Vice President Yemi Osinbajo arrived in New York on Saturday on a four-day visit to the United States.
Osinbajo and members of his entourage arrived the Sheltair wing of the John F. Kennedy International Aiport and was received by the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, retired Justice Sylvanus Nsofor. Other Nigerian officials of the country’s missions with Nsofor included Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Amb. Tijani Mohammad-Bande; and the Consul-General of Nigeria in New York, Mr Ben Okoyen.
The vice president is scheduled to meet with his US counterpart, Mike Pence, in Washington on Wednesday, according to presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande; who said in a statement on Saturday that both leaders would be discuss matters of mutual interests between Nigeria and the USA
Ahead of his meeting with Pence, Osinbajo would be the guest speaker at a