By Danlami Nmodu
Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has been described as has man who belongs to the category of leaders who make things happen.
This assertion was made Monday in Abuja by Mr Bismarck J. Rewane while delivering a keynote address at an gathering to celebrate Osinbajo’s 64th birthday.The event was held the famous NAF Centre.
In his remark, Rewane said, “I interacted with the celebrant in 2016 and 2017 when he called for presentations to the Economic Management Team (EMT). We consulted with his team in finalizing the minimum wage study in 2019, in what was an impossible deadline, which we met miraculously.
“This reminds me of John Newbern’s law “There are three categories of people:
“Those who make things happen
Those who watch things happen
Those who wonder what just happened”
Rewane said, ” I can say categorically that Prof made things happen when he was lecturing at the University of Lagos. He made things happen in Lagos state, on the board of Citi bank, in the legal system of Nigeria as attorney General of Lagos State including Judicial reform. He also made things happen as a Clergy Man. He has also tried to make things happen in the difficult terrain of Nigerian politics.
“I have witnessed him as a policymaker, a lecturer, a Man of Faith, and a solicitor to a good friend of mine.
“I have also watched closely the various interventions in removing bottlenecks in the way of businesses in Nigeria with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) initiatives. I worked closely with Dr. Jumoke
Oduwole and her team and I must say that it was very refreshing to work with a government agency that had the mentality of achieving results at minimal costs.”
The keynote speaker whose address was titled: “Building the Future of Nigeria through Enterprise and Innovation” said further,”In our interactions with the Vice President, we came away with the impression that his training as a professor of law based on evidence, makes him ask questions, which after you answer either make you think deeper or look foolish or accept that more work needs to be done.
“His recent remarks on the prohibition of
cryptocurrencies in which he said that we must not regulate out of fear but with knowledge, was another defining moment in my respect for a mind that comes across without ruffling feathers but clearly and distinctly about the honest and
efficient truth. I remember once again how under his stewardship, the adoption of the I&E window, which was a major achievement in stabilizing the naira at a time of turbulence in the 2016-27 recession.
“Nigeria today has made remarkable achievements in the ease of doing business matrix. Nigeria is the leading country according to the Economist Pocket Book of Figures with 39.9% of its citizens either as nascent or direct entrepreneurs. The issue
however is not whether Nigeria has made some achievements and successes, but compared to its potential, Nigeria is still a laggard in many respects.
“Therefore, we have our work cut out for us and if we are going to achieve accelerated, sustainable and inclusive growth, we need to attract domestic and international capital with its attendant investment multiplier to achieve a GDP level of $1.5trn by 2030 when our population could be 250mn or more. We need to grow the economy at least at 7-8% a year for 5-10 years based on an
investment-led strategy. If we fail to do this very soon, the problems of multidimensional poverty, debt, and insecurity may consume us in the next
decade.
According to Rewane, “We need the intellectual depth of academics like Prof Yemi. We need God-fearing clerics like Professor Oluleke. We need people in public life who have candor like Prof Osinbajo and more than anything else, we need people like him who can make the private sector feel at ease in the policy-making community.
Once again, happy birthday to a leader of the people, societies, and enterprises.
“I will close these remarks with a popular Shakespearean quote that says that
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness in their lifetime and others have greatness thrust upon them.
“Where you place Prof Yemi Osinbajo will depend on your judgment of his numerous accomplishments and contributions to the Nigerian project.
In a prelude to his address, Rewane noted, “We live in a time of extreme sycophancy and hero-worshiping that many will ask me why are you participating or what have you been promised to sing his praise.
“No, the Prof was not and is not aware of what I want to say, discuss or interrogate this morning. Knowing him as I do, he will not endorse any form of sycophancy.”
He added, The Nigerian project will always be a work in progress. This is more so that we have survived 2 recessions and a pandemic in the last 5 years. Yet we are oil-rich and poverty-stricken. There is a lot of work to be done.
Meanwhile, VP Osinbajo who joined d event via Zoom expressed pleasant shock that some people could organize such even for him.The Vice Preaident said when someone initially gave him the Zoom link to join the event being streamed online, he was indeed surprised.
Personalities in attendance include Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Works Babatunde Fashola, UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, a representative of the Dantata family, Saad Dantata, Governor Sule of Nassarawa, Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi, former Minister of State for Trade & Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, ex- Sports Minister Dalung among others
