By Olukayode Majekodunmi
Yemi Osinbajo is the Vice-President of Nigeria. He emerged running mate of Muhammadu Buhari who was victorious in 2015 after defeating the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a keenly contested general election. Buhari had earlier been declared winner of the presidential primary of the then opposition party, All Progressive Congress (APC), on December 14, 2014. He defeated Goodluck Jonathan, presidential candidate of the PDP that had been in power since May 1999. Since he was sworn as VP, the sayings and actions of Prof. Osinbajo have over time been observed to demonstrate and manifest as an ambassador of peace, peace crusader and Justice of Peace personified.
Osinbajo came to prominence in the early ’90s when he served as special assistant to Chief Bola Ajibola, former president of the International Court of Justice, Hague. In a tribute to his mentor on his 85th birthday, Osinbajo said: “I am honoured to pay this tribute to a man with whom I am proud to identify as his first child, a friend and a mentor, H.E. Judge Bola Ajibola, SAN, KBE, one of Nigeria’s foremost arbitrators, one-time president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Honourable Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for five years, Judge of the World Court, and Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. I have mentioned Judge Bola Ajibola’s major and high public service appointments, from legal practice to diplomacy, to demonstrate the breadth and variety of his talents and competence. I served as his special adviser for five years, when he was federal attorney-general, and I was on hand once in a while with him at the World Court. Every day was a lesson in hard work, integrity and contentment. He was in the office before 8.00am and he never left till 8.00pm. Even then, he carried with him loads of books and files to study overnight.
I saw first-hand how he resisted every attempt to compromise him and how he fought corruption. He always said contentment was the key to staying honest. He lived those high ideals to the letter. As judge of the World Court, he very quickly won the respect and admiration of his colleagues for his wisdom, wit and erudition. In my years as attorney-general of Lagos State, he was on hand to exhort, advice and encourage and also rebuke! I remember year 2000, when he arrived at my office at 8.00am. His first comment was that he was not surprised that I was at my desk so early. He had come to advice on how he thought I should handle some sensitive issues that had arisen early in our administration in Lagos State.”
This statement captures the perception of a dutiful mentee to a worthy mentor. Osinbajo’s description of Ajibola reflects the true personality traits and the level of responsibilities of Ajibola to official duties.
Also, in a statement recently through his spokesman, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo stated that Nigerians will fare better living together as one, in spite of ethnic differences. He had, during an interactive session with top officials of Nigeria’s High Commission, UK, emphasised that the Federal Government would strive to ensure fairness and balance.
In his words: “If you look at all of us sitting here, we represent all the geo-political zones. This is the Nigeria that will succeed, anything else doesn’t make sense.”
He explained further that citizens at home and in the Diaspora should promote the message of one country. According to him, anybody who looks at how Nigeria operates will recognise that it is better off in this system.
“Yoruba are not better off on their own, Igbo are not better off on their own, the North is not better off on its own. We are better off as one nation, that is why we are strong and that is why we can face the world. Everywhere in the world today, people are coming together to form stronger units, they are not breaking up; this is not the time to break up. If you read of the economics of smaller nations, they are looking for ways of how they can become stronger by aligning with other nations. How does a country with all the potential and everything that we have think that the best way is to break up?”
This statement emanating from the Vice-President reveals that Osinbajo is a man of peace and love. He is a detribalised Nigerian, visioner and nationalist who sees a brighter, rewarding future in the Nigerian project. Osinbajo said Nigeria was at a point in time in its history where it had security and economic challenges. He said such challenges could happen to any government, adding that Nigeria would overcome the problems.
“Security challenges that we have didn’t show up in one day but it is the government, the people, the men and women that will handle them.
“We happen to be that government, and I am very convinced that we are entirely capable of handling it. I think we are in the best possible position to solve these problems.”
The VP spoke about the popularity and credibility of President Buhari, identifying it as a crucial factor in galvanizing the entire system in resolving the challenges. He said the President was possibly the most popular Nigerian politician that the nation has had in generations.
Osinbajo said the President could possibly be the only person who could go into a place or somewhere without bossing people to gather and they would come and listen to him speak: “We need that level of credibility to be able to solve problems in our country. And I think, because of his level of credibility, despite everything, he is still the only one that can call everyone, and even people who do not necessarily agree with him, know that he is a man of his words.”
“We must promote one country; but, of course, everybody talks about justice, fairness and balance, and that is what we must try to do on a continuous basis. Let us not be discouraged, let us be very confident because our country will come out of all these problems and emerge stronger.
“So, I urge every person who represents our country to ensure that we must represent the country well and be able to speak up at the right forum about the country and what we are doing,” he said.
Sharing an insight on his tenure as the Commissioner of Justice in Lagos, Osinbajo explained how he wrestled corruption in the state. Osinbajo said he knew there was a problem in Lagos State judiciary even before he assumed office. According to him, “when I assumed office, the first thing I did was to conduct a survey of about 200 lawyers “who were regular practitioners at the court” and asked them certain questions. He said one of the most fundamental questions in the questionnaire bordered on the “integrity of the judiciary.”
“89 per cent of the respondents said that the judiciary in Lagos state was notoriously corrupt,”. He emphasized that corruption went beyond judges to include court clerks and lawyers. He also said the survey identified the causes of the corruption to include appointments based on favours and connection to the detriment of merit. He affirmed that no serious background checks were carried out on prospective appointees and that the take home pay of magistrates and judges was also found to be inadequate. “I therefore, put in place a system of tests and interviews that each prospective appointee must answer satisfactorily,” I put in place a team of seven senior judges and reviewed the monthly salary of judges which was about N67,000 and compared it to their average expenditure and then came to the conclusion that the take home pay of judges was grossly inadequate.
Osinbajo stated further that most good judges had no home of their own even after retirement and decided to not only increase the pay but provided each judge with a House. In his words: “Every judge is given a house to live in and it belongs to him even after retirement. We also increased remuneration considerably,”.
The acting VP said after doing that he insisted that any judge accused of infraction is investigated and punished accordingly. He said within one year of the reforms, twenty-two (22) magistrates were sacked while three judges were recommended for disciplinary measures to the National Judicial Council. “When the same survey was conducted again in 2006, the outcome showed that there was zero per cent corruption among judges in Lagos state,” he said.
Mr. Osinbajo said people naturally have to see the consequences of bad behaviour before they toe the line. The Vice President also used the occasion to ask for additional cooperation from the international community on the recovery of stolen assets hidden in various countries. He said the process of recovering stolen assets is very cumbersome and may take several years. He then called on the international community to work with the Nigerian government to ensure that the assets are returned to the country speedily. Osinbajo’s various roles as Commissioner of Justice in Lagos reflected a sincere, dutiful and loyal servant to the sitting governor. By his various actions, he could therefore be regarded as a listening leader who cares for the wellbeing of government workers.
Furthermore, Laolu Akande, the vice-president’s spokesman when Osinbajo was honoured with an award at a dinner organised to mark the 45th anniversary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), quoted Osinbajo thus: “fairness, equity and respect for the rights of others are fundamental to peace and security,” hence Christian leaders at all levels must strive to promote those virtues despite the challenges “We must continue to let the important truth be known that Christ did not come to establish a religion or to condemn men, but to show all men that his own righteousness, not our righteousness or performance, is the qualification for eternal life”. “That the gospel commands consideration for the views of others, treating them as we would wish to be treated; non-violent communication, that our words must be words of grace seasoned with salt. “We must, as an organisation and as individuals, remain constant and relentless advocates of freedom of worship, respect for human rights, fairness, justice and the rule of law.”
Commending the works of the current and the past leadership of CAN in promoting religious tolerance, Osinbajo said “CAN has not only been continually faithful to its founding vision, it has become a veritable force for peace, unity and social justice.” The current and past leadership of CAN have acted in full realization and recognition of their roles as pivotal stakeholders alongside the Government, private sector in nation-building. “We are proud of the role of moral compass of society and interlocutor for peace among the different faiths that CAN has played and continues to play in our nation. “An almost intemperate, vehement and often violent dismissal of the views of people of other persuasions without adequate consideration. At the same time there is the rise of identity and cultural politics. Brethren, the answer to hate, intolerance and conflict is the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
It is worthy to note that the Vice President as a man of peace and harmony recently led clerics to pray for Nigeria victory over sponsors and perpetrators of violence in the country. The prayers were offered during the dedication of two Churches in Abuja. The Churches were the All Saints Anglican Church Wuse Zone 5, and the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) City of David Parish, Utako, Abuja.
The Nigerian Vice President has over time displayed high level of commitment and dedication to peace as he assured Nigerians that the Federal Government will continue to work hard at finding solutions to the challenges confronting the nation.
• Olukayode Majekodunmi, LLM, wrote from Lagos