Organizing Secretary (North East): Abubakar Adamu Musa (Taraba State)

51. Zonal Organizing Secretary (North West): Salisu Uba (Zamfara State)

52. Zonal Organizing Secretary (South East): Dozie Ikedife (Anambra State)

53. Zonal Organizing Secretary (South South): Hon. Blessing Agbome (Edo State)

54. Zonal Organizing Secretary (South West): Lateef Ibirogba (Lagos State)

55. Zonal Publicity Secretary (North Central): Barr John Okoho (Benue State)

56. Zonal Publicity Secretary (North East): Lamido Muhammed (Gombe State)

57. Zonal Publicity Secretary (North West): Musa Makafiya (Zamfara State)

58. Zonal Publicity Secretary (South East): Mr Augustine Onyedebelu (IMO State)

59. Zonal Publicity Secretary (South South): Nil

60. Zonal Publicity Secretary (South West): Ayo Afolabi (Osun State)

61. Zonal Women Leader (North Central): Oluwatoyin Opawuye (Kwara State)

62. Zonal Women Leader (North East): Hon. Zainab Abubakar Alman (Gombe State)

63. Zonal Women Leader (North West): Hajiya Hadiza Shagari (Sokoto State)

64. Zonal Women Leader (South East): Hon. Mimi Uchenna Diyoke (Enugu State)

65. Zonal Women Leader (South South): Miss Caroline Owugha (Bayelsa State)

66. Zonal Women Leader (South West): Mrs Yetunde Adesanya (Ogun State)

67. Zonal Youth Leader (North Central): Zubairu Aliyu (Kwara State)

68. Zonal Youth Leader (North East): Jason Baba Kwaghe (Adamawa State)

69. Zonal Youth Leader (North West): Abdulhamid Umar Muhammed (Kano State)

70. Zonal Youth Leader (South East): Hon. Ikenna Anyalewechi (Abia State)

71. Zonal Youth Leader (South South): Comrade Ebimobowe (Delta State)

72. Zonal Youth Leader (South West): Kolade Lawal (Ondo State)

73. Zonal Leader of Persons With Disability (North Central): Laho Lazarus Audu (Benue State)

74. Zonal Leader of Persons With Disability (North East): Muhammed Baba Isa (Yobe State)

75. Zonal Leader of Persons With Disability (North West): Lawal Na Rago (Kano State)

76. Zonal Leader of Persons With Disability (South East): Dr Nwachikwu Stanley Chinedu (Imo State )

77. Zonal Leader of Persons With Disability (South South): Chief Edet Asia (Cross River State)

78. Zonal Leader of Persons With Disability (South West): Mashood Erubami (Oyo State)

Photos from APC National Convention

PYO is for Naija.

Muslim lawyers at Osinbajo’s law firm counters Kperogi’s claims


"This firm has high practicing Muslims and does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion, ethnicity, gender or any other ground. Today, I am one of the partners in the firm and I started as a pupil counsel in 2008, and have risen through the ranks to the firm’s leadership.

“Also, one of the longest serving staff members in the firm, Ismaila Aromire is a practicing Muslim whom the firm is very grateful to for his long years of service. When Prof Osinbajo was with the firm as Senior Partner, we Muslims, got promoted to different cadres as at when due along, with our peers who are Christians.

As a practicing Muslim from birth and till date and a pioneer staff of Simmons Cooper Partners, I have only grown in the firm and not discriminated against. We all have worked closely with this amiable man of repute for over a decade. He never for once took any decision that affected our faith and the practice of our religion. On the contrary, it was because of the Muslim faithful that Prof Osinbajo required the firm to start the weekly case review meetings earlier while also shortening it for Muslim staff in the firm to observe Jumu’ah service on Fridays.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN and Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo SAN attends the North East Children's Learning Centre's 5th Year Anniversary at the NAF Centre in Jabi, Abuja. 21st March, 2022. Photos; Tolani Alli

