After 28 days as Acting President, here’s a brief report of Osinbajo’s performance

by Alexander O. Onukwue

It has been four weeks since President Muhammadu Buhari left Nigeria for London on an indefinite medical vacation. Within the period, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has performed the duty of Acting President, his second stint in 2017.

As was the case between January and March, Osinbajo’s handling of national affairs over the past four weeks has been compared with President Buhari’s performance and results. While the Presidency and the ruling party, APC, stress that such comparisons are unnecessary and superfluous, it is obvious that the majority of Nigerians have shown differing reactions towards the acts of the President and the Acting President.

In the past four weeks that have seen Osinbajo call the shots at the Villa, it is interesting to take a review of how he has handled the duty this time in the absence of his principal.

Visit to Katsina

The home state of President Buhari was the first port of call within the first five days of Osinbajo’s acting role. A one-day walking visit included the launch of a pilot scheme of micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) clinic in the state and a visit to the palace of the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir.

Biafra50 speech

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was at the colloquium organised for the commemoration of the fifty years since the declaration of Biafra and gave a poignant and instructive keynote address, sure to be remembered for a long time. Given the perceived reluctance of President Buhari towards having his presence felt in the South East, it was worthy of note that ‘the President’ was at that event.

Visit to Garki market

Osinbajo paid an unannounced trip to the popular Garki market, Abuja in the nation’s Federal Capital Territory. The visit according to his media team was geared at feeling the pulse of the masses.

G7 Summit

Prof Osinbajo was in Italy for the G7 summit, in the company of select African leaders. The Acting President engaged world leaders including America’s Donald Trump, France’s Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinji Abe. Issues on African security were discussed as well as trade and strengthening democracy.

Two-year stewardship account

The Buhari-Osinbajo administration have not in the opinion of many Nigerians, lived up to expectation. The ‘Change’ promised has, to all intents and purposes, not been delivered to the man on the street; even an APC poll (now disavowed) confirmed that. Prof Osinbajo’s democracy day attempt at drawing the minds of Nigerians to some achievements did not hold much water.

Visit to Cross River

A combination of internal security tensions and projects to be commissioned saw the Acting President embark on a one-day visit to Cross River. This visit, which saw the turnout of many school children to welcome the Acting President, came as an opportunity to assess first-hand the ‘galaxy of achievements’ of Prof Ben Ayade’s two-year administration. Osinbajo also engaged persons running MSME schemes in the state.

By way of a verdict, it can be said that the Acting President has been his usual self, being here and there and saying the right things to lift the spirit of the nation. However, the judgement of his performance is arguably predicated on two outstanding matters: the Babachir report and the 2017 Budget. When and how those will be attended to remain to be seen.

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