In all developed democracies, voters consider two (2) things in choosing their president –
A. EXPERIENCE the candidate would bring to the office and,
B. What POSITION the person holds on critical NATIONAL ISSUES.
EXPERIENCE
Regardless of whatever one may say about the candidates for office of the president today, when it comes to the experience a candidate would be bringing to the office of president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (hereinafter called PYO) possesses far more experience than all the other aspirants. I have more than a dozen reasons to give for this assertion as detailed hereunder thus -:
1. PYO was a lecturer in the University Lagos at the of 23, and became professor of law at the age of 37. This familiarizes him with the challenges of university education including problems with ASUU.
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2. PYO was Legal Adviser to Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice Prince Bola Ajibola from 1998-1992. During that time he and other lawyers in the office of the Attorney General compiled the Laws of the Federation (LFN) in 14 Volumes which were hitherto scattered in different books. Today, LFN can be found in the office of lawyers whether in private practice or working in government or in their private libraries at home. It was also at that time that the team PYO worked with in the Federal Attorney General’s office, compiled and updated the Companies Decree 1968 and produced the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990.
3. I met PYO in year 2000 when I was head of Habib Bank Legal Unit in the bank’s regional office (South), Lagos when he was Attorney General/Commissioner of Justice for Lagos State (1999-2007). I followed his erudition and his successes in court. It was at that time that PYO created an avenue for the poor and indigent in Lagos state to have free access to justice by setting up Office of the Public Defender (OPD) and Citizens Mediation Center (CMC). To my knowledge the OPD, provided free legal advice and free court representation to disadvantaged citizens of the Lagos state while the CMC Centre PYO established served as Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre that provided non-adversarial forum for the mediation and settlement of disputes between parties who voluntarily agree to the mediation of the disputes by mediators. It could also be recalled that the Centre’s efforts were complemented by strong collaborative relationships with NGOs and other civil society groups active in the area of human rights protection and the provision of pro bono legal services.
4. As Attorney General/Commissioner of Justice of Lagos state PYO was so much concern with the well being and welfare of judges in the state, he also transformed the recruitment and motivational processes of judges.
5. As Attorney General/Commissioner of Justice, PYO represented Lagos state government up to the Supreme Court in a couple of cases against the federal government and he won all the cases.
6. PYO was Acting President of the Federal republic of Nigeria.
7. PYO is currently the Vice President of Nigeria.
8. As the Vice President of Nigeria and therefore Vice Chairman of the National Security Council that regularly meets with the nation’s security chiefs together with the President, PYO is well equipped with the Knowledge and experience of fighting insecurity.
9. PYO is a team player and loyal Vice President who has never had an open disagreement that led to a quarrel with the president. I am standing with him as he will bring in loyalty to a system, which is quality of faithfulness to commitments and obligations.
10. PYO is a lawyer, not just a lawyer, but one that is an expert in the basic tenets of democracy and who knows the rule of law and better ways of fighting corruption than the others.
11. PYO if voted, will bring to the presidency, the advantage of continuity of APC’s vision of addressing the nation’s infrastructure deficit in critical areas of rail, roads, Airports, etc .
12. PYO will bring in the advantage of his personality. Simple, likable, smart, intelligent and a great listener.
13. I will vote for PYO any day because of his wife, Dolapo, who is also a lawyer. A grand daughter of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. A humane woman full of milk of human kindness. I know her NGO, the Women’s Helping Hand Initiative, whose mission is to help women wherever in need. She has this NGO since 2006, almost a decade before her husband became Vice President. Despite her privileged position, like her husband, she dresses simple. If she becomes First Lady, she informed me, she will ensure that all legislations impeding women development in this country are done away with.
STAND ON NATIONAL ISSUES
What POSITION a candidate holds on critical NATIONAL ISSUES is important. PYO knows what matters to Nigerians most right now. These are insecurity and the Economy. The position of PYO on these two are clear.
- On Insecurity
PYO has consistently maintained the view that with 1,608 kilometres land border with the Benin Republic, Niger republic and republic of Chad that separates Northern Nigeria from these countries, as the Vice Chairman of the National Security Council, to curtail the incessant incidence of banditry and insurgency, as a first measure, he would use technology by deploying digital surveillance to track the movement of arms and bandits through this long border stretch to first, forestall the importation of arms from the Sahel through the border, and then track the bandits and insurgents in Nigeria and deal a final blow to their menace.
On the security challenges in the South East of the country, PYO has always maintained that just as he used his negotiation skills and tactics in ending militancy in the Niger Delta, the tactics used would be adopted in ending the security challenges being perpetuated by IPOB/ESN in the South East.
- On THE ECONOMY
As Vice President of Nigeria, PYO is the chairman of the National Economic Council. He, and the council he headed, are credited to having helped Nigeria exited recession twice in 5 years.
PYO as chairman of the National Economic Council is also currently helping in managing post COVID 19 economic challenges in Nigeria, a challenge being experienced all over the world.
PYO was one of the persons who designed and whose office initially implemented the APC’s social investment program. It was APC’s and PYO’s clear position on the best way to fight poverty. The programs were so successful under PYO that the World Bank credited Nigeria as the “nation with the fastest growing social invest program in the world”.
All these government’s social investment would continue if PYO is voted to power.
Under the Home Grown School Feeding Program, the nation fed 9. 9 million children in primary schools and more than 107,000 persons were employed as cooks for the program, thus not only improving primary school intake but actually maintained many children in school who would otherwise have dropped out of school.
Under the well known N-Power Scheme, many young people got trained and financially empowered. So too under Government Enterprises & Empowerment Program GEEP, just as under the Conditional Cash Transfer to the most vulnerable under which over 500,000 graduates benefited.
Other programs which a PYO presidency shall not only maintain but improve upon, is the training of thousands of young developers as part of the N-Power training program with over 2.3million market women, traders, artisans, farmers as beneficiaries across all 36 states of the country and FCT.
BUT WAIT A MINUTE
I am not saying that other aspirants are not qualified to run for office of president today. They are all fantastic gentlemen I have tremendous respect for. But undoubtedly non of them would bring in the type of huge experience PYO would be bringing to the office of president if elected.
Delegates have the chance to do the right thing by voting experience, competence, integrity, intelligence and continuity.
- Dasin is a former House of Representatives member from Adamawa State
