Adeola Akinremi, on the trail of Nigeria’s Vice-President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who changed the rules of the political game in the country, merged into a crowd of worshippers at his church to present the true picture of a man who will work together with President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to decide the future of Nigeria’s 170 million people
On the edge of a path leading into the Banana Island—one of Lagos wealthiest neighbourhoods, where new architectural aspirations are meeting and sometimes clashing with its own uniformity— sits the Olive Tree. Some of the nicer and brightly coloured houses on the periphery of the Main Arterial Road provide visual relief of some kind, but can make the poor to be depressed. Olive Tree, a provincial headquarters of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, where Professor Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo, Nigeria’s Vice President-elect, leads parishioners to God every Sunday is distinct in appearance and cannot be mistaken for anything else other than a church, except that its location does not confer on it the exclusiveness expected of a Church in a neighbourhood for the nouveau yuppies.
The Olive Tree parish over the years has become a haven for some poor Nigerians who look up to God and not their government for everything and at the same time a place, where the rich deck out in their Sunday best. These two sides of a coin have been the most intricate part of Osinbajo’s job as a clergyman who must treat everyone equal before God.
“It’s not by happenstance that our pastor is the Vice-President-elect. This place has prepared him for the country. When you have someone who presided over a church with people from diverse backgrounds, the poor and the rich, with the same message to everyone that helps in integration, then you’re over the hump when you have that person in the office of the Vice-President,” said Etim Udoh, a worshipper in the church.
By almost any measure, on Sunday, April 5, the diverse worshippers gave back to Osinbajo what he has been given to the church over the years—equal treatment. It was a worship that turned everyone on. The man who interjected the service before Osinbajo arrived said: “Olive Tree Parish, There is much to thank God for. Our pastor had a victorious outing. The prophesy has been fulfilled.”
Over the next hour, the vibration of musical instruments and the clapping of hands will take the service to its peak. Sure, it did. At 9.30am when, the Vice President-elect fondly called Pastor Prof. by his congregation walked into the auditorium with his ministers and invited guests, the expression on the faces of everyone changed. He became the centre of attraction for everyone who wants to catch a glimpse of him in his new title. Disappointedly, his posture has not changed, only his title did.
But for Joseph Akanya, a construction worker in the neighbourhood, Osinbajo’s appearance in church last Sunday means so much. “I have never been this close to a Vice President before. This is the first time in my
life. It has never crossed my mind that someday, I will be prayed for by a Vice President and it has happened. I’m inspired to see a regular pastor from my church become the Vice President of our country. It has changed everything about the future of this country and I’m happy to be part of that history,” he said.
And for a church where three matters—Easter, thanksgiving and felicitation—were combined into one, the reason for the overflow of the worshippers from the church auditorium to the outside was in the detail.
On December 17, 2014, Osinbajo, 58, a lawyer and university teacher who served as Attorney General for Lagos State between 1999 and 2007 was hand-picked by the power brokers of the All Peoples Congress (APC) to run on the party’s ticket with General Muhammadu Buhari, who won the hearts and minds of the people to defeat the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan, on Saturday March 28.
So when he mounted the rostrum to appreciate the support he has received from his congregation, his words were strung around the slogan of his party: change.
“Many of us know that when the Lord speaks concerning a situation, it doesn’t matter, what anyone else says. He has spoken about change in the country, He has spoken about where He’s taking Nigeria to. God has spoken about new Nigeria. But it’s only by His special favour that I and General Buhari have been chosen for this time. No matter what anybody may do, I know that it’s only by His favour. There is a special reason why God decided to do it this way.”
Then, he alluded to a word of prophesy from the wife of the General Overseer of his church, Mrs. Folu Adeboye, with a charge to everyone to seize the opportunity and expand their capacity.
“God is doing a new thing and you need to expand your capacity. It is time to seize this opportunity. We are entering into a season of exceeding greatness of God. There is a great opening, but there will be many adversaries.
“As people are rejoicing, there will be some people who will be saying how we can make this of no effect. But we will overcome according to the plan and purpose of God for our nation. Just as the Western countries have been praising Nigeria, this is only going to be the beginning,” he said with unusual confidence about new direction for governance in the country.
Osinbajo is like a locomotive engine. He’s got the power of progressive motion, when he speaks. For instance, he often starts his speeches on a soft tone and without leaving his audience rudderless delves into a high-band of the speech with inimitable brand of humour.
“Islamisation agenda is nonsense,” he said, telling people to preoccupy their minds with the plan of God for a new Nigeria. “We are more frightened by witches and wizards than believing what is God’s agenda.”
In an earlier interview with his wife, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, in the heat of the campaign, had said, her husband of 25 years cares for people so much that a day wouldn’t go in his life without some charity.
“His life is all about caring and giving. When he was Attorney General of Lagos, he proved that over and over again. Our church currently runs two free schools through his initiatives because we are interested in people.
“One has run for a year and the other one just started. In the school, there is no tuition, registration or any fee. They are entirely free. They don’t pay for books, stationeries, uniforms or feeding. One of the schools is in Obanikoro while the other is in Okota in Lagos.
“We also run a soup kitchen in the church that we run now and the one we ran before. The soup kitchen provides food for the students every day. No child gets to the schools except he or she is poor. So, these are some of the many things he does for people to show his love,” she said.
Of course, for Osinbajo, modesty has been the definition of life. He said in an interview that, “My wife fully supports me. We share the same philosophy about money. We don’t believe that money is the purpose of life. We both accept that position, and we’ve been married now for 25 years. We’ve always lived modestly. We built our first home when I was 51 years old, after I left office. We’ve lived in rented accommodation for many years. We never used a brand new car until 1998. We always used Tokunbo cars. That’s not because we’re not hardworking, but we strongly believe that we must work hard for the money we earn.
“We must teach our children the value of integrity. My own father said to me many years ago, (and we wrote the words on slab on his grave): ‘the place of integrity is where we ought to be found, whether or not it is also the place of wealth.’ He said we must be found in the place of integrity, no matter what. That’s been my guiding principle. For my wife, also, we don’t live beyond our means. We enjoy our lives; we’re happy with what God has provided for us.”
To be sure, Bishop Wale Oke, his friend and founder of Sword of the Spirit, who attended the service said: “Osinbajo will make necessary change. His choice is divine. It is the reason we had peace, before, during and after the elections.
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