Let Osinbajo Be!
POLITICAL NOTES
The barrage of organised media attacks against the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, since he declared his interest in the nation’s number one job, has shamelessly exposed, not just the hypocrisy of the Senator Bola Tinubu camp, but also the fact that the big masquerade of Lagos politics, has never been prepared for competitive politics, even though they are quick to arrogate progressivism to him.
Unfortunately, their panic response to the Osinbajo declaration, further gave them away as lacking the strategy and character to engage equally strong opposition or have what it takes to trump their opponents in the event that the space is truly thrown open. While Tinubu started early to consult and announce his intention, the coming into the race by Osinbajo seemed to have unsettled him and his legion of supporters.
One of the most disappointing developments since Osinbajo threw his hat into the ring, was Tinubu’s recent outburst that, “I don’t have a son grown enough to declare”, meaning, despite claiming to boasting so much democratic record, he lacks the courage to compete and would rather a shoo-in to the presidency. That statement was beneath him by all standards.
Sadly, this ugly show of resentment by Tinubu and co, led the way for more intolerance by his supporters, who seized the occasion of the Easter celebration to descend on Osinbajo, calling him many unprintable names, particularly, likening him to Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ and gave him up for crucifixion. Who’s Tinubu for crying out loud?
How is Osinbajo Judas? What’s the relationship between the character and his aspiration? That a sitting vice-president seeks to succeed his boss is being likened to betrayal, belies logic in every form or shape. It’s a normal development. And then, the Tinubu supporters, like a mob without honour and brain, have not ceased to claim he made him. How is that? That he made him a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) or sponsored his education to becoming a professor of law? Simple reasoning presupposes that he needed Osinbajo more at the time. His past needed a clean-up and Osinbajo did some smart work.
The Tinubu people should quit their rather pathetic defeatist politics and face the task before them, if truly they are interested in the presidency. The idea of labelling nearly everyone a betrayal is a testimony to the fact that, they are evidently not approaching their game well and it would definitely not get them the seat or place them highly in the equation. They should let Osinbajo be and instead, show him he’s a “baby politician”, when it gets really intriguing.
