A Professor’s Unending Battles
Even as the number two man in a country with a population said to be in excess of 200 million, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is certainly not a very happy man. He is in a quandary, unsure of his next move, confused about his role and most tragically uncertain about what tomorrow holds for him.
Would he become President by some stroke of fortune or should he return to his law practice? What if he takes off his facade of humility and fights for his office like a man- the way former Vice President Atiku Abubakar did when it became clear that his boss at the time, President Olusegun Obasanjo, did not want him around any longer? Would the Goodluck Jonathan card favour him more?
Same Old Story, Different Actors
Many who follow politics in Nigeria would recall how Patience Jonathan complained endlessly that Turai Yaradua- wife of the then President Umaru Yaradua- condemned her husband to only “reading newspapers and drinking coffee.” The Yaradua “cabal” under the headship of the late President’s wife made sure Jonathan was so redundant that many began to wonder if his office indeed existed.
But Goodluck Jonathan, either through the gift of clairvoyance or tactical know-how bided his time and took the humiliation in its stride, refusing to be drawn into a public “roforofo”. By January 2010, a hitherto unknown doctrine of necessity was enacted in the Senate and the humble unassuming teacher was pronounced acting President.
The “cabal” knew almost immediately that the game was up. Being desperate for power however, they were not prepared to give in without one last attempt at reclaiming their advantage. On a night in February 2010, a dying Yaradua was “smuggled” back into the country without the knowledge of the acting President.
In all this, Jonathan was kept in the dark. When Yaradua eventually hobbled into the Presidential Villa, the “cabal” according to a national daily, issued a standing order restraining the acting President from having access to his infirmed boss.
In May 2010 however, Yaradua went the way of all mortals and the “cabal” reluctantly accepted that all their evil schemes had ended. Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as substantive President and Patience Jonathan became the official first lady. The “cabal” accepted their fate and quietly fizzled out of the public space.
It is possible that Yemi Osinbajo’s advisors would continually remind him of the events of 2007-2010. There is every possibility that they would tell him not to play into the hands of the current “cabal” who would waste no time in using any of the myriad allegations of financial impropriety against him and move for his impeachment in the National Assembly. Professor Osinbajo may be the Vice President but with no political power base anywhere. He is currently the most vulnerable politician in Abuja. It is unlikely that he can muster the support of up to ten senators if push comes to shove. He may also struggle to find support in the media space where his political nemesis and allegedly estranged benefactor controls the narrative.
While many were quick to call Jonathan weak at the time, the fact is that the Niger Delta elements backed Jonathan and the “cabal” were very conscious not to over-provoke the then Vice President. A word of frustration from him to the press could have set the nation’s revenue base on fire, crippling the nation’s economy in less than a week. Jonathan also had the sympathy of the masses and a certain Olusegun Obasanjo.
For Yemi Osinbajo however, the dynamics are entirely different and the reasons are not far-fetched. In the last four years, the Vice President’s stocks have so fallen that if placed on the equities market, they would be rated in the category of “kobo stocks.”
A Vice President all Alone
It was Bola Tinubu who recommended Prof Osinbajo to Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari following his (Buhari) victory at the 2014 All Progressives Congress Presidential primaries in Lagos. Today, the general belief is that the former Lagos State Governor and his then Justice Commissioner no longer see eye to eye with the reason being the possible interests of both men in the 2023 Presidential election.
Nigeria’s Presidency is still driven by ethnic considerations which is why politicians in the country make a habit of falling back to their kinsmen in moments of difficulties. But, before you are wholly accepted by your kinsmen, there must be some proof that supporting you would offer them tangible benefits and that you would not betray them when in power.
The key question however is: would Afenifere- the Yoruba socio-cultural group- step in to defend their son from the humiliation by unelected individuals? While it maybe hard to predict what would happen in the days ahead, it would however be appropriate to ask what value Prof Osinbajo has brought to Yoruba land since he became the nation’s number two man in 2015. Has Osinbajo ever spoken out in defence of Yoruba interests? What did the Vice President say or do when armed Fulani marauders almost ran prominent Yoruba leader Olu Falae out of his homeland in 2015-2016? Did he take any action when armed Fulani invaders almost took over Yoruba towns and villages around the second and third quarters of 2019- killing, raping and carrying out all forms of atrocities from Akure to Oshogbo through communities in Oyo state? Was it not this same Yemi Osinbajo who mocked Yoruba leaders earlier in the year when in New York he alleged that reports of insecurity in the country were exaggerated? Is it likely that a man whose son mocked him in public would defend him when his former friends turn against him? Wouldn’t he be content to relax and watch things unfold?
How about politicians from the South West? Would they risk their political ambitions for one of their own? Well, they may have done that if the man in view had not used his privileged position against some of them in the not-too-distant past. It is alleged in several circles that the Vice President used security personnel to hound and humiliate several political bigwigs while playing the facade of innocence. It is understood that these politicians are currently baying for blood and interestingly, many of them have the ears of the “cabal.”
Prof Osinbajo is an ordained pastor of the most dominant Pentecostal group in Nigeria- the Redeemed Christian Church of God, and he is said to enjoy the support of the General Overseer of the church- the venerable Pastor Enoch Adeboye. So, would the Christian community come to the defence of the pastor? It would not have been a question if only the said pastor used his powerful office to advance the interest of Christians in the country.
One would have expected that a Christian Vice President would rise strongly to condemn the gruesome killing of Mrs Eunice Olawole by a group of suspected extremists in Kubwa- a suburb of Abuja in July 2016. He also said little when Mrs Bridget Agbahime was killed by Islamic extremists in Kano in 2016. There was no pressure from the vice President’s office to see that justice was done and the killers of the Christian women brought to book.
A general principle in life is the law of give and take. People fight for you when you show a certain willingness to also fight for them. No one fights for a man perceived as being selfish- only working for his individual interest. So now, who would fight for Professor Yemi Osinbajo?
A litany of humiliation
Only last week, news reports filtered in that the Presidency relieved 35 aides of the Vice President of their roles. This was not a cost saving measure as more aides have been appointed for the President’s office and that of his wife. In the opinion of pundits, it is one of the numerous plots to weaken the Vice President and make him less powerful.
Earlier in the year, the President scrapped the Economic Management Team headed by the Vice President and immediately appointed a body of eggheads and economic managers into the Economic Advisory Council. The body of advisors headed by Prof Doyin Salami would advise the President on relevant policies to adopt in tackling the myriad of economic challenges facing the country including poverty, unemployment and declining industrial capacity utilization. It is very unlikely Prof Osinbajo, even as the man constitutionally charged with managing the nation’s economy, made any input to the list announced by the Presidency in September this year.
Also in September, the Social Investment Program (SIP) under the Vice President’s office was moved to the newly created Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, headed by Hajia Sadiya Umar-Farouq- a long term ally of the President. The simple implication was that in one fell swoop, the very responsibilities that made the Vice President relevant and visible to Nigerians including N-Power, school feeding program and TraderMoni were moved away from the professor’s office.
When last was the Vice President seen at any serious public function? According to a recent report, the Vice President has also been stopped from representing the President at events. The “cabal” makes sure lowly ranked ministers or other officials of the Presidency are sent to represent the President at public functions he is unable to personally attend.
At the end of October this year, President Buhari embarked on another of his now-embarrassing foreign trips and Nigerians were told he would be away till mid-November. One would have expected that the Vice President would be called upon to step in as acting President since the constitution stipulates that the President should hand over the reins of power to his deputy whenever it becomes imperative for him to be out of the country for 21 days or more. President Buhari many would recall left the country on the 28 of October for an event in Saudi Arabia.
In light of what is now in the public domain, it does appear that the Vice President merely read about the President’s trip like every other Nigerian did in the newspaper or via tweets from the President’s handle. Could it be that the social media handlers of the President are more informed than the man Nigerians re-elected as their Vice President in February this year?
Just few days ago, President Buhari’s Chief of staff- the very powerful Abba Kyari- flew to London to present the President with a copy of the recently amended Deep Offshore Act for his accent. While many Nigerians have since condemned the decision of the chief of staff to journey seven thousand miles to present this bill to the President for his signature, the seeming neglect of Prof Osinbajo in the grand scheme of things at Aso Rock has further portrayed the Vice President as a weakling who virtually has no value in the Presidency.
Act the fool, but for how long?
Does the Vice President not believe that the office he currently occupies is worth fighting for? Again, one must be permitted to ask: why would a professor of law fold his arms and not sound the alarm bell when the constitution he swore to protect is being trampled upon by characters that are totally unknown to Nigerian voters? Why does this professor of law not insist that the President properly hand over power to him when going on an extended vacation? Does it make sense for him to watch the country run on autopilot? If he thinks this is okay, what then is the relevance of the vice President’s office which he occupies?
Is it possible that the Vice President may be trying to play safe so he can reap bountifully should the events of 2010 replay itself? But what if that does not happen? What if he is impeached, prosecuted on contrived charges and sent to the jail before whatever may happen happens?
Can a man scream from the grave?
