Osinbajo: I had not met Tinubu when he made me commissioner

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 cognisance 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.

The acting president alluded to a recent statistic released by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to the effect that Lagos accounts for 912 out of 914 individual businessmen who pay self-assessed tax of over N10million.

Osinbajo said the strategic contribution of the state to the country’s economy could not be overemphasised.

He commended Ambode for his “giant strides” in the state, saying the new vistas being opened in the state by the governor were capable of making Nigeria great.

“And every day that we see the giant strides that Akinwunmi Ambode is making here in Lagos; everyday that we watch television and see the new vistas that he is opening up, it is evident of the fact that surely in this Lagos state lies the seed of the great Nigeria of our dreams,” Osinbajo said.

The event was well attended by top dignitaries like governors of Ogun, Oyo, Gombe, Ekiti, Imo and Edo.

Lateef Jakande, former governor of Lagos; Mobolaji Johnson, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Buba Marwa, and Ndubuisi Kanu – all former military administrators of the state.

Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Group, Femi Otedola, CEO of Forte Oil; Olabode George, and Jimi Agbaje.