Vice
- President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday night said he would rather vacate
his office as the nation ’ s Number Two man than compromise his
Christian faith .
Osinbajo stated this while responding to posers
raised by some Christian leaders at the stakeholders ’ meeting held at
the new Banquet Hall of the Benue State Government House , Makurdi .
He
said under no circumstances would he give up his faith but would rather
vacate his position as the nation ’ s Vice- President at the slightest
attempt to cause him to abandon his Christian virtues .
One of
the speakers , the Catholic Bishop of Gboko, His Lordship , Williams
Avenya , had reminded Osinbajo of the then- presidential candidate of
the All Progressives Congress , Muhammadu Buhari ’ s campaign promises
that he would not Islamise the country and would protect the interest of
all Nigerians including citizens of minority ethnic groups if voted
into power.
Quoting Buhari , the bishop said , “My deputy is a
Christian and there is no way I will Islamise Nigeria with many
Christians in my team . ”
Avenya noted that the killing of
Christians and members of the minority ethnic group particularly in
Benue State had proved that the Federal Government under Buhari was not
living up to these promises.
Facing Osinbajo , the bishop said , “
The point I’ m trying to make is that a day is going to come when you ,
as the Vice -President , will bear the brunt of that problem of
injustices in our land , especially those perpetrated on smaller ethnic
groups that have no one to fight for them .
“ So , as a Christian person , exonerate yourself from this situation, ” the bishop advised the VP .
Responding,
the vice- president said , “My Lord Bishop , you said you are not a
politician , I am also not a politician . As a matter of fact , I’ m
also a priest and I ’ m a Christian , a born again Christian . Because
I’ m a born again Christian , my destiny is not determined by any man
but by God who I serve .
“Let me assure you that under no circumstances , none whatsoever, will I give up my faith or refuse to stand up for my faith .
“
You can take that to the bank . Even the position that I currently
occupy, I did not ask for it and I’ m prepared to leave it at a short
notice .
“ It doesn ’ t mean anything . I became a born again
Christian after I became a professor , a professor of the law of
evidence, a professor of proof .
“ But when the Lord Jesus Christ
met me , He persuaded me by showing me clearly that there is such a
thing as the evidence of things that are not seen.
“ It is
because of the evidence of things that are not seen, it is because you
can make something out of nothing that I stand here today as Vice
-President .
“ How possible can anyone say that the killing of
women and children doesn ’ t matter because he is Vice - President or
because he is President ? How is that possible ? Certainly , it cannot
be for a person who is born again. A renewed mind will know that there
is justice , there is consequence even if there is no justice here on
earth . ”
The Vice - President , while reacting to the issue
raised by another speaker , Dr . Magdalene Dura , that the invasion of
the state was an ethnic agenda , said no one would deliberately kill his
own people .
“ I do not accept and I do not believe that there
is an agenda . No one will deliberately kill his own people . No one
will do so . But we cannot bring back the dead but we can make life more
bearable for the living.
“ This is why coming here today at the
behest of the President is first , to look at the situation myself , to
get a first -hand view of the situation because the President has
mandated me to take this on board and deal with the issues , ” Osinbajo
added .
In his remark , Governor Samuel Ortom appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that peace reign in his state. The
governor said that the killing of the two Catholic priests and 17
parishioners could have caused a religious crisis but for the prompt
action of his administration .
He appreciated the Federal
Government for deploying more troops to the state as well as releasing
funds for control of flood in the state .
Desperation casts a shadow on your Christianity , PDP tells VP
Meanwhile
, the Peoples Democratic Party has described Osinbajo ’ s visit to
Benue State as an act of desperation and an attempt to “swindle votes ”
ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The party , which said this
in a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary , Mr.
Emmanuel Agbo, in Abuja , on Wednesday , noted that Osinbajo ’ s alleged
desperation to be Buhari ’ s running mate in 2019 “ casts doubt
publicly on his professed Christian faith . ”
According to the
party , the Vice - President ’ s visit to Abagana , Gbajimba and Anyii
Internally Displaced Persons ’ camps was political .
Agbo
described it as “a political attempt at window dressing the already
damaged image of President Muhammadu Buhari ’ s administration and an
insult to the grieving people of Benue State. ”
The PDP statement
partly read , “ Osinbajo did not visit the people of Benue when two
priests and 17 parishioners were killed , neither does he agree that the
herdsmen who killed 73 Christians in the state are terrorists .
“It
is pathetic that while Osinbajo speaks loudly against former President
Goodluck Jonathan and the opposition, he remained voiceless until our
people were made refugees in their own land .
“ Since the news of
the cabal ’ s plan to pick a new running mate for Buhari ahead of the
2019 presidential election became public knowledge , Osinbajo has since
shown a level of desperation that casts doubt publicly on his professed
Christian faith . ”
The statement added , “ Osinbajo ’ s promise
during his visit to the IDP camps in the state that President Buhari has
approved a total of N10 bn for the rehabilitation of communities
affected by violent attacks in parts of the country, further shows that
the Federal Government is totally disconnected from the people .
“
This shameless act affirms that Buhari ’ s administration fail to
realise that money cannot replace or buy back the lives lost to the
reckless slaughter of innocent citizens by Fulani extremists .
“
By this dishonest act , the Buhari administration has only added insult
to the injury of Benue people . The Buhari - led Federal Government who
promised N 50bn for states who donate land for Fulani herdsmen in the
name of colony unfortunately has only N 10bn for all those internally
displaced farmers that cut across more than 13 states in the country. ”
The
party which described the N 10bn as “blood money ” said the VP and the
President should “eat ” the money , arguing that the life of one Benue
citizen was worth more than the money .
“Let it be on record that
the people of Benue will not be deceived by those who impoverished our
people and watched us bury our sons and daughters while they gave
nothing but excuses , ” the statement added .
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