Vice President Yemi Osinbajo – then, now, and beyond…

The EndSARS debacle taught a lot of lessons, one of which is to ‘sorosoke,’ which loosely translated from Yoruba means to ‘speak up’. But contrary to popular view, ‘soro-soke’ does not represent speaking up in the face of adversity alone, but also, when leadership is exemplary.

The soro-soke generation advocates that we always speak up in the interest of the Nigerian State, as experience has shown that ‘we the people’ bear the brunt of poor and selfish leadership.

Exemplary leadership manifests through different attributes, supreme among which is empathy towards the populace.

The EndSARS uprising would not have seen the light of the day if issues concerning human rights abuses from the SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) unit of the Nigerian Police Force had not been handled with kids’ gloves.

In October 2018, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as Acting President, had ordered the overhaul of the controversial police unit following allegations of human rights violations, as he had directed then Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to review the operations of the SARS.

However, the clamour died down when the substantive President, Muhammadu Buhari, re-assumed duties after a temporary absence.

The SARS unit continued with their highhandedness and human rights violations as a result of this seeming dissonance in bureaucracy, which for some Nigerians represented a lack of empathy for the Nigerian populace.

But rather than admit their erroneous judgement on the SARS issues, many of our political elites remained in denial of the reality facing Nigerian youths on a daily basis. In October 2020, the young people revolted, with the EndSARS protests that spread nationwide.

One Nigerian leader was nonetheless exemplary, who in the darkest days of the protest apologized to Nigerians, saying: “We are sorry”; a stance which could have averted the bloodbath that occurred on the 20th of October, 2020.

This leader, Nigeria’s Vice President, matched words with action when he absorbed the EndSARS uprising as an economic issue to be addressed under the National Economic Council (NEC), which he chairs, and thus mobilized the Governors of all 36 States and the FCT to set up judicial panels to address human rights abuses that were perpetuated against Nigerians and ensure justice for all victims of the dissolved SARS and other police units.

As of January, 2021, 28 States including the FCT had set up judicial panels.

One thing is clear: throughout his public service career, Prof Osinbajo has sought to identify current and impending problems in society and propose solutions to them by way of public policy.

In spite of having to navigate through the labyrinth of politics and government, Osinbajo has always made the impact of his proposed policies his focal point.

Throughout his public service life, whether as a lecturer, attorney general, vice president, or acting president, Prof. Osinbajo has demonstrated uncommon virtues, morals, and dedication to the Nigerian State. His ambitions are not personal, rather they are for the common good.

By virtue of his position in government at any point in time —- whether as Attorney General, Vice President, or Acting President —- Prof Osinbajo has resolutely championed initiatives that make general contributory impacts on communities, social groups, and actual people.

These include the projects and interventions delegated to him by his principal, whether Governor or the President; others he initiated on his own as his pet projects; and the ones he implemented by virtue of the powers vested in him, whether as Attorney General or as Acting President.

The policies, actions, and initiatives of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo in the public sector have greatly shaped and continue to shape social, economic, and political development in Nigeria. A close look at some of the initiatives and policy thrusts championed by him during his public career, spanning from Attorney General of Lagos State to Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including his short stints as Acting President, shows a number of significant outcomes and impacts.

It is thus, on the basis of the interest of the Nigerian State, that this compilation of the impacts of some of his interventions in the public space are highlighted with the sole aim of illuminating what one man who constitutionally is supposed to be a mere ‘spare tyre’ can achieve without sufficient power backing him.

Imagine then, for a second, what he can achieve if empowered with more executive powers.

Watch out for succeeding series of this article…

This article is part of a report pieced together by the IdentifytheRightLeader group.

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