VP Yemi Osinbajo and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

By Yekini Olugbenro

Vice President Osinbajo’s people and supporters have been sharing his CV with reckless abandon for some days now. The Osinbajo campaigners have created a kind of sensation around the CV people will think is the only qualification to be a President.

I don’t think anyone needs to be convinced that Osinbajo is an accomplished Professor of Law. He earned his stripes.

Leading a country is much more than academic degrees. It is not about having a truck load of CV. It is about grand vision, strategic thinking, foresight and deft statecraft. Professor Osinbajo himself has consistently and publicly acknowledged Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as a man with the abundance of these attributes.

A leader leads, sells his grand ideas to subordinates and provide necessary backing and resources. That is what Asiwaju has done all his life. Professor Osinbajo attested to this fact over and over and one example was how the then Action Congress of Nigeria would reclaim the South West after the electoral heist committed by the Peoples Democratic Party in 2007 and 2011.

To reclaim Osun State, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo States and starting with Osun State, Asiwaju according to Professor Osinbajo invited him to think of how to mount a legal challenge using forensic evidence to establish rigging at the Election Petitions Tribunal. Professor Osinbajo thought it was a crazy idea and an impossible task because it has never been done anywhere in the world to subject over 1 million ballot papers to forensic examination. Asiwaju insisted it can be done and gave Osinbajo the task to make it happen.

While the Professor of Law with specialty in Law of Evidence saw a dead end, Asiwaju as a leader and strategic thinker saw possibilities. That is the difference between a man with a grandvision and one with prolific academic laurels. A leader can envision and project the end from the beginning. The job of a leader is to communicate his/her vision and ideas to subordinates and associates and secure their buy-in to achieve expected outcomes.

What Nigeria needs at this inflection point is a leader like Asiwaju Tinubu who can harness all human resources and available talents in Nigeria to fully maximise our country’s advantages.