VP Osinbajo's Mother: I Pray For Release Of Dapchi Girls Everyday They are also my children

The mother of Nigeria's Vice President, Mrs. Olubisi Osinbajo, has expressed deep concern for the 110 schoolgirls recently abducted by Boko Haram from Dapchi town, Yobe State, while expresing hope that they will be freed soon.

Mrs. Osinbajo, in an interview with The Punch newspaper also revealed that she has been praying for the release of the girls and she believed the prayers would be answered.

According to her: “The abduction of those schoolchildren in Dapchi, Yobe State, gives me a lot of concern. I want them to be freed immediately and that’s what I’m praying for. This morning, I read the Bible and prayed for them at 4.30am and I repeated the process at 8am. However, I believe that God would answer our prayers.

As Christians, we should put everything in the hands of God. Since we have done that, I believe that the girls will be freed”.

 Speaking on how she feels when her son or the Federal government is being criticised,  the 85 year old mother of five said she does not attach any emotion to the criticisms.
 She added that she prays regulary for her son and she believes he is doing his best for the country.

“I do not feel anyhow. I only pray for him and I know that he is doing his best. I know that it is God that put them there; and He has established them. When you put things in God’s hands, you are sure that everything would be alright,” she said".

She also spoke about the vice president’s journey to becoming the number two citizen in Nigeria. “We don’t like politics. My husband and I also told our children not to partake in politics. However, Femi was once a councillor. But he later resigned and returned home. He said he could not cope with them. When we heard of Yemi’s own, we knew that it was God that put him there. Since then, we have been praying; I cannot rest again. I pray for him every minute; even when I see him on TV. I always tell God to take care of him.

“He is a man of God and he always advises me that I shouldn’t be worried; rather, I should pray. Whenever you pray for your children, God answers. This morning, I have prayed for three of my grandchildren who are celebrating their birthday today (March 9). I prayed for them and sang with them; and I did the same yesterday which was Yemi’s birthday".

Mrs. Osinbajo  complained about the attention she received from people as the mother of the vice president, saying it is 'too much'

“It happens even in church and one ends up not being able to worship well. Some people would bring cards, letters and they would all want to talk to me. One evening, a person came and said that her landlord drove her out of his house because of her inability to pay the rent, and she wanted me to get her an apartment and pay for it.

Things like that happen every day. I told my daughter and she teased me that people were giving birth to lawyers and doctors, but I decided to give birth to a Vice-President. I believe it is by the grace of God and He would give me the wisdom to handle it".

Asked why she still leads a humble life even with the status of her children, the octogenarian said: “I think it boils down to what my parents taught me. From an early age, they always told us to be humble; that you don’t need to show off for people to know that you have arrived. Someone even said to me that we should make our low gate higher.

But my husband always told me to leave the gate like that so that everybody can see me and I can see everybody. He said we should not cover ourselves up and shut ourselves from the world. We do not covet the riches of other people because we are content with whatever we have. 

Yemi (Vice-President) doesn’t think about himself at all; he is always thinking about other people. That trait was also in Chief Awolowo.

Even when we took food to him in the prison, he was worried about what the poor people outside would eat. It was always about other people".