By AYO AKINYEMI

IN whispers, it is whistling. In hush tones, it is shrieking. It is roaring in the rumour hemisphere that the incumbent Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibajo, desires to be a presidential candidate in 2023. Although he is yet to declare pointedly, his interest in the coveted position, the vibrations are too piercing and sonorous to ignore.

Yes, the lion himself is yet to roar, one can say boldly, without any tint of equivocation, that Professor Yemi Osinbajo, PYO, has the inalienable right to nurse the ambition or desire. In a more developed and saner clime, having been vice president, for two terms under the incumbent president, he deserves the offer of the first refusal.

Expectedly, counter-voices and counter-forces who have aggregated the silence of PYO on the burning issue as acquiescence, have been querying the morality of PYO eyeing the seat of president in 2023 – a position which his ‘mentor’ and former principal, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, BAT, has declared an undisguised interest. Is the brouhaha over the moral justification of PYO aspiration – with the open declaration by BAT, of a “lifelong ambition” to be the President of Nigeria – justified, viewed through the glass prism of objectivity with untainted spectacle?

It may sound uncharitable or reek of trappings of ingratitude to employ sophistry or explore semantics in the appraisal of a mentor and mentee in the relationship between Asiwaju Tinubu and Professor Osinbajo. The New Pocket Oxford Dictionary defines mentor as: “An experienced person in an organisation or institution who trains and advises new employees or students.” New 7th Edition Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, puts it in the following words: “An experienced person who advises and helps somebody with less experience over a period of time.”

The Chambers Dictionary – 10th Edition, defines mentor as: “A wise counsellor; a tutor; a trainer; a more senior or experienced colleague appointed to help and advise a junior employee.” It goes further to define mentee as (non-standard): “A person under the direction of a mentor, especially, in business.” In the plain, simple, elementary definition of the word – mentor, is the former governor of Lagos State, a mentor to PYO? Is Professor Osinbajo in the same context, a mentee of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu?

The indisputable fact, without any tint of ambiguity is that, in his capacity as Governor of Lagos State, BAT appointed PYO as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, in his cabinet, for eight years. It was an opportunity that exposed PYO to the inner workings of government. It opened his eyes to the intricacies of governance, intrigues embedded in partisan politics and complexities involved in keeping the machineries of government in motion. Sincerely, it was a priceless experience, not obtainable in books, practical experience beyond the confines of university walls.

Encompassed in the governor/commissioner relationship of the twosome are elements of mutual respect that recognises the superior in the enterprise, and symbiotic benefits. I found instructive, the following submission on Page 280 of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations: “…yet, the best pilots have needs of mariners besides sails, anchor and other tackle”. The summation of the quotation, by inference, is that Tinubu as an embodiment of superlative characteristics, cannot by himself alone be an excellent state governor.

He needs others, who are also endowed and capable – in their own rights – in his cabinet, to actualise his dreams, vision and mission in government. To make a success of the onerous assignment as governor.   

In the words of the avatar, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo: “Only the deep can call to the deep.” One uncommon virtue that stands the Asiwaju out of the pack is the Divine Grace to be able to identify and assemble worthy men of quality into his team. The bottomline, therefore, is: One has to be outstanding, brilliant, knowledgeable, thorough, meticulous, articulate and in totallity, highly cerebral, to qualify for a place in the inner chambers of Tinubu.

It boils down to the fact that, ab initio, in the estimation of Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 1999, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (with his fascinating and intimidating credentials) was prima facie qualified to occupy a seat in the inner chambers of his administration. And, to the glory of God, PYO proved his mettle, as a professional, as an egg-head in jurisprudence. To his eternal credit as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, is the landmark judgement by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the Management and Control of Local Governments Funds, in the case between Lagos State Government and the Federal Government, following the creation of new local governments in Lagos State by the Tinubu administration and subsequent seizure of Revenue Allocation from the Federation Account to Lagos Local Governments by the Obasanjo led Federal Government. 

In totality, PYO justified the confidence reposed in him, from outset, by his principal, BAT, whom he served diligently with passion, with absolute, unflinching loyalty, in his eight years as commissioner in his cabinet, and in subsequent years, as one of the dependable and reliable brains in his think-tank. Those equating the desire of PYO to throw his hat into the ring to contest the 2023 presidency as betrayal or disloyalty to BAT, his former principal, who is equally interested in the ticket, should find something else to say.

A word for trumpeters of the Yoruba aphorism: erin kii fon, k’omo re fon(the elephant and the calf should not trumpet at the same time). They require knowledge. The aphorism is now classified as Asipa Owe (a proverb in error – a wrong notion). The joy and pride of the mother-elephant, is for the calf to trumpet, when she trumpets, to affirm the perfect state of being of the calf, and for communication. Only a lifeless calf will fail to trumpet when the mother trumpets.

Advocates, propagators and ventilators of hate against Professor Yemi Osibajo, putting a wedge of disharmony between him and his respected, adored benefactor, should put themselves in PYO’s orbit. What would they have done in the circumstance? For them, I plead words of exhortation from the Scripture: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

As for Tinubu, he should raise his head high, and feel fulfilled, that one of his boys has grown enough to rub shoulders with him, with due respect. To him, I commend one of the compositions of the Juju maestro, King Sunny Ade: “b’o ti wu ki a l’ola to l’aye; k’oluwa je k’ola omo wa ko ju tiwa lo.”  The sky is wide enough for all birds of different shades, shape, colour and sizes to fly without any hinderance, without collision.

Akinyemi, a social commentator, wrote from Lagos