Don’t draw comparison between Buhari and Osinbajo

Though the giant stride made by Professor Yemi Osinbajo in this short period of time is commendable, this should not be a motive to invite another problem for ourselves beside the ones we have in hand. As we await President Muhammadu Buhari’s return, what Osinbajo needs is cooperation of every Nigerian to fulfill the pledges they made, not to wall off the closely intertwined relationship between him and Buhari.

What Osinbajo is doing, is discharging his responsibility as acting president. I don’t think he is on a mission to use Buhari’s absence to outdo the performance of Buhari. Or to expose Buhari’s weaknesses to Nigerians. Only the destructive actions of Ben Bruce and his ilk will eventually give birth to that notion. Drawing a comparison between the status of our economy under the presence of Buhari and in his absence could eventually cause friction between Osinbajo and his boss. It will resuscitate the fears of handing over the affairs of the state to the deputy in the absence of a boss. Moreover, this act would justify the ignoring of section 145 of the constitution which obliged President to hand over the affairs of the state to his deputy before proceeding on vacation. Osinbajo made great strides in these few days. And he deserved to be slammed with kudos for managing this country in the absence of his boss. The way he is managing the country, is as if his boss is not on vacation. But in hailing Osinbajo, extreme care must be taken not to exult it to the level of creating the notion of portraying Osinbajo as better than Buhari. Or portraying Osinbajo’s policies as in contrariety to that of Buhari. Osinbajo as de-jure president is not creating policies that are contrary to Buhari’s policies. But rather, he is implementing those policies as the Chairman of the National Economic Management Team. He is acting on behalf of Buhari, and Buhari is the President of Nigeria. So whatever has been achieved by Osinbajo in Buhari’s absence will be listed in the scorecard of Buhari and Osinbajo.

Abbas Datti, Abuja.