By Fredrick Nwabufo
You can accuse Vice-President
Yemi Osinbajo of being ‘’down-to-earth’’, considering his pint-size. You can
also accuse him of intellectual exuberance, but you cannot tack corruption to
him. It will not stick.
Over the years, the maelstrom of
anger against Osinbajo has widened. The reason for this, perhaps, is the
perception by some Nigerians that he is not standing up enough for his own –
the Christian fold and the south — when it matters. Another reason is the
amplification of this perception by some members of the opposition who deploy
propaganda to ‘’divisive finale’’.
Osinbajo’s faith and calling – as
a pastor – are sometimes juxtaposed with allegations of intellectual
dishonesty, pretense and of enshrouding the wrongs in the Buhari
administration.
As matter of fact, the
vice-president often appears to be singled out for remonstrance for the lapses
and controversial policies of the administration.
For example, in June, the
vice-president was reported to have told Nigerians in New York that Nigeria had
about 112.7million people living in extreme poverty as of 2010 – this was in
response to reports of the country becoming the world poverty capital under
Buhari.
One of those who drew blood from
Osinbajo on account of this was Reno Omokri. The soi-disant “Buhari tormentor’’
vocalised the typical perception. He said the vice-president lies as much as
the devil.
He said: “You see that no matter
how far and fast Osinbajo’s regular falsehood travels, it will always be
overtaken by truth.’’
“I will like to say again that Mr
Osinbajo has shown himself to be a man of very base character, who lies as much
as the devil that he preaches against and whose behaviour has undermined the
faith of genuine believers.”
Really, social media has made it
facile to sculpt perceptions. All it takes is for a stentorian voice, with a
strong capacity for babble, to make pronouncements on an issue or an
individual, and the mob, which operates without the ‘’encephalon’’, go to town
and bleat.
It is understandable that there
are high expectations of Osinbajo being a man of the robe. But the tendency to
diminish him for standing in support of the administration he serves is an act
of sanctimony.
I think, by being a strong
support to Buhari, Osinbajo is giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
Also, before the Ruga programme
was pigeonholed, Osinbajo took much of the obloquy for the controversial
initiative, even though he had nothing to do with it; he was already working on
the National Livestock Transformation Plan with the governors of the 36 states.
The vice-president, eventually,
had to issue a statement dissociating himself from Ruga to get the hounds off.
In addition, there is the
perception that he is not doing enough or not exerting enough pressure on the
administration to secure the release of Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl in Boko
Haram captivity.
In fact, this was the core of one
of Omokri’s jabs at Osinbajo. As I said, it is understandable, considering
Osinbajo’s religious background. But perceptions are not always true.
However, these accusations can be
palliated because they are governed by perceptions. But the allegations of
financial impropriety and fraud against Osinbajo by some persons border on his
personal integrity. They are weighty and damaging.
It is characteristic of our brand
of politics, for political actors to casually tag other actors as corrupt even
when there is no evidence. Nigeria’s politics is where good and competent men
and women get into, and become sectioned as part of the vacuous, predatory
corrupt class.
The reason most Nigerians with
the aptitude for leadership do not go into politics is for fear of the ‘’tag’’.
Even the principled Oby
Ezekwesili was not spared of scandals after bravely stepping into the molten
magna that is Nigeria’s politics. Allegations of diverting N153 million
campaign funds rippled when she decided to back out of the 2019 presidential
contest.
One thing is certain; the hawks
are hovering over Osinbajo in Aso Rock. He himself admitted that there are
saboteurs working against the government. These recent allegations may be a
furtherance of the artifice of those hawks.
@FredrickNwabufo
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com