It is not beyond politicians to sometimes want to make an angel look like a demon, throwing common sense to the wind in the process, but Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s antecedents and mien do not put him in the category of someone who can be successfully tarred.
It is saddening that dark-minded men and their spin merchants are after that ray of hope – men whose sole devilish pastime is to bare their poisonous fangs to truncate the nation’s progress at every developmental turnaround. They see far more than average Nigerians see and would spill blood to protect the status quo, the chaos from which they feed.
Unfortunately, they are everywhere, given free rein by those who are yet to see that these characters are our common enemies and the enemies of our children unborn. From one republic to another, they keep metamorphosing and their strategy has always been a further turn of the screw for the economically and mentally ravaged masses.
They went after Obafemi Awolowo. They went after MKO Abiola. They went Murtala Muhammed. They went after Muhammadu Buhari when he was military Head of State. They are in and around every government. They are in corporate governance as well. Their lifelong duty is to never allow the good of Nigeria and to kill off whoever represents or could represent that good. Yemi Osinbajo is their target now.
This is the same Osinbajo who tells his aides at their quarterly meeting to never use their office for personal gains. The same Osinbajo who would work for hours on just a roll of bread and black coffee – a man who would ensure you get your dues even when he knows you are his unrepentant enemy; a man who in spite of hectic campaign routines would be back in his office in the dead of the night to work on files.
He would still get on the plane in the morning, writing his own speech for his next stop on his iPad and would continue to fine-tune it during the event to adjust it to developments at such event. Unbelievably energetic at his age and out-of-this-world humble.
He exudes the power of his office not with rhetoric or vainness but with in-depth brilliance and wisdom. His person exudes a higher power that only God can give. This is the power that I think he derives his humility, loyalty, integrity and competence from.
What more can a nation ask for in its vice president? What more can an administration ask for in its number two man? What more can a president ask for in his deputy? This is what the hawks fear and are after.
Oladimeji Daniels can be contacted via email: dimejidaniels@gmail.com
