Eloquence and In sha Allah: Osinbajo’s declaration is not worth the wait [Pulse Editor's Opinion]

The speculation that Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would declare his 2023 presidential bid was in the news for three months, and many Nigerians could not stop anticipating his declaration.

For two major reasons, many wanted the VP to join the presidential race to spite his ‘political benefactor’ and National leader of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has also been in the race since January.

This group of people wants the argument about political loyalty in relation to Tinubu to be punctured once and for all. From their points of view, Osinbajo reserves the right to contest for president and his relationship with the former governor of Lagos State should never stop his ambition.

There are other groups who fell in love with the personality of the Vice President and want him to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, to continue the ‘good works’ of their administration.

One outstanding quality that endears the VP to many Nigerians is his oratorical gift. When Osinbajo speaks, he gives the vibe of an excellent orator. Eloquence is a powerful tool in the hands of politicians and Osinbajo wields it like a magic wand.

The Nigerian political space is not gifted with recognised orators, not least ones who are as smart as Osinbajo. But with someone like Osinbajo as a Vice President, many Nigerians wish the country had political leaders whose speeches could motivate and inspire hope. Hence, many waited with bated breath to hear the presidential declaration of the Vice President.

However, what many had thought would happen shortly after Tinubu’s declaration, took the Vice President and his team three months to take place.

At first, it looked like the VP was not interested in joining the presidential race as he kept his cards close to his chest. Even when rumours of his presidential ambition filtered through social media, with his infamous TikToks and ‘Bad man looking good ndi aww’ moment, the VP’s team was always there to debunk and dismiss it.

After Tinubu’s declaration, Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi all declared their interests in the 2023 presidency.

While presidential hopefuls in both the APC and the PDP were declaring, Osinbajo did not give a glimpse of hope to those calling him to run.

His silence on his ambition almost cemented the insinuations that he might not run again because of the narrative in some quarters, that doing so would not only pitch him against Tinubu, but also project him as a political betrayer and ingrate.

As ridiculous as the insinuation sounds, Osinbajo’s perceived reluctance to declare his presidential ambition almost gave the speculations a reasonable ground to fester.

Those in his circles claim they knew as far back as January that the VP would declare for the 2023 presidency. And after taking his time to consult and prepare for his declaration, the VP failed to inspire Nigerians with his declaration speech.

In the speech, Osinbajo took Nigerians through his seven years of interactions and experiences with industry stakeholders, rich and poor Nigerians in the trenches as well as victims of insecurity in refugee camps.

Like everyone else, the VP is aware of Nigeria’s many problems but somehow, his speech failed to inspire hope in Nigerians on how some of these problems would be solved. Rather, we got a promise that his administration would extrapolate President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies and programmes.

As much as many Nigerians want Osinbajo to succeed Buhari, there is a fear that his administration could be an extension of Buhari’s government. And this would be an incurable affliction to go through anything like the current administration for a second time.

But here is our dear Vice President promising to complete what the Buhari administration started. Of course, no one is asking Osinbajo to criticise the government he is a part of to shore up his chances, but predicating his presidential campaign on completing Buhari’s programmes sounds more like a threat or unwarranted sycophancy, at best.

Buhari and Osinbajo started the journey with a ‘Change’ campaign in 2015. Despite the fact that their administration failed to effect the needed change in their first term, they promised and hoodwinked the nation with the Next Level agenda in 2019.

If both the Change and the Next Level promises had been successful, Osinbajo would not in his declaration speech look us in the face and promised to extend the political and economic stagnancy the country has been consigned to since 2015.

Yes, we admire the oratorical finesse with which the declaration speech was delivered. That’s one thing no one can take away from a man, who is a pastor, lecturer and lawyer, but if that speech is all the VP has to push his presidential ambition, then the consultation he has been having since January was a sheer waste of his precious time.

Osinbajo must have read the room before coming out with that speech. That’s not what Nigerians want to hear from any Moses that is willing to take them out of the wilderness.

What Nigerians need is a radical presidential aspirant who is ready to take the nation out of its current conundrum, not anyone coming with a promise to extrapolate the ineffective policies or failed programs we have seen in recent times.

*Pulse Editor's Opinion is the viewpoint of an Editor at Pulse. It does not represent the opinion of the Organisation Pulse.