Osinbajo’s verdict: Problem with Nigeria is finding upright men in authority, says ‘South-East has right to develop along other regions’

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo declared on Friday that “the problem with Nigeria is finding upright men in positions of authority”.
Osibanjo said this on Friday in Enugu during a book presentation by former governor of Enugu State, Mr Sullivan Chime.
The vice president said that the widely held belief that the problem with the country was ethnic and tribal based was wrong and misplaced.
He said that those who wanted to privatise the resources of the country and build human capital were the major cause of friction in the country.
He said that such leaders instigated the division of the country along ethnic and tribal lines in order to sustain their empire.
“The problem of our country is finding forthright men in positions of authority,” he said.
Osibanjo described Chime as a man with strong values who made the desired change in the state during his time as governor.
He called on political office holders to discharge their responsibilities with good conscience and responsibility.
Osibanjo said that the country would be a better place if politicians think of what the future would hold for their people rather than how to win their next election.
“At the end of the day, integrity pays and I congratulate Chime for the successes he recorded during his time as governor,” Osibanjo said.
In the book review, Prof. Chidi Onyia said that the book, written by the former governor, filled the gap in contemporary history of the state.
Onyia said that the book, which encapsulated the good and rough times of the Chime administration, covered how to achieve growth in governance.
He said that the book covered the achievements of the former governor, including the construction of 332 km rural roads, 222km rural connecting roads and 471km Enugu urban roads.
Onyia also lauded the construction of bus stops, installation of street lights as well as implementation of a new waste management scheme in the state under the former governor.
He pointed out that it was under the Chime administration that the Rockefeller Foundation named Enugu as one of the resilient cities in the world.
“The efforts of the governor paid off and opened up the state for massive investments,” Onyia said.
Earlier, the chairman of the event, Prof. George Obiozor, described Chime as an unsung hero who preferred to be a hero in thought and action.
Obiozor said that the accomplishments of the former governor would remain a monument in the South East, adding that the continuity in developmental strides in the state was a pride to all Igbos.
In a vote of thanks, Chime said that his administration did its best to bring smiles to the faces of residents of the state.
The former governor said that he worked with an excellent team that saw one another as equals.
“I am happy that after that, rather than people throwing stones at you, they see and appreciate what you did,” he said.
The launch of the book titled ‘An Honour to Serve: Enugu State in the Sullivan Years’, drew attendance from across the country, including Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, deputy governors of Enugu and Ebonyi, former ministers, some members of the National Assembly and chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Osinbajo also said on Friday that “it is the right of the South-East to develop along with other parts of the country”.
The Vice President made this known during the opening of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship campaign office in Enugu.
He noted that the posture in some quarters that President Muhammadu Buhari had a disdain for the South-East was not true and a misplaced statement.
Osinbajo added that it was the right of the South-East to get good governance and develop evenly with other parts of the country, adding that citing infrastructure in the zone was not a favour.
He reinstates the Federal Government’s commitment to completing all ongoing projects in the zone, particularly the Second Niger Bridge.
He expressed dismay at the successive administration in the country for not completing various contracts which they awarded.
 
“Our commitment is that we will not steal the resources of the state. Previous administrations awarded contracts but nothing happened,” he said.
 
Osinbajo explained that the present administration was led by a group of people who could deliver on its mandates, adding that such would ensure the party’s victory in 2019 general elections.
The vice president said their administration would deliver on its entire mandate, adding that “your support for the APC must increase day by day”.
The governorship candidate of the party in the state, Sen. Ayogu Eze, said the people of the South-East would give the necessary support to the president for his re-election in 2019.
Eze urged the president to discountenance the antics of some people in the zone who claimed to have endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
 
He added that such people spoke for themselves and not for the region, adding “our people have not met to endorse anybody.
 
“These are people speaking for themselves,” he said.
 
Eze said the South-East was poised to give the Party over 90 per cent of their mandate, adding that the president had done so well for the people.
 
Also, the Enugu West Senatorial candidate of the party, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, described the reception accorded to the Osinbajo as unprecedented.
 
Ibekaku-Nwagwu described the reception as an honour for the APC led administration and an acceptance of the president.
She said for members of the PDP and the APC to have come out en mass to receive the vice president spoke volume.
Ibekaku-Nwagwu added that the people of the region would reward the gesture of the president during the presidential election.