FOR A TIME AS THIS.

FOR A TIME AS THIS. 

I had the privilege of attending a forum last night with the vice presidential candidate of the APC and for about 45 minutes he answered questions from 2 moderators which had to do with security,  corruption, electricity,  the role of a vice president and the petroleum industrial bill. 

The man demonstrated great preparedness and intellect and wasn't saying stuff like 80 or 90 something and gesticulating needlessly like a certain president does repeatedly.  I sat beside a lawyer and a friend who validated the marked improvements professor Osinbajo made in the Lagos justice system when he was attorney general.  It's baffling to imagine that Lagos state judges earned just 67,000 naira prior to 1999 and a corruption perception index of the Lagos judiciary which was over 70% in 1999 crashed to an unrecordable value after 8 years. My friend then told me that that template used to revamp the Lagos judiciary has been largely adopted by all states in the federation. 

Prof Osinbajo was precise,  never evading or deflecting questions.  He knew about the economics and bottle necks impeding power generation and distribution.  He had answers to short term and long term approaches to easing the power crisis in the country.  He also knew about the independent power projects and what needs to be done to get them up and running but for corruption and secrecy. 

He talked about his experience with the United nations and Somalia.  He was abreast of just about any index that places Nigeria in hopelessness.  I particularly liked his response to a woman who asked about the APC's plan for women and the affirmative action.  He referred her to the near dominance of women in the Lagos judicial set up and the many women already doing great things particularly in Lagos. It was simply stimulating and i hurriedly had my question penned down waiting for an opportunity. 

It was already late but time for random questions from the audience.  My right hand immediately shot up when my friend Bankole asked and it was very surprising to me that an usher practically forced a cordless microphone into my hand.  I am not the question asking type really;  I'd rather sit quietly and observe.  I had a long Oscar/Grammy-esque script written but I had to do the sensible thing and go straight to the question since I was going first to also make room for others to ask their questions.

I quickly greeted the professor but I'm not sure I pronounced his name accurately but I definitely pronounced my surname like I was in a Yoruba language class.  "What will an APC administration do to halt the braindrain in the health sector and what will an APC administration do to end the (seemingly) eternal strife between doctors and other health workers which is the source of constant strikes?". I wanted to assure him that I was too convinced that the APC would win the election hands down but that was all I had time for. 

He answered my question by identifying that the health sector needed funding from a separate purse and that this gross underfunding is what always gives the indication to health workers that money is never enough hence the need to jostle for more.  He mentioned the restructuring and establishment of an effective health insurance scheme the initial premium of which would be paid by an APC government that could amount to about a billion dollars after which the people would be made to systematically contribute an affordable sum yearly to the pot.  He said that there would be need for government to practically hands off health care administration and that there was no sense in imposing any tariffs whatsoever on hospital equipment.  What was more remarkable to me was that he kept eye contact with me when answering even though I was a good 10-15 meters away from him and down in the audience. 

I wish there was more time to interact with such an outstanding man.  He didn't make unnecessary promises.  He pointed out the issues of constitutional review when asked about the federal character act and other tricky issues. The man knows what he would be in that office to do.  Working alongside a General who is known to have involved his deputies in the past should give skeptics hope that we have a perfect duo to set the example from the top but one can trust some of our seemingly educated youth to continue to wallow in the mud of religious and cultural backwardness while thinking they are smart.  Some admit Jonathan is bad but wish that Buhari enters even though they don't plan to vote for him. Eternal skeptics they are,  they have reserved their joker card so that they can claim innocence if Buhari fails since the guilt of queuing behind Jonathan 4 years ago continues to ravage their soul.  They don't realise that their path to redemption lies in voting for change again and again till they get it right. 

I saw Rotimi Amaechi for the first time yesterday;  the governor sat about 3 meters northeast of me.  I left the venue just before the event ended and compelled to donate again to the Buhari-Osinbajo campaign. Our venue wasn't full perhaps because dollars were not going to be shared like the incumbent has been doing and getting "blessings" from Saruman and Gandalf in return.  It's not about monetary gain for me, it's about the soul of Nigeria which we must fight for with this chance that we have. There were no brown envelopes or rafia bags yesterday neither were there credit alerts today;  Nigeria will survive. 

Professor Osinbajo is a year older today;  may the good Lord bless him and use him to help salvage this nation.  Amen.