'I Had Not Met Tinubu When He Made Me Commissioner' - Acting President Osinbajo Opens Up

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo says he had not met Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, when he was appointed a commissioner.

Osinbajo served as attorney-general and commissioner of justice between 1999 and 2007.

Speaking at the Lagos at 50 anniversary Gala Nite, which held at the Lagos house, Ikeja, on Saturday, Osinbajo commended Tinubu for taking cognizance of the diversity of the state while forming his cabinet in 1999.

He said the quest to evolve a greater and more prosperous Nigeria lies in the prosperity of Lagos.

Osinbajo described the state as the foremost migrant community in Nigeria, aggregating talents from everywhere and the undisputable commercial capital accounting for over 70 percent of business in the country.

“I did not and I had never met Bola Tinubu before I was appointed commissioner and that says a lot about the kind of individual that he is,” he said. 

“This is the kind of thinking that makes nations great; that is the kind of thinking that would make Nigeria great. 

“A type of thinking that considers all of our diverse talents; a kind of thinking that does not allow parochialism; a kind of thinking that does not allow us to say anywhere belongs to only a set of people. That is when our country would be truly great.” 

Osinbajo said though he was sympathetic to the course of those craving for a Lagos for only its indigene, but it was now evident that the momentum of history could no longer hold down the elemental force of the State. 

“This Lagos is going to be a leader; it would be a leader in expressing the world’s view that the black man is capable of governing not just himself but in leading the world,” Osinbajo said.

Thecable