Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called on academics and members of other professional bodies to participate actively in the task of making Nigeria a better place for all.
Laolu Akande, Osinbajo’s spokesperson, in a statement in Abuja, said the vice president received, on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa, a team of 13 professors who came to endorse and support his aspiration ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The top academics, drawn from the six geo-political zones, came under the aegis of the Progressive Intellectuals Advisory Group.
The group was led by Shehu Adamu, a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
“These days, you find all sorts of pretenders claiming expertise in everything under the sun without any real expertise.
“So, it is important that academics do not vacate that space to allow all sorts of people to begin to postulate on practically every issue,’’ he said.
The vice president recalled his experience as an academic who became an Attorney-General.
Mr Osinbajo welcomed the interest of the professors in the upcoming 2023 presidential elections.
“One of the most important things I recall when I served first as Attorney General of Lagos State was that it is so important for those of us who are in academics to participate because not only are we among the more knowledgeable groups, we have also done more work.
“The path that you have chosen is a very crucial one because in the future, more intellectual groups will take the responsibility that is really theirs.
“And I think that for those of us who are from the academic community, it is a privilege that we have – being the intellectual crème de la crème of our society, and this comes with responsibility
The vice president appreciated the group’s endorsement of his presidential aspiration.
He said that if there was any sort of endorsement that had given him particular joy, it was the group’s endorsement.
“Because if one is endorsed by professional colleagues, people who live their lives by critical analysis and evaluation; it is worth celebrating.
“These matters are not to be taken lightly. For a professor to say that he supports a political cause, it is a weighty matter indeed, because you are aware that a lot of reflections go into it.
“But when you have 13 professors all over the country saying that they are aligned to one cause; I am greatly humbled; it is one of those things that doesn’t happen often.
“We will work together to make a significant difference for our country,” he said.
