By Ed Malik, A | October 26, 2022
ed@ddnewsonline.com

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, has decried the wrong perception of the role of deputies in government and described himself as President Muhammadu Buhari’s co-pilot and not his spare tyre.

Osinbajo alluded to the wrong perception in his remarks while speaking at the launch of a book, ‘Deputizing and Governance in Nigeria’, authored by Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje on Tuesday, in Abuja.

To give a proper context, Osinbajo gave an analogy of a spare tyre, an innocuous term commonly used to describe the role of the deputy, and argued that an apt description would be that of the relationship between a pilot and co-pilot in an aircraft.

“Imagine a commercial flight with people, including you on a plane, there is the captain, and then there is his deputy”, he said.

“The captain flies the plane, but no human being can be completely focused for several hours.”

“So, sometimes he gets up and goes to the bathroom while the flight is on; his deputy had better be a good pilot, otherwise lives are at risk.

“Can you imagine a situation where the captain leaves the cockpit briefly and you hear an announcement from the cockpit: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I am the deputy to the captain.

“The captain is in the restroom, and I am only a spare tyre and I am not sure what to do now?’ If you are in that plane you will ask God for forgiveness for expecting that a deputy or assistant plays no role,” he added.