Your Excellencies, Distinguished Senators, Gentlemen of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen, all other protocols respectfully observed.
Why His Excellency Prof Yemi Osinbajo SAN, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be the APC Candidate in the 2023 Presidential Election
It gives me tremendous pleasure to welcome you all to this historic event, the unveiling and launching of the Presidential Campaign of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON who in my humble opinion, is the most qualified person to be the Nigerian President come 2023. And I am happy that you have all resolved to be numbered among the millions of our people who have decided to support the aspiration of a man who is passionately committed to selflessly governing of a new Nigeria in the interest of all. I am sure that history will be kind to you all.
We invite you our good people from all the 18 local governments in Ondo State together with our other numerous compatriots from across the Country to today’s event so that we can sit down together and discuss the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s candidature for Presidency in the 2023 election.
Remarkably, what we are gathered here today from across our Great Country is the beginning of the rebirth of a new Nigeria that will flourish in justice, peace, selfless love, harmony and joy for all our people without discrimination.
Please let it be known that the Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Project, to which many prominent elder-statesmen and fathers of this country, notable selfless and patriotic leaders and fellow compatriots are already committed, is an assignment for everyone that prays for the good of this country. It is not a job for politicians alone. It is for all technocrats, artisans, politicians, market women, students, all and sundry, and for all who want and pray for the goodness of Nigeria at this auspicious time.
Humbly, I hereby formally present to you the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria whom we are urging to seek the nomination of our Great Party’s ticket in the 2023 Presidential Election. He is a man that is capable, that has been tested, that is totally detribalized, and brilliant; a man that we can joyfully hold on to as our President, who can raise our flag among the committee of nations and Nigerians will be proud that their President is there; a man that can take it further from where His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari would stop in 2023. He is a professor of Law, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He was the Attorney General of Lagos State for eight years, and up till now he has been a man without blemish. He is a man that has the fear of God in his mind, a man that is full of humility.
So we hope that if all of us can rally round him, he will give hope to the hopeless, to so many Nigerians wallowing in abject poverty, to so many who do not even have focus of what to do. So many are hopeless; so many graduates are out there without really knowing where to go or what to do.
We believe that the system will work well with His Excellency Prof Yemi Osinbajo the Vice President as President and that our teeming youths will have hope; and there will be light at the end of the dark tunnel. Without trying to ruffle feathers, we believe that he has the energy, he is brilliant, hardworking and he understands the system. It takes a man that understands the system and an energetic man, a serious minded man to be able to drive the country Nigeria as a nation. For it takes a man who wants to sacrifice himself, his time and resources to salvage Nigeria not because of what he wants to gain. We believe that he is going to be selfless; he is going to balance the equation. We believe that as President, Prof Osinbajo, SAN, will harness all the resources, and re-jig the system to work towards the interest of Nigeria rather than the interest of individuals. That is our hope.
With his vast experiences in the academics, Law, governance and administration, Prof Osinbajo has fashioned out many programmes that will effectively address the challenges confronting this nation. In every civilized country, the first thing is the guarantee of peace, the safety of lives and properties. Two, there is the economic dynamics of the country, getting our people to look inward in terms of what they can do to boost the economy rather than being egocentric.
I could remember that for a short time that he served as Acting President, the Naira was stabilized against the Dollar; and he took some steps in national interest that Nigerians were happy all over. It wasn’t about Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Fulani or any other ethnic group in the country. All the decisions he had taken, had been in national interest. Prof Osinbajo, a totally detribalised man, selfless, will no doubt be a bridge between the old and the new, between the North and the South, between the East and the West. He will be a connecting valve among all religious beliefs.
We believe that going forward, if he is in the saddle himself, this is the best God-given opportunity at this auspicious time to re-establish Nigeria’s leadership in Africa and among the Comity of nations globally. Here we have a man of proven credibility, a man of intellectual savvy, a professor of Law, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a man that fears God, a proponent of The Young Can Rule, a man that believes that the succession of this Country can be done by young people, a man that has his eyes on the future, a man that has his hands on the plough, a man that is determined to place Nigeria on a credible note among the Comity of nations.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is high time we jerk up our values by placing more values on quality representation that will in turn affect our values and credibility both in Africa and globally.
