by Alexander O. Onukwue

Professor Osinbajo, in his Fathers’ Day address at the Villa Chapel, could have restricted himself to the example of Abraham as a Father to be emulated.

He could have decided to stick with the message of the need for men to respect their wives and never lay a finger on them.

But his main message was about corruption and why Churches had to start fighting it. It could have been a way of venting on the decision reached by the Code of Conduct Tribunal on the case of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, but given what we know from the workings at the Three Arms Zone, even he would not have been surprised by that verdict.

The Acting President instead was directing our minds to Evans the notorious billionaire kidnapper, who recites Psalm 23 every night.

Print and online news media have been awash for over a week, with followership on the confessions and revelations from the captured kidnapper. Appealing for mercy, his wife said on Friday that Evans, a middle-aged man from Nnewi, Anambra State, was a Christian who recited the popular Psalm every night, in addition to also having colon cancer. From the proceeds of his criminal jaunts, Evans has acquired luxurious properties in Lagos and Ghana, with a collection of vanity items that includes wristwatches and mobile phones.

Knowing how things work in Nigeria and being the ‘Christian’ that he is, it is a given that Evans would have been contributing to some Church somewhere, with or without the knowledge of the proprietors. It is common to find the building of Churches by the contributions of single individuals, with front row seats reserved for the highest ranking members of society who attend and make contributions. The Acting President, therefore, chose to use the opportunity of Fathers’ Day to condemn Evans and his type in highly placed public offices who have been kidnapping the wealth of Nigerians for the best part of our existence and investing in Churches as tithes and offerings.

We learned from his ‘Biafra at 50’ speech that Prof Osinbajo knew that young persons were falling in love on social media. We also know he speaks in parables too, choosing sometimes not to hit the hammer on the head, but allowing his listeners to make sense of what he says as independent and thinking beings. If you think he has not been following the Evans story, you underestimate the man’s attention to media events and to detail.

What’s more? Former President Obasanjo famously said he did not read the papers. Nigeria has changed since that time, with events requiring immediate attention; we at least now have an Acting President who knows what’s up.

Editor