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What an interesting and exciting week this young week is turning out to be. It opened with a lot of exciting promises on the political turf. And the star so far has been the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, grabbing all the headlines in both the traditional media and on the social media platforms. A strategically oiled media plan, on the cheap, was unrolled. Deliberately, speculations were fuelled, that finally, the VP will soon be jumping into the political fray, dare the Lion of Bourdilion, man up, and challenge him to the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
They let leak that he will be meeting with all the governors on the APC platform to inform them of his desire to contest the primaries of the party. Then the meeting holds, culminating in a recorded video in which Prof Osinbajo formally declares his intention.
The declaration turns out to be the star declaration so far. Done on the cheap but with maximum media exposure. Not for him the rally in a jam packed stadium, like Transportation Minister, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi did the week before. Not for him also the Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu declaration style. He goes for the simple, modern and adroit use of the media with astonishing results.
For instance, without seemingly spending a Kobo, on Twitter, in less than six hours, there were 345,000 views of his declaration video. It also attracted 27,000 likes, 18,000 retweets and over 3 million impressions. As monitored by TNG reporters, on YouTube, there were 15,000 views within six hours. These are outside the free, wide publicity which all the newspapers and online news platforms gave him. Facebook and Instagram did not fail him too as hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Nigerians, were forced to receive the news of the declaration. Quite impressive.
Something tells me a paragraph is being taken from former President Barack Obama’s campaign strategy notes. Without the traditional caucuses behind his ambition, without endorsements from the established political quarters, especially from his original political family, the Bola Tinubu political machinery in the South West, there seems to be a plan to use the media as a catalyst. The target are the youths who are digital natives in all the social media platforms. I suspect the Vice President does not plan to run the typical campaign. I can decipher that he plans to leverage on the social media to reach the unreached youths, and like Obama, mobilise them to push his campaign to fruition.
But then there is the almighty roadblock: the primaries which are just slightly over a month away. How this plan will mobilise the grassroots and different tendencies in the party which will determine who eventually triumphs to carry the flag of the APC , is still under construction, I assume.
Two things stand between him and his ambition. One, he is more of an academic, a technocrat and religious leader than a politician. Which means, unlike a Bola Tinubu and an Amaechi with well oiled political bases, his political strength lies only on his being Vice President to a poorly performing President, whose support, for now, is doubtful.
Secondly, there is the tiny issue of cash. Billions of them in Naira and other currencies, that he needs to oil and fuel his strategy to garner as superior votes to put him in pole position; and eventual win. Not before now known as a man of means, except there are tangible signals from Aso Rock that he is the man President Buhari has anointed, the opportunistic moneybags who usually throw in humongous cash to back “sure bankers’ will not be available to him. How will he then, without a solid political base and without the billions to buy delegates, be able to confront his former boss, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who some of his close aides have boasted, money will not be a problem, even if it means budgeting more than a billion Naira per state and Abuja. We are talking of at least N37 billion on the day of the primaries. But then a day is indeed a very long time in politics. Who knows, Tinubu who publicly denounced him, two days ago, can still back him, if superior forces intervene!
For now, however, for his temerity in throwing his hat into the ring, instead of queuing behind the Jagaban, he has turned out a leper and an orphan in that circle. Asked about one of his sons, that’s the Vice President, declaring his interest to contest the primaries of the APC for the Presidential ticket, the self acclaimed leader of the APC could hardly conceal his disgust: “I don’t have any son grown up enough to make such declaration” he told journalists.
APC leadership in Lagos, the assumed constituency of both the VP and Bola Tinubu, following their leader’s cue, promptly declared that they do not know VP Osinbajo as their member. The VP is not a member of the APC in Lagos they shouted from the roof top.
One of Tinubu’s attack dogs, Joe Igbokwe, was furious in his reprimand of the VP. He ordered him to withdraw immediately from the race. He said “Let me drop it here for history and posterity: if you are one of the people Asiwaju raised up and you are eyeing the presidency of the federal republic of Nigeria, show respect and withdraw from the race.”
From the opposition, RENO OMOKRI: had the most critical of views on Osinbajo’s declaration. He said; ”Osinbajo’s declaration speech was watery and baseless. First of all, how could he say he is running to “complete the task” that Buhari started? Buhari stated extreme poverty and overwhelming security for Nigeria. Under Buhari, our country’s debt has grown from ₦12 trillion in 2015, to almost ₦50 trillion this year (if the new ₦6 trillion loan requests are granted. If Osinbajo is running to “complete” that, then he is running to completely destroy what is left of Nigeria!
”Osinbajo said he is running to provide jobs for millions. Those were his exact words. The fellow has been in charge of Nigeria’s economy for the last seven years, according to Buhari, who boasted that Osinbajo heads his economic management team . Yet, Nigerians have lost jobs created by other administrations. His job record is FAILURE! Nigeria has less jobs now, than in 2015, and our unemployment rate has increased from 12% in 2015, to 33% according to the National Bureau of Statistics….
”For years, Osinbajo has been posing as an intellectual. So, at the very least, we expected his declaration speech to be filled with his achievements in office. But it was instead filled with promises. Empty promises. Because he and Buhari have no achievements to show for their wasted seven years”
Reno Omokri of course was reacting to the following promises by Professor Osinbajo: “If by the grace of God and the will of the people, I am given the opportunity, then I believe that first, we must complete what we have started; radically transforming our security and intelligence architecture, completing the reform of our justice system focusing on adequate remuneration and welfare of judicial personnel.
“We will work together by the grace of God. The Nigeria of our dreams in a few short years. We will build on the foundation laid by our predecessors. We will need to move, with much speed, intentionality, and perseverance, towards the vision of a prosperous, stable, and secure nation.
“I am convinced beyond doubt that we have the creativity, the courage, the talent, and the resources to be the foremost black nation on earth. Let us now birth the expectations of greatness conceived by generations before us.
“Let us build a Nigeria where the man from Nnewi sees the man in Gusau as his brother, where the woman in Warri sees the woman in Jalingo as her sister, where the love of our nation burns alike in the hearts of boys and girls from Gboko to Yenogoa.
“Where everywhere, in this land, is home for everyone, where our diversities, tribes and faiths unite, rather than divide us.
“Let our tribes become one tribe; the Nigerian tribe, where all are treated fairly, justly and with respect–where all are given equal access to the abundant opportunities that God has bestowed on this nation. It’s time.
There is no doubt the entrance of Osinbajo into the race portends great drama and promises. Could he be the game changer?
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