Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s Interventions In National Issues

The lingering crisis in the health sector is in need of some decisive actions to address the problems raised by striking doctors. Understanding the magnitude of the challenges, President Muhammadu Buhari on 9 September 2021 set up a Health Sector Reform Committee to commence the development and implementation of a programme for Nigeria in collaboration with the state governments and the FCT administration. To demonstrate his full commitment to the Reforms, the President appointed his dependable deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as its Chairman.

Osinbajo’s appointment should not come as a surprise to many as he has undertaken such difficult tasks in the recent past. As constitutionally speaking, he presides at the National Economic Council (NEC) on a weekly basis. The President has also expressed confidence in the Vice President’s leadership when he appointed him to head the Power Sector Reform Coordination Working Group in March 2020. In April 2020, Professor Osinbajo, due to his commitment, was again called to task. He was appointed by President Buhari to head the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) which recently came up with the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) which is largely about post-Covid socio-economic survival.

The Vice President has intervened in so many national issues in recent times which will be explored in this article. We must not also forget that Osinbajo has become synonymous with sub-Saharan Africa’s largest social investments programme which comprises of the N-Power Programme, currently employing 500,000 graduates; the GEEP loans (Market Moni, FarmerMoni andTrader Moni), providing credit to over 3 million Nigerian traders, artisans and businessmen; the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, feeding over 9.5 million children in public schools in over 31 states nationwide; and the Conditional Cash Transfer programme, putting disposable funds in the hands of over 300,000 of the poorest and vulnerable families in Nigeria since 2016.

Osibajo’s interventions also reached the South-South of the country. In 2016, Buhari appointed Osinbajo to engage communities in the erstwhile volatile Niger-Delta region. The Vice President made an extensive tour of the region and came up with the highly appraised Niger Delta New Vision, which is the blueprint of the Buhari administration to develop the Niger Delta, is a brainchild and a project being spearheaded by Osinbajo. It is Osinbajo’s leadership and forthrightness to ensure development. This Vision brought about the longest stretch of peace in the region in the last two decades. It is still clear for all to see that it was during his tour of the region and meetings with Niger Delta elders that this feat could be achieved. This initiative has greatly helped to improve oil revenue that had suffered greatly from past restiveness, and so the country’s economy.

Many will recall that as Acting President in 2018, Professor Osinbajo ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to commence the process of reforming the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigerian Police Force, after citizens’ outrage against the Squad for various human rights violations. It is on record that Osinbajo was the first major public official to take action against rampaging police brutality in the country’s history. We must also not forget that, in the same period, he terminated the appointment of Mallam Lawal Daura, the then Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS) over the unauthorized invasion of the National Assembly by the operatives of the Service.

Also, on 5 October 2020, immediately after there were reports of SARS brutality that triggered the current wave of anti-SARS protests, Osinbajo again was the first major public official to react. In his interview with Channels TV, he said it was wrong for police officers to seize electronic gadgets from young Nigerians under the guise of fighting crime. He urged Nigerians to always bring attention to the government to cases of police violations of human rights, assuring the citizens that police reforms in the country have already begun.

It must also be noted that in its October meeting, the Osinbajo-led National Economic Council (NEC) swiftly directed governors to set up Judicial Panels of Inquiry to investigate cases of police brutality, extra-judicial killings, in their states and submit their reports in six months. This is one of the five cardinal demands of the EndSARS protesters. The Panels will have representatives of the youths and civil society organisations (CSOs) to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation and transparency of the process.

In addition to the setting up of Judicial Panels by the states, NEC further directed that the states maintain an up-to-date database for the setting up of a Victims Support Fund to compensate those who have suffered from police brutality especially SARS. Reiterating this point, at a meeting with the US Department of State delegation after the Lekki shooting on 23 October 2020, Osinbajo assured the international community that the plan of both the federal and state governments on police reform will be a “game-changer in ensuring an end to impunity” and that the measures put in place so far will yield the “best possible results” on police reform in Nigeria. He said “Government is paying attention. The point we are making is that protests are a means to an end, but they cannot be the end. We are very optimistic that what we have put in place would eventually yield the best possible results for us.”

As I write, more than 20 states have submitted their preliminary reports of police brutalities in their respective states with more expected to do so in the coming days. Professor Osinbajo took it upon himself to personally contact the families of those who died during the protests whilst reforms are ongoing. He has taken it as a point of duty to always talk to the citizens and as quickly as possible in order to douse tensions. So, those who are always quick to call out Osinbajo for insults are either deliberately ignorant or willfully malicious.

The recent appointment of Osinbajo to reform the country’s health sector is one many Nigerians know he is more than capable of delivering excellently. In previous tasks and interventions, the results are there for all to see. Osinbajo demonstrated his conflict resolution by winning the confidence of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) when he intervened in the ongoing industrial action undertaken by the Union. According to Vice President of NARD Dr. Adejo Arome, the Vice President’s intervention was timely and sincere. The Unionist said “He said he wants to put the problem to rest once and for all. We are waiting for him to invite us officially and we are certain that he is going to do it. We trust his judgement.” What more do I need to add?

Muhammed Hasan,  a Public Affairs Analyst writes from kano