Re: Only God will forgive Osinbajo for these seven cardinal sins, By ‘Tope Fasua
By Mayowa Olaniyan
The Beauty Of Israel Is Slain Upon Thy High Place: How Are The Mighty Fallen! Tell it Not In Gath, Publish It Not In The Street Of Askelon; Lest The Daughter Of The Philistines Rejoice, Lest The Daughters Of The Uncircumcised Triumph.” — 2 Samuel 1: 19-20.
The above text from the Holy Bible stems from the lamentation of David after the death of Saul, the first king of Israel. As grieving as it sounds, this dirge remains one of my best verses from the Holy Book. Funny enough, I got hold of this verse not in the house of God, but in the cottage of Nigerians, the green chamber of the National Assembly (House of Representative) courtesy of the moving dictionary himself, Hon Patrick Obahiagbon, a man of rare intellect and uncommon oratory.
This feeling of disappointment is what I get most times when I get less from where I expect so much from. Like what led to the Biblical text shared above, much was expected from Saul as the first king of Israel but then he ended up the worst king in the history of the kingdom of Israel. The same kind of disappointment was what I felt when I came across an article written by one Tope Fasua, the Chief Executive Officer, Global Analytics Consulting Limited.
His opinion piece which was an attack on the person of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, was nothing but a total misinterpretation of fact. How a respected intellectual like Fasua turned out to be an instrument for throwing tantrums, lies and fallacies during this political season remains a mystery to me. Could it be that Fasua has thrown his Intelligence into the bin for some small cash? Truly, the mighty are falling!
No doubt, Tope Fasua is a talented man and an economist, but his view on the economy as presented in his article on Osinbajo leaves so much to be desired from a personality like him. I can’t still fathom his aim in the recent attack on Osinbajo, It remains sketchy but his Facebook wall and post-show that he is an avid supporter of the “lifelong ambition” of the former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
When Tope Fasua presented himself to run for the highest office in 2019, he seemed to me like a break from the norm. To many people, he was a representation of a new generation of political actors who we thought might take us to the next level of prosperity as a nation. Little did I know, his personality at that time was a facade. His recent activities online have shown he is an offshoot of the old guard. A lot of all sorts happened between 2019 to 2022. What exactly has happened to Tope? How are the mighty falling!
ALSO READ: Attacking Osinbajo: The lies that come out of their lazy mouths
I will not dwell so long on the person of Tope Fasua as this will not do justice to the issue raised in his thought. Let’s set record straight: I am not an economist like Tope Fasua but a certified Mathematician. However, you need not be an expert in either to know that putting two separate oranges in one basket will make four oranges. It’s just common sense.
Let’s check out Fasua’s lies against Osinbajo:
1. On the devaluation of the Naira, Fasua got it all wrong. Yes, currency devaluation may lead to a spike in the inflation rate of the economy but never for once have I heard Prof Osinbajo say or instructed the Central Bank Bank (CBN) to devaluate the Naira. Osinbajo’s stance on the Forex exchange policy has always been a system that reflects the activities of the market. It’s not something new that Nigeria has been having difficulty in earning foreign exchange due to the sharp drop in the price of crude in the international market. Over the years the only way the Central Bank has been managing this crisis is to defend the Naira by pumping more dollars into the market. While this defence policy of the CBN isn’t a bad idea but its weakness in bolstering the parallel market has given more room for speculators to manipulate the market.
Prof Osinbajo’s stance has, therefore, been that of flexible and transparent means of ascertaining the value of the Naira. A system where the wide gap between the official parallel rate of the Naira to a Dollar is close to the barest minimum. No serious country has two separate FX rates for its currency. It spells doom for the economy. It’s better to leave the country to the mercy of a few speculators.
To ascribe the devaluation of Naira to the VP is wicked and a product of lazy thinking. If Tope Fasua had forgotten that the control of the CBN is not under the constitutional purview of the Vice President, rather than whining and attributing unnecessary blame to the Vice President, he should rather given us his solution to the current Forex exchange crisis. The last time I checked, he was also a banker.
2. As regards Osinbajo’s comment on the ban of cryptocurrency by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Fasua got it all wrong again. He exhibited in the open glare his ignorance of how the cryptocurrency system works. On the said day he referred to in his column, the VP in a part of his speech admitted the advent of cryptocurrency had portended a great threat to the banking system. The VP further admitted that if drastic actions were not taken on the decentralized blockchain technology, it might consume the current banking system the world currently operates. I doubt if Tope listened to the part of the VP’s speech.
