Osinbajo’s US style campaign

The presidential campaign of the All Progressives Congress may have been stalled by the week-long Christmas holiday, but vice-presidential running mate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, is seizing the moment to take the campaign right to the people: by riding on buses and visiting shopping malls to meet everyday people.

He has also been using the social media, especially Twitter for maximum effect, the same way, as a political pundit noted, the American office seekers normally run campaigns in a digital age.

On Thursday, Osinbajo joined the Lagos State Bus Rapid Transport bus from Tafawa Balewa Square on the Island to Barracks, in Surulere, during which he interacted with the passengers, selling the APC agenda and why the party would make a difference in Nigeria, when elected in February next year. His aim he said was to get a direct feedback from the masses on policies. Osinbajo was involved in the drafting of the APC manifesto.

As he twitted at the end of the interaction: “Rode on the bus earlier today and spoke to my fellow citizens, it was better than a thousand seminars”
(Video: courtesy of Punch online)
On the bus, he told the passengers that Nigeria needed a man of integrity, such as Maj. Gen. Muhamadu Buhari, to end corruption in the country.

Buhari, he said, would make changes that would turn Nigeria around for the better.

“Remember that the APC is the party of change. Collect your PVC and ensure that you vote for the APC.”

“The only way to make an omelet is to break an egg. You have to do something and I think that all of us, whatever it is that we are involved in must be interested in making a difference in this country. This country needs help desperately. Considering the economy and the security challenges, everyone of us must be involved in trying to get a change.”

Osinbajo also debunked as sheer propaganda the allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party that Buhari was the sponsor of Boko Haram. He wondered why Buhari would have been targeted by the same sect, if he were their sponsor.

Osinbajo also used the interaction to educate the people on his records in public office, in making the Lagos judiciary stand out in Nigeria: by addressing issue of welfare and maintaining a zero tolerance for corruption.

Osinbajo’s arrival at the Barracks bus stop was said to have excited the motley crowd, which spontaneously gathered around him, with some people struggling to take photographs with him.

A day before, Osinbajo visited the the Palms Mall in Lekki, where he also interacted with Nigerians, the same day a live-streaming of a social media event #MeetOsinbajo was staged in Lagos.