Osinbajo’s Religion And Nigeria’s Politics

Greg Odogwu

YOU will have to confront the problems of climate change and a world moving away from fossil fuels, and you will usher in the age of renewable energy and green solutions” – Yemi Osinbajo

With the way Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s religion has been widely discussed in the past few days, it seems I have to beg to “stand on existing protocols” before I proceed to weigh in on this matter.

One other public officer that had come under this sort of scrutiny was the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami. Meanwhile, we must know that if there were any hidden audio-visuals concerning any religious extremism in Osinbajo’s modus vivendi and modus operandi, it would have surely surfaced by now. His traducers have the reach to every hidden corner and would have probably searched and did not find. This means such materials do not exist, therefore we must let sleeping dogs lie.

Is it that Nigeria’s politics is detestable or that politics in itself is abominable? Why would anyone start now to scavenge for dirt and distrust in the relationship between the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and his sidekick, Osinbajo? The answer is probably that politics, being what it is, touches on a lot of people’s interests and many men, and women, would not hesitate to shoot down any promising star on the horizon. Over the years, ethnicity and religion are two bullets our politicians fire from their double-barreled weapons and religion always scores first. When it hits, the people lose all sense of reason and patriotism, and all hell is let loose.

But the truth of the matter is that we are presently in precarious times and must focus on nation-building and nurturing a sustainable environment for our children yet unborn. This is not the right time to search for incendiary missiles to throw. Nigeria is too fragile for such an unnecessary game. From everyday experiences, we are too scared to play around with sectarian hot water. Our nation is currently bedevilled by many evils that going after phantoms is tantamount to hunting for mice while the home is on fire.

If you asked me, I would say without any hesitation, that Osinbajo’s religion is science. Through his utterances and body language, he has focused on the empirical. And because he has never portrayed himself as one who is in politics for eschatological reasons, it is unfair to paint him with the same brush as politicians on manifest crusader/jihadist mission. To be candid, someone under constant public spotlight cannot hide inner convictions for that long, especially when they are extreme ones. There are always telltale signs here and there. It may be a Freudian slip or a faux pas as a result of a slip of the mind.

So I ask myself, why become our own enemies and begin a journey that only leads down the road of sectarian violence? Those that ignited the 2011 post-election mayhem used a similar narrative, even when it was obvious the candidates the rioters fought for were not aware of their mission. Hence, the need for politicians to be circumspect and filter every endorsement coming from religious circles. Things have to be clear from the beginning because religion, by its very nature, makes the adherent parochial. For instance, if you believe the one and only God Almighty assures you of your electoral victory, then every other citizen becomes a liar if they think or say otherwise!

If the story that the Redeemed Christian Church of God wanted to actively and organically support Osinbajo’s assumed presidential ambition is true, then they have done him a great disservice. The church leadership has done that which every other association would do but it has given the fodder to the enemies of Nigeria to come out strong against a hardworking man. They must recognise that even if he was their pastor, he is now our Vice President, and Nigeria is bigger than any organisation.

From his work over the years and his body language, Osinbajo seems satisfied with staying on the land of empirical fundamentals.  To create a digital economy and not a yuletide economy. To facilitate the ease of doing business and not the breeze of praying business. There are many strategic projects conceptualised, incubated and implemented under his office and two of such that would strategically help the environmental and renewable energy sector are the ease of doing business and the framework for a digital economy.

The aim of ease of doing business is to remove the bottlenecks that make it tough to establish and run a business in Nigeria. One of its key alleviations is that visitors can now apply online before boarding a flight, then receive their visa on arrival in the country. This replaces the tortuous and unpredictable interactions with Nigerian embassies, which are notorious for irritating foreign investors, especially the renewable energy investors who are already encumbered by many other peculiar challenges. Between 2016 and 2020, Nigeria rose 39 places in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.

Even in the heat of this religion brouhaha, the Vice President declared that despite President Buhari being a devout Muslim and he a pastor, both of them have worked together for about seven years without issues. This is even as he charged religious leaders to use faith to promote peace, ensure prosperity for the people as well as the development of societies. He said the president has shown great leadership and that he wants a country where people of different faiths live in harmony and with love for one another. So, if the first two citizens of the country can decide to toe the line of harmony, why can’t we the citizens?

History has shown that, even in countries practicing one faith, religion tends to make everything fall apart if the political leaders fail to focus on inclusive governance. The West presents a historical testimony to this because religion had a significant impact on the setting of Western society. But, coming out of its devastating Wars of Religion (16th, 17th and early 18th centuries), Europe consciously and officially decided to keep faith off the governance menu. Oliver Cromwell, one of Britain’s most popular leaders, had a blotched history simply because he wanted to populate his government with members of his Puritan Christian sect. At the end, even he was disappointed at the distortion it brought to their much-cherished democracy.

The New World, as America was known at inception, sprang up mostly as a result of the religious upheaval in Europe. The United States of America evolved into what it is today when religious leaders moved in as pioneers, bought lands and developed in faith, based on their visions of a new beginning away from religious oppression. Hence, throughout the history of America, US presidents’ religiosity has ranged from the deeply devout to behaviour less ecclesiastical in nature. Yet, these commanders in chief have endeavored to keep their spiritual lives separated from their governmental activities. From what Buhari and Osinbajo are doing, we are getting there. But we must not allow political manipulators and election-time entrepreneurs to topple the boat.

As environmentalists, we have a duty to work towards defusing potential conflicts. All of the conflicts in this part of the world have devastating effects on the environment, and religion is at the root of most of them. Even the farmers-herders’ crisis, and the agitations for secession, have palpable religious undercurrents. Therefore, when we have a vice president who is determined to work on environmental issues in ways that build confidence, increase our resilience against climate change and reduce political tensions, it is our patriotic duty to support him.