By Brightest Okuta
One beautiful aspect of the personal life of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is that he loves children and enjoys their company.
Children love him too and his presence around them ignites a sudden happiness that is so unusual because of the spontaneity.
As a clergy and the number two citizen of the country, he is a proud father (and friend) to all children in Nigeria and he has demonstrated this responsibility on countless occasions he had to meet children wherever he goes about his official duties.
He believes children are the most valuable resource and the living messages we send to a time we will not see.
During his visits to various schools to supervise the National Home Grown School Feeding Program, the Vice President demonstrated fatherly love to school children he met by one-on-one interaction about their future ambition, eating with them, making jokes, playing games, teaching them some subjects, reading together and taking photos.
This has made child advocates liken him to Grandpa Joe, a fictitious character in Roald Dahl’s children’s book, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
During the 63rd birthday of the Vice President, a secondary school student – a friend of the VP, Damilola Oriowo, who had jumped over a fence to meet the Vice President during the 2019 electioneering campaigns in Kubwa, Abuja was invited to attend Church service with the VP and other dignitaries.
From distance, the charisma of the Vice President attracted the teenage girl who became so eager to meet with the star boy.
The Vice President believes children are the pathway to a greater tomorrow and that is why he advocates for the need to groom children in character and education because the greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character, education and faith.
It is a beautiful thing to see that despite the herculean job of the VP, he still creates time for children.
Brightest Okuta writes from Abuja