Osinbajo and a Religious Agenda


Malam, I urge for caution please. One who spreads lies attracts the same blame from Almighty Allah as the one who concocted the lies. Do not allow yourself to get involved in politicians' conscienceless smear campaign. As you know, I have worked with Prof. Osinbajo for several years. I can assure you that he scares his opponents because he is a fair, just and upright leader. He is a leader who makes it a standard policy to suspend meetings to enable us, the Muslims, say our prayers. He, from his own pocket, ensures that in every Ramadan, meals are prepared and brought to us in our offices for Iftar. He is a practising Christian who respects practising Muslims. I have never, not once, seen or heard him passed aspersions on anyone based on the religion s/he practices. He is as comfortable with me in my full hijab as he is with my colleagues who dress differently. He is one who, when it comes to appointments, will insist on review of and compliance with enabling laws, especially Federal Character. His position, as he has stated publicly, is that there is no part of this country that does not have qualified people of proven integrity. Please ignore politicians and their paid agents.

By Dr Balkisu Saidu - Senior Special Assistant on Legal, Research and Compliance, Office of the Vice President

He wan eat out of the cake na

Let them chop Baba money na, their pocket is somewhere and their heart is in another place.

Everybody wan chop Tinubu

But it must surely purge them! [/quote]

He is the best VP in Nigeria till date.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) is scheduled to inaugurate a new terminal at the Lagos Airport on Tuesday.

-Punch Newspaper

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN commissions the Toyota Service Centre in Oshodi, Lagos State. 21st March, 2022. Photos; Tolani Alli

On VP Osinbajo's Aides

It is not true at all that Osinbajo's "inner political Circle is almost entirely made up of Yoruba RCCG." The following are the VP's aides:

Here is a rundown of the list of his aides:

Mr. Ade Ipaye, who is the head of his team as Deputy Chief of Staff, is not a Christian but a Muslim from Lagos State.

Director of Protocol, Ambassador Abdullahi Gwari, Muslim from Yobe State;

Special Adviser on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais, Muslim from Kano State;

Senior Special Assistant on Legal, Research and Compliance, Dr. Balkisu Saidu, Muslim from Sokoto State;

Senior Special Assistant on Economic Affairs, Edobor Iyamu, Christian from Edo State;

Special Adviser on Power, Dr. Tochukwu Nwachukwu, Christian from Imo State;

Special Adviser on National Economic Council (NEC), Donald Wokoma, Christian from Rivers State;

Special Assistant on Social Investment, Mohammed Braimah, Muslim from Kwara State;

Special Assistant on Inter-governmental Affairs, Abdul Rahman Baffa, Muslim from Kano State;

Special Assistant on Economy, Peter Dimike, Christian from Imo State;

Special Assistant to Power Team, Anita Otubu, Christian from Delta State;

Zainab Edu, Assistant to Special Assistant on SIP, Kano State;

Special Assistant to Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Bege Bala (BPE), Christian from Kaduna State;

Assistant on Social Investment, Amina Edu, Muslim from Kaduna State;

Personal Assistant to the Vice President, Gambo Mansur, Muslim from Gombe State;

Personal Assistant to the Vice President, Murtala Aliyu, Muslim from Kogi State;

EA-DCOS, Nkoli Anyaoku, Christian from Anambra State;

Special Assistant on Rule of Law, Zainab Buba Galadima, Muslim from Yobe State;

Special Assistant, Administration, Koko Iyamu, Christian from Akwa Ibom State;

Personal Assistant to the Vice President, Edewede Akhidenor, Christian from Edo State.

Others are Special Advisers or Senior Special Assistants to the President seconded to the office of the vice-president. Those in this category are:

Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs (Office of Vice -President), Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Muslim from Ekiti State;

Special Adviser Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu (Office of Vice -President), Muslim from Ogun State; and

Senior Special Assistant to the President (Office of Vice -President) on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande.

How can some people be comfortable telling lies that can easily be exposed? Liars have no shame.

