Nigeria: Vice president makes good use of power as Buhari extends sick leave

Nigerians has given Vice president Yemi osinbajo extra powers to alley growing concerns of government paralysis as president Muhammadu Buhari extends his sick leave in the UK.

This comes as the Africa’s biggest economy struggles with its first recession in 25 years.

Osinbajo is making a wide use of powers granted by President Buhari who is on extended sick leave abroad, as the country seeks to avoid a debilitating power vacuum while it confronts its first recession in 25 years.

The West African oil-producing nation was gripped by instability in 2010 when then President Umaru Yar’Adua spent three months in a Saudi hospital while his aides kept his illness in secrecy.

The West African nation wants to avoid instability like when President Yar’Adua was ill for months before he died in 2010.

A Political analyst Bolaji Okusaga said Nigerians want to see and hear from Buhari himself.

“I thought that when the whole speculation and rumour about his death or you know or all of that his alleged death gained ground, what would have actually been the most effective thing to have done at that point would have been for them to actually have had the president speak to us and that can happen via Skype,” he said.

Traditionally , leadership in Nigeria rotates between north and south to ensure a balance in a country evenly split between Muslims and Christians.

Some Nigerians said they remain worried about the president’s health and the future of their country.

“When he was around, nothing has even done talk less of when he was not around, and I believe Osinbajo they said is acting. He is not acting anything to me because it was all what he is doing is laid down,” said a driver, Kunle Oguniyi.

“If there is anyway they would set us free from this captive we are into, they should try and put us in the right position. We are suffering, the poor masses are crying,” said a beautician, Chizoba Alaripe.

Investors have welcomed the fact that the government will not postpone a long-awaited reform plan intended to stimulate an economy hit by low oil prices, and analysts say Osinbajo has played a role in reassuring investors.

Investors and Nigerian firms hope Osinbajo will enforce reforms to drum up badly needed investment.