Editor's note: A social media commentor writes on Vice President Yemi Osibanjo giving of ten thousand naira loan to traders months to the Osun State Governorship election.
According to an Igbo adage, an elder that has chosen to dance naked in the market square, should be prepared to welcome mudslinging cum opprobrium from children watching his ignoble display of idiocy and moral bankruptcy.
I was totally disgusted and outraged watching Osinbajo's shameless outing yesterday at Utako Market, Abuja, of which was aired on AIT News Hour. I nearly broke down watching the sheer denigration of Nigerians by their own government. I couldn't hold my anger seeing a so-called professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) supervising what I termed "insults on the collective sensibilities of Nigeria" in the guise of a shady and fraudulent TraderMoni Program by handing out a paltry N10,000 "loan" to impoverished masses. This is a program that requires intending beneficiaries to fill forms requesting their PVC numbers, polling units and local governments of registration.
Imagine Nigerian number two man condescending this low to lead the APC's newest vote-buying strategy masqueraded as N10,000 "TraderMoni" Loan. What makes it suspicious is that the so-called TraderMoni Loan is coming few months to general elections. It's curious to note that the same Vote-buyer-in-Chief called Yemi Osinbajo was in Osun State to exploit extreme poverty in that state to share N10, 000 to citizens, few weeks to a governorship election involving his own party. And this is a state under the leadership of Osinbajo's party that has become notorious in owing salaries for years.
Osinbajo never bothered to empathize with poor people in Osun State for over two years Governor Rauf Aregbesola traumatized and dehumanized Osun people by denying them of their rights of being paid after working. Osinbajo didn't issue a single statement to commiserate with the suffering people of Osun State until another governorship election beckoned. He suddenly remembered that N10,000 "loan" could perform miracle in the lives of people whose relations had died of suicides and acute starvation for lack of payment of salaries, owed by a government under the watch of his friend and party man as governor.
If Osinbajo, with all his knowledge, wisdom and exposures as professor, SAN and a sitting vice president could champion this ancient, scandalous and insulting "empowerment scheme", Nigeria is in a great mess and witnessing one of its major disasters since independence. The disaster I am referring to here is not natural disaster like earthquake or tsunami but leadership disaster! Is this all Buhari's government can offer to alleviate the excruciating economic pains of Nigerians, of which his clueless government exacerbated? Why N10,000? What can a N10,000 "loan" do for a trader (coming from Federal Government)? Has Buhari's presidency turned to "wonder bank"?
Buhari's newest vote-buying TraderMoni is a confirmation that the government has ran out of ideas and has become bankrupt of initiatives. It is also a sign of desperation on the side of government whose popularity rating has nosedived greatly ahead of a general election. Buhari's presidency has been caught by election fever and depressed into panic mood. A government that threw over 11 million Nigerians out of their jobs, shut down several businesses and frustrated many companies out of the country using its coarse, harsh and inconsistent fiscal and monetary policies, can not redeem that damage with a N10,000 fictitious loan.
I observe that Osinbajo usually loses its senses, self esteem and exhibit parochial cum medieval tendencies whenever President Buhari is in town. But reverts to his real self when Buhari embarks on medical tourism abroad. This explains his infantile, hypocritical and propagandistic assertions when joining issues with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on restructuring debate. Osinbajo has worked against all the things he stood for in the past. He has portrayed restructuring advocates as "enemies of the government" and turned himself into laughing object in the minds of his former friends.
Prof Yemi Osinbajo should stop ridiculing Nigeria in the eyes of the world with his vote-buying and infamous TraderMoni scam, to save whatever that is left of his reputation (if any). He has reduced the value of professorship and worth of SANship in the court of public opinion populated by discerning Nigerians. If Buhari's presidency insists on continuing with the charade, Osinbajo should delegate one of his aides and stop denigrating Nigeria's Office of Vice President. We deserve better. Enough of these insults. The world is watching us!