BY Ahmad Sahabi
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says there is a need for frank discussions among Nigerians in tackling issues that cause division in the country.
Osinbajo said this during the public presentation of Yemi Ogunbiyi’s memoir titled “The road never forgets” on Thursday in Lagos.
The vice-president said it is the way to find lasting solutions and the way forward towards building a better and more united nation.
“There is counsel there for us as a nation, we need to talk more to ourselves, not at ourselves, we need frank discussions on the issues that divide us, we need openness about our fears and prejudices. Perhaps, that way we may gain each other’s confidence,” he said.
Commending the author and the book, Osinbajo said, “anyone who has had a chance like me to read this book will agree that not only does the road never forget, but the elephant that walked the road has a phenomenal memory. The elephant, as you know, forgets nothing, its brain is 5kg in weight. So, The Elephant in this room — if you will pardon the pun — Dr Ogunbiyi, surely forgets little.”
“He speaks of a broad spectrum of issues from his childhood and youth, through to events that happened just last year with the same mind-boggling freshness of memory.
“Yemi Ogunbiyi’s story is at once the life story of a truly remarkable individual and at the same time, the story of a country. And who better to tell the story of Nigeria, the magical possibilities of our ethnic blending, than one born in Kano of a Yoruba father and an Igbo mother and whose first language was Hausa.”
Wole Soyinka, Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun state, Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti state governor, Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, among others, were part of dignitaries at the event.
The book launch event was part of the author’s 75th birthday celebrations.
On Monday, Osinbajo declared his bid to join the 2023 presidential race in a live broadcast after several weeks of speculation and expectation.
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