Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has extolled the virtues of the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing his leadership style as “unusual,” especially in developing democracies.
He said no Nigerian leader has been as instrumental in raising as many leaders as Tinubu.
Osinbajo made the comments while speaking at the 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquium held on Monday March 29th, 2021 in Kano.
The colloquium was themed ‘Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth: The Imperative of National Cohesion for Growth and Prosperity.’
“There is no Nigerian leader who has been so instrumental in raising other leaders like Asiwaju Tinubu. What is responsible for this phenomenon is Asiwaju’s leading style which is unusual,” he said.
Osinbajo said that by exposing his thoughts and ideas constantly to debate and contestation, Tinubu refines his views constantly and is at home discussing a wide range of ideas, including artificial intelligence, vaccines, and even legal processes or arguments.
“Second, and perhaps more importantly, because he is not afraid of having his ideas scrutinized, criticized by even subordinates, he is able to lead a vast array of persons of strong, deeply held convictions, and a variety of ideologies,” he added.
The vice president said the 2021 colloquium, with the theme, ‘Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth’ focuses on peace building and national cohesion.
“We intend to interrogate from a national and regional perspective innovative strategies for sustaining peace, and prosperity in a heterogeneous society.
“We believe that we now have an opportunity to increase the numbers of a new tribe of Nigerians; a tribe of men and women of all faiths, tribes and ethnicities committed to a country run on high values of integrity, hard work, justice, and love of country;
“A tribe of men and women who are prepared to make the sacrifices and self-constraints that are crucial to building a strong society; who are prepared to stick together, fight for equity, and justice side by side. A tribe consisting of professionals, businessmen, politicians, religious leaders, and all others who believe that this new Nigeria is possible and already we have built and are building the building blocks for this new Nigeria.”