Former military dictator Ibrahim Babangida says he sees a good president in vice president Yemi Osibanjo and that Nigeria needs a leader like him, especially at a time like this.
The man who ran Nigeria for nine years and is fondly called IBB, gave his resounding support to Osibanjo’s candidacy on Thursday when members of the Osinbajo Grassroot Organisation (OGO) visited him in his hilltop home in Niger state.
The visit comes amidst signs the vice president, a professor of law who gets credit for reforming the judiciary in Lagos where he served as attorney general, is now set to throw his hat into the race formally early in the new year.
Our reporter says apart from the OGO, there also other groups emerging which are drumming up support for the vice president who as acting president demonstrated he could be trusted to run the country that has never been as divided and whose people have hardly been less despondent since independence in 1960.
The vice president has yet to directly say he will seek the job of president when Nigerians go for a general election in 2023 but many see Babangida’s support as crucial
According to IBB, Osinbajo is someone he respects because he has good intentions for the country.
“I know the vice-president very well. He’s a good man. I have spoken with him a couple of times and I respect him. He is a good man and we need good men to run this country — somebody you can learn from, somebody you share a common conviction with, and he has this passion for this great country,” Babangida said.
Addressing the organisation, he commended them for their efforts and urged them to remain committed to achieving their goals.
“For the first time, I’m seeing a group of people who are passionate about this country, who believe in this country, and want to make this country better and put up an organisation like this so that other Nigerians will copy what you’re doing and also take interest,” he said.
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“What you have just done will make Nigeria better. You’re indirectly preaching politics of conviction and this is the first time I have seen an organisation that is trying to imbibe this and put it as a culture for the Nigerian masses.
“I pray and hope that you will sustain and maintain this body and people will say one day that there used to be an organisation, OGO. And it will be nice to see the whole of Nigeria where people practise politics of conviction.
“I commend the organisation for thinking that way. I pray and hope that other members of the Nigerian society will come to learn from what you’re trying to do. Politicians have a lot to learn from what you’re trying to do.
“It’s not easy, but stay the course. Please convey my best wishes to the vice-president and tell him that he should stay the course and remain positive about this country. His thoughts about the country, I pray that it will manifest within the period that is ahead.
“It’s not easy for all of you, but you have the energy, conviction, knowledge to impart on other people. I wish you well and you can be rest assured that I’m convinced that you are the right people.
“Nigeria is a very good country. The people are good but you have to understand them. Once you understand the people and you can communicate with them, then your problem is almost solved.”
