Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has defended the military coup that produced Major-General Muhammadu Buhari as head of state in 1983 after the overthrow of the civilian government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari.
Shagari was sacked in a military coup d’état on December 31, 1983.
The vice president said as a 27-year-old university lecturer then, he was impressed by Buhari’s single-minded fight against corruption and indiscipline at the time.
Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, last night made available to State House reporters what he called details of Osinbajo’s personal anecdotes in his speech at “The Platform”, a public engagement forum organised by the Covenant Church over the weekend.
The vice president affirmed that there was a serious war against indiscipline during Buhari’s military regime as it held corrupt officers accountable for the first time.
“30 years later, providence brought us together – a retired General now and a Professor of Law,” the vice president stated.
Osinbajo said having served twice as an Attorney-General in Lagos State where he pushed for reforms in governance and the justice sector, he still believed that Nigerians deserved better lives.
He described as unexpected, his nomination in December 2014, as Buhari’s running mate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“All my adult life, I’ve always believed that our country was performing far below its potentials, in practically every aspect of life. In governance, corruption was always so outrageous that it made the majority poor and development almost impossible. Law and order was always a problem, usually no consequence for wrong-doing. Doing business and even our daily existence had always been difficult, no power, no fuel. Getting anything done in government establishments, a nightmare of delay and extortion,” he said.
The vice president further said that he and President Buhari knew and agreed on what had to happen to bring change to the country.
“We both believed that our country needed to change. We argued about how and what needed to be done. We reached consensus on many of the major issues. Certainly, our country needs a different set of values; a new way of doing business; an economy that is able to give opportunity to young people to work in their chosen professions and to build strong and profitable businesses. We knew that we had to provide social protection for the poorest and the most vulnerable,” he said.