By Wale
Sokunbi
The Presidency on
Monday raised an alarm on what it believes to be a plot to cause a division
between President Muhammadu Buhari and Acting President Yemi Osinbajo. The
Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Mr. Babafemi Ojudu, described
the trending comparisons of Buhari and Osinbajo as the handiwork of those who
do not wish the country well. He also said it was a ploy by the
opposition to cause unnecessary division between the two men who share a joint
ticket.
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| *Osinbajo and Buhari |
He was quick to say
that Osinbajo was only carrying out the economic policies of the government
which the public was only now beginning to feel their impact. As he put it, “it
is not a question of one person being better than the other.” Even Osinbajo’s
visit to the Niger Delta, he said, is an initiative of the president, and the
attempts to divide the two men can only rob Nigerians of the dividends of
democracy.
The concerns of the
Presidency over what appears a direct effort to pitch Buhari against Osinbajo
are well placed. The gambit has apparently been seized by well known Buhari
naysayers who have started praising Osinbajo to the high heavens for his modest
and sincere efforts at governance, while painting Buhari as lacking in ability
to solve the nation’s problems.
For those who have
immersed themselves in this worrisome narrative, Buhari is a non-performer
while Osinbajo is the magic wand that is gradually making a difference in
governance and solving some of the nation’s problems, especially the nation’s
forex woes, which has seen the naira appreciate from N520 to N420 to the
dollar, while electricity supply is improving with the reducing militancy and
bombing of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta area of the country.
Vice President Osinbajo has, undoubtedly, been playing his role well but that
is no reason for tattling tattlers to seek to draw a wedge between him and his
principal, Buhari. Those who cannot appreciate the wisdom of allowing Osinbajo
to do his work as Acting President in peace, while Buhari attends to his health
in London, will do well to reread the story of David and Goliath in I Samuel,
chapters 17 and 18 , of the Holy Bible.
The young boy,
David, killed the giant, Goliath, and King Saul was, indeed, happy to have such
a young man who could help the nation get rid of the vaulting Goliath (economic
recession and forex woes?) from his nation. The king, initially, harboured no
evil at all against David.