VP OSINBAJO’S TOP TEN CONTRIBUTIONS

1. Economic Sustainability Plan
With VP Osinbajo chairing the Economic Sustainability Plan, so far there are over 465,820 beneficiaries for the Payroll Support and other beneficiaries for the Artisan Track and Formalization Support Track. Over 1.5million beneficiaries will be impacted.

***VP Osinbajo launched the ESP Cash Transfer Scheme facilitated through a wholly technology-based approach called the Rapid Response Register with plans to give 1million households COVID-19 N5000 monthly Cash Transfer for 6 months.

2. Social Investment Programmes (under VP’s Office), over 12million direct beneficiaries
***Homegrown School Feeding Programme in 35 States feeding 9.9million children. More than 107,000 cooks engaged.
***Over 500,000 graduates benefitted from the N-Power scheme.
***Over 2.3million market women, traders, artisans, farmers across all 36 states of the country and FCT, under Government Enterprise & Empowerment Programme, GEEP.
***Over 3million poor and vulnerable households have registered on the National Social Register and more than 1million families are currently benefiting from Conditional Cash Transfer.

3. Unprecedented Support for MSMEs in the country
***MSME Clinics have been held in 27 States, twice in Ebonyi across the country including the FCT. 7 One-Stop-Shops for MSMES - Cross River, Kwara, FCT, Abia, Bauchi, Osun, Plateau.

***FG has also launched Shared Facilities for MSMEs in Oyo, Bauchi, Benue, and Lagos. This is to allow MSMEs without the financial capacity to own their equipment and the opportunity to go into a fully equipped cluster style facility to pay a token to use such equipment.

***Over 400,000 MSMEs have so far participated in the MSME clinics nationwide. About 300,000 new business names have been registered by the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) at a reduced 50% price of N5000, down from the normal N10,000.

4. VP’s involvement in TECH brought about the following:
*Microsoft opened an African Development Center in Lagos in 2019 employing engineers building Microsoft products for global use. This was as a result of the meeting VP had with the leadership of Microsoft on the 10th of November, 2015 where Microsoft promised a significant presence on the African continent and Nigeria in particular.
*Google Inc. in July 2020 announced plans to establish its first Google Launchpad Space outside the United States in Lagos
*Facebook, in September 2020 made public its decision to open an office in Lagos as part of its planned expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa. Expected 2021.
*HUAWEI on the other hand last November promised the Vice President that the company will position Nigeria as a technology centre for the African continent and give more jobs to young Nigerians.

5. Ease Of Doing Business
The work of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (inaugurated by President Buhari in August 2016) and the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) has resulted in Nigeria moving up 39 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings since 2016. In the last 3 years, Nigeria has twice been adjudged one of 10 Most Improved Economies in the Rankings.


6. Dissolution of SARS and Pro-people Policing
***VP Osinbajo influenced the President to dissolve SARS as a unit of the Police Force

***VP Osinbajo brought about the idea of Judicial Panels in all States of the Federation to deal with cases of police brutality. This was adopted by State Governors at the National Economic Council.

7. Active advocate and enabler of Rule of Law in government
VP Osinbajo has always stood for the rule of law and in the interest of all Nigerians, regardless of ethnicity. In his capacity as VP, it was VP Osinbajo (then as Acting President) who fired the former DG - SSS, when he violated the sanctity of the National Assembly and violated the Nigerian constitution. VP Osinbajo defended democracy and described the invasion as an assault on Nigeria’s democracy that should not be tolerated. Also, Osinbajo Saved the party, APC, from litigation by suggesting APC EXCO members become Caretakers.

8. Niger Delta New Vision
VP Osinbajo embarked on a peace keeping mission across the Niger Delta states engaging in strategic engagements with stakeholders and people in the region to ensure that peace and stability are maintained. This ended the series of pipeline explosions, restored the maximum oil productivity, and helped terminate the recession. The take-off of the Nigerian Maritime University in Okerenkoko, Delta State. The University was granted approval in January 2018 by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to commence undergraduate degree programmes effective 2017/18 session and commenced academic activities on April 12, 2018. President Buhari approved 5 billion Naira in take-off grant for the Maritime University.


9. National Livestock Transportation Plan
The NLTP is a creation of NEC, chaired by VP Osinbajo and State Governors and is completely distinct from the now-suspended RUGA: The RUGA initiative was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2019. The VP had publicly rejected RUGA and instead articulated the NLTP which has six pillars through which it aims to transform the livestock production system in Nigeria, including through ranching along a market-oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace and justice.


10. Energising Economies and Energising Education
Osinbajo approved the provision of solar power to markets around the country such as Ariaria in Aba, Sabon Gari in Kano, Sura in Lagos, as part of the energizing economies initiative of the Rural Electrification Agency. VP Osinbajo also commissioned solar power plants in Universities such as Alex Ekwueme University, in Ebonyi, also Bayero University in Kano.

Farooq Kperogi’s motivations and the question of Osinbajo’s religious tolerance

By Mallam Farouk Isa Jimeta

Mr. Farooq Kperogi has continued his sponsored attacks on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Parading a motley of dodgy and dated reports that he has stripped of context and given twisted interpretations to suit his nefarious agenda, the Professor of fake news is unrelenting in his objective to alter the reality of well-meaning Nigerians who know and can readily attest to the character of the Vice President as a liberal, tolerant and accommodating leader who embraces Nigeria’s diversity, and has worked committedly to make it a source of strength.

Mr. Kperogi’s academic career may have hit an untimely decline, likely due to his now well-noted inclination for pushing dubious agenda and the use of untrustworthy sources for the purpose. But he has since found the usefulness of that crooked skill in the field of politics where there is no shortage of clients willing to offer good money for the execution of smear campaigns and blackmail attempts premised on the construction of an alternate reality through seductive but false claims.

It is obvious to any discerning observer that his obsession with Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is due to the strength of his candidacy as a potential successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, and the fact that there are those who are not pleased by the development. His choice of religion as the primary tool of blackmail was also deliberate for apparent reasons, but none that has to do with the country’s stability or concern for Nigeria’s Muslim population, as he falsely portrays in his now weekly diatribes.

Mr. Farooq Keprogi has no respect for Muslims neither does he care about their well-being or status in Nigeria of today or in the future. The evidence of this isn’t farfetched; you only have to look up his well-documented attacks against Islam and Muslims in the recent past, particularly from 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence and subsequent re-election in 2019 was a source of pain to his clients and recruiters.

An example is his 2017 article titled “Why Buhari is wildly popular in the Muslim north” in which he attributed the President’s goodwill in the northern region to “Muslim clerical tyranny”. The entire piece was a shameful and condescending disparaging of Muslim northerners as a monolith group incapable of prosecuting or examining a matter with sense and logic once the matter of religion is introduced.

In another similar piece, this time from December 2021, Mr. Farooq Kperogi had this to say about the Muslim north: “You can smolder the northern masses with economic asphyxiation, as Buhari is doing now, and they would make peace with their fate with listless acquiescence, but blaspheme their religion or even icons of their religion, and they would rise up in arms and murder indiscriminately.”

Here again, he was pushing the dangerous and reductive stereotype of Muslim northerners as religious extremists who kill at will and indiscriminately in defense of their religion.

Given his rich history of such offensive characterization of Muslims and the denunciation of Islam, it is worth asking how and why the same man has appointed himself the spokesperson of Muslims on the subject who is tolerant of their faith, as well as presents the best chance for Nigeria’s stability as a multi-religious state - a project he has repeatedly placed in jeopardy with his reckless articles which encouraged hatred against Islam and Muslims.

The answer is that Mr. Farooq Kperogi is merely executing a script. He is serving the interest of those who having found nothing to smear the Vice President with (due to his spotless public service records), have now zeroed in on Nigeria’s ethno-religious fault-lines to scaremonger and cause disaffection.

Mr. Kperogi himself hinted at the effectiveness of this evil strategy in another piece where he said: “Appeal to religion is the easiest way to ignite the raw emotions and solidarity of the [northern] masses.” His frivolous and baseless accusations against the Vice President must then be understood as an execution of this strategy in collusion with opposing political figures who are threatened by the VP’s rising profile.

Regardless, to assuage the fears of those who may have been lured by Mr. Kperogi’s sophistry and seductive propaganda, it becomes important to address the questions asked on Prof. Yemi’s Osinbajo’s tolerance of difference in faith and worship, and whether he is a man capable of joining or initiating a plot aimed at the ‘Christainization’ of what is a historically diverse country.

Perhaps the most credible answer to the question can only come from Muslims themselves, especially those who have experience of interacting and working with the Vice President. Yes, he does work with Muslims; in fact, his leadership team at the Presidency comprises of a significant number of Muslims, despite Kperogi’s mendacious claims that he makes the choice of staff on the basis of religious affiliation.

Dr. Balkisu Saidu is one of the Muslims who works with the Vice President. She serves as a Senior Special Assistant on Legal Research, and Compliance matters in his office. Responding last year to sponsored claims of religious discrimination against the Vice President, she not only clarified that the “Christian appointees” elements like Kperogi have portrayed as evidence of Prof. Osinbajo’s bias were actually made by the President, but also that the Vice President is a “humane, compassionate, and detribalized patriotic Nigerian.”

She went on to say that: “If you are talking about religion, the most senior official or position in the Office of the Vice President apart from the Vice President himself, is the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President and the name of the person occupying that office is Abdulrahman Ipaye and he is a Muslim.”

She continued: “When people lack what to use or have exhausted all avenues to speak evil against perceived opponents or ridicule the good works that they are doing, they resort to use of religion or other means possible to damage the image and reputation of that opponent.”

Similarly, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic rights advocacy group, was prompted by insinuations from nuisances like Mr. Kperogi to conduct an investigation into allegations of religious bias in the operations of the Vice President last year, and the following was their verdict:

“MURIC is known for raising its voice against those who oppress Muslims but we do not wish to be known for remaining silence when we see Christians who accommodate Muslims. Objectivity demands that we speak up for the good Christian who accommodates Muslims.”

“During our investigation, we stumbled on an article written by a female Muslim presidential aide in the VP’s office. The article, which surfaced recently on social media, affirmed the presence of 18 Muslim officials in Osinbajo’s office.”

“An opportunity to confirm one of the claims made in the article defending the VP came our way just by chance and we feel compelled by principle to share the information since we are stakeholders. The opportunity we refer to occurred way back in 2018 or 2019. It provided concrete and undeniable evidence which we witnessed by ourselves as a group and it confirmed that Mr. Abul Rahman Ipaye, a Muslim and former Commissioner in Lagos State who was mentioned in the article as the highest staff in the VP’s office is, indeed, a bona fide staff of Osinbajo,” the group concluded.

There are several more attestations from other credible Muslim groups and individuals but reeling them out in what is already a lengthy piece may amount to belaboring a firmly established point, that VP Osinbajo is not a religious bigot and his emergence as President holds no threat to Nigeria’s continued existence as a multi-religious state where Christians and Muslims alike enjoy equal opportunities to practice their faith and pursue self-actualization.

I do not expect any of these to cause a change of heart in Mr. Farooq Kperogi. It is impossible to wake a man who pretends to be asleep. Or more aptly put, a man who receives payment in large sums to feign slumber. He needs these ‘gigs’ to meet his responsibilities and he doesn’t care about the dangerous implications of his actions. He is set in his ways. I only offer these clarifications to set the records straight and present the true picture of things to unsuspecting Nigerians who may be led to think that Kperogi’s ability to sprinkle bogus words in his putrid articles amounts to knowledge on the subject he discusses. He is a paid propagandist who makes a living from spreading lies and cloning the truth with baseless conspiracy theories aimed at stirring ethno-religious divisiveness. Nothing more, nothing less.