We are kicking off this project here in view of the commendable role that Ondo State particularly has been playing in the political history of our Great Country; and we are asking our great people across the Sunshine State to be in the vanguard of the campaign for the election of His Excellency, Prof Yemi Osinbajo as Nigeria’s next President. It is that same role that I will implore our people to come together to play in this project. The Action Group was launched here in Ondo State precisely in Owo. Ondo State has been at the forefront of South West politics based on principle, truthfulness and credible participation. Our politics has never been based on what they call “chop I chop.” Based on this, our choice of the Vice President Osinbajo becoming President is based on that principle that he will drive the economy of this country aright and he will be totally detribalized that everything he will be doing will be in the interest of Nigeria but not in the interest of one tribe or individuals. He will drive the economy of this country and bring us to an enviable position among the committee of nations.
I was in Kano where over 28 groups all over the country came together to adopt one single name and called it the New Tribe. The New Tribe means a country that will be totally detribalized, where we will not be asking where the President is from, a country that will work together in the interest of one nation, that will believe in one destiny, where a Yoruba or an Igbo man will see the Hausa man as his brother, where an Igbo man will not look down on a Hausa man, where a Hausa man will not hate an Igbo man, where the Ijaws will not believe that somebody in the Middle Belt is their enemy, where somebody in the Middle Belt will not feel that somebody is enslaving them, where we will see ourselves as brothers and sisters irrespective of religion, tribe or level of education.
We took that decision in Kano and it is that same spirit of unification of all groups that we are bringing to Ondo State, that all of us come together. No doubt there are pockets of individuals that believe in Prof Yemi Osinbajo’s dreams and aspirations, but there was no platform. All these groups will come together. We will work together assiduously to ensure that the Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo gets the ticket of the APC.
For your information, anywhere you go now in this Country, his issue is being discussed. People see him as someone who will be the best candidate and the best President for Nigeria, the only person entitled to the choice of first refusal according to the basic philosophy and principle of Law. These are the people we want to bring together. Some do not even have any political party. This is going to be a mass movement in support of the Vice President.
Many people are hopeless. They want a way out. They want to have hope in Nigeria. But driving it, we need an energetic leader, a fearless leader, a truthful leader, a conscienced leader, somebody with vision and focus, somebody with brain and large heart, somebody that can be an epitome of good conscience to lead Nigeria.
Ladies and gentlemen, I call him the Ark of Noah. This is an opportunity. Many young men are watching the system closely. You can see the menace, the rate at which young men are getting themselves killed. You can see the frustrations. You can see the rate at which people take drugs because of frustration and societal pressure.
Let us try this young man that is committed. He has seen it all; a Professor of Law, a senior advocate, a truthful man. I know what it takes to become a lawyer because I am one. And for him to have dedicated himself to the service of the country with the fear of God in his mind, we will give him a trial. Even when he gets there, we will assist him with prayer for God to uphold him.
Nigeria needs prayer. This one is not manafiki (fraud). For Nigeria to survive as a country now we need prayer and we all have to put our hands on deck to support that which is right. It’s not about money. Money has failed individuals in Nigeria. The wealth of individuals does not amount to the wealth of our country Nigeria. Let there be opportunities for everybody. Let our people have hope. That is why we are out on this project.
I want to assure you that Prof Osinbajo has been moving across the country. He has been meeting leaders, traditional rulers, former Presidents, former military rulers and everybody. Even in recent time he was in Katsina to meet the mother of the late President Umaru Yar’adua. He has been meeting everybody across, not only in Yorubaland. He goes to the North and South. He is a totally detribalized man. He has been meeting people and discussing and he is getting endorsements all over. People want Nigeria to move forward and people believe that Osinbajo has the capacity.
This is the Ark of Noah. Come in now before the rain starts. Let us move together to the promised land. Nigeria has a very bright future. I can see a ray of hope. I can see light at the end of the dark tunnel. Our children will not start running abroad to be slaves. They will not be desperate to start killing themselves. They will see the need to do that which is right. Our youths will no longer go into illegalities because they want to quickly make money to survive out of desperation. I see a ray of hope. I see light at the end of the dark tunnel with President Yemi Osinbajo.
Ladies and gentlemen, once more I welcome all of you and want you to bear your mind so that we can all be on the same page.
Thank you.
Being the full Welcome Address Delivered at the Formal Launching of the Presidential Campaign of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, by the Director General, Osinbajo Campaign Council of Ondo State, Barrister Ifeolu Fasoranti, in Akure the Ondo State Capital, on Saturday, February 5, 2022
