Osinbajo, who addressed Benue
stakeholders, Tuesday night, in Makurdi, shortly after visiting IDPs camps for
victims of herdsmen crisis in the state, was reacting to statements by Catholic
Bishop of Gboko, Most Rev. William Avenya, who had alleged that the vice
president had been mute in the face of killings, oppression of smaller tribes
and the palpable fear of an Islamic agenda by the present government.
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 am also a priest and I’m a Christian, a born again Christian.
Because I am 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
circumstance, 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 faith 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.”
You too will bear the brunt of that
problem
Bishop Avenya in his speech, had
stated that “when President Buhari came to campaign and requested us to appeal
to our people to vote for him, he pointed at you and said ‘here is a Christian,
my vice president’.
“The point I’m trying to make is
that a day is going to come when you as vice president, will be called to
account for the injustices in our land, especially those perpetrated on smaller
tribes that have no one to fight for them.
“When the issues and the records are
raised, you too will bear the brunt of that problem. So, as a Christian person,
exonerate yourself from this situation.
“I plead with you to be a Christian
and a committed Christian, somebody who understands the law and one who speaks
for justice. This is the way to conciliation and peace in our land. Let us stop
this political thing that means practically nothing. Let us talk in truth.”
Buhari’s administration has no
Islamic agenda
Reacting to the fear expressed by
Dr. Magdalene Dura, the State Focal Person on Sustainable Development Goals,
SDGs, alleging that the ceaseless killings in the state was an agenda to
Islamise the country, Osinbajo said: “Some people have suggested that
there is an agenda.
“I heard the very eloquent words of
Dr. Magdalene Dura who said this is an agenda. The suggestions that have been
made that indeed, there is ethnic cleansing and all of that.
“But let me say to you that although
I do not accept that but the only way that we can prove that there is, indeed,
no agenda is to protect the people, to fight for justice and to rebuild where
there has been destruction. That’s the only way to prove it.
“As I said to you, 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.
Why I am here
“This is why my 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.
“Second, to share with the governor
and the stakeholders that we intend to do something, especially for those in
the IDPs camps first, and then, of course, for the other things that we
need to do for the state.”
In his speech, Governor Samuel Ortom,
who commended the Federal Government for deploying more security and military
personnel to the state to stem the herdsmen killings in the state, said his
administration would continue to partner the government to end the pogrom.
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