VP Osinbajo’s view on crypto and digital currency is very simple. The VP’s advice to the CBN was to study the system carefully and come up with rules and policy statements that will regulate the use of crypto and digital currencies. The ban on crypto at that time didn’t stop cryptocurrency transactions.
The transaction only went underground, thus making it more difficult to track the flow of funds and better regulate the market. Wouldn’t it be better if as a nation we begin to look into opportunities that are embedded in our challenges? To this moment, most serious Central Bank and Economic researchers are struggling to come to grips with the reality of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.
3. No Nigerian leader has been a promoter and supporter of the Nigerian Youth like Osinbajo. Ever since he was nominated the Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2014, Prof Osinbajo has never hidden his passion for the progress of the Nigerian people, especially the youth.
The humongous activities in his office as Vice President haven’t changed his passion for the youth. Locally and globally, Prof Osinbajo has assumed the role of the chief marketer of the intellect prowess and innovative capacity of an average Nigerian youth. He has over time drawn the attention of the world to the profound capabilities and dexterity of the Nigerian youth most especially in the tech space.
Given Osinbajo’s intervention, Microsoft this year, 2022, has opened its biggest office in Africa which is situated in Lagos, Nigeria. Nigeria as of today has the highest number of Unicorns (startups that have attracted investment of over US $1 billion) in Africa. All these have been made possible because there is an Osinbajo somewhere projecting the image of the country to tech investors. As it stands today, tech is attracting more investment into Nigeria than in many other sectors.
4. Fasua’s view on Nigeria’s improvement on the World Bank ease of doing business ranking is laughable. Labelling the achievement of the VP and his PEBEC team a “wasted effort” towards improving the business climate of the country put a question mark on the credentials of Fasua as an economist.
Fasua should cover his face in shame. People like him are the ones who berate Nigeria for falling behind the like of Rwanda in the world bank ease of doing business ranking. The truth remains that the private sector craves a friendly business environment as it remains a major factor that encourages investment in any economy.
Nigeria needs to do more in building on the improvement recorded so far. A voodoo economist who had sold his conscience to the highest bidder won’t rubbish this progress with his wonky analysis.
5. If Tope Fasua had issues with the Tradermoni, Marketmoni and other interventions under the GEEP programme of the Bank of Industry, I think it would be better if he directs his enquiry to that same Bank of Industry and not Osinbajo’s nor his office.
It is on record that the Tradermoni loan scheme, as supervised by Osinbajo before it was moved to another ministry, remains one of the best interventionist programmes for the lowest cadre of the society. A programme like Tradermoni and GEEP programme should be commended and not condemned.
6. On the bigotry allegation that was first championed by one Farooq Kperogi but which has now suddenly become the rhymes of our self-styled economist, this makes zero sense to a rational being.
How do you accuse a man of “Christianization” or “RCCGfication” when most of his staff are devoted and practising Muslims? including the VP’s most senior aide, Ade Ipaye, who is the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President. Kperogi and Fasua should at least, have the fear of God and seek his forgiveness in this Holy Month of Ramadan.
7. Fasua claimed that Vice President Osinbajo neglected the victim of the Kaduna train bombing. He also went ahead saying both President Buhari and VP Osinbajo did not say a word about the unfortunate incident. He should let the dead rest and put a stop to this needless politicking with the dead. Fasua should tell the Nigerian people the main reason his principal cancelled his birthday colloquium after two hours of commencement.
Fasua’s newfound mentor apparently didn’t cancel the colloquium to mourn the dead as proclaimed by his master. A piece of insider information later revealed that the colloquium was only cancelled because the VP while on his way to the event had diverted his flight to Kaduna State, having learned of the extent of the tragedy, to visit the victims of the tragic incident. Then, President Buhari, Senate President, the newly sworn-in APC National Working Committee (NWC) members and other dignitaries, who boycotted the programme for good reason, it was said made him cancel it. Fasua won’t address it.
Unfortunately, Fasua was also at the same colloquium, frolicking and taking pictures with personalities that graced the occasion. Had Fasua had the fear of God, as a formal presidential candidate, nothing should have stopped him from cutting his trip from his base in Abuja and also visiting these victims, he should have shown us how this it’s been done in all honesty.
• Olaniyan is a researcher and political analyst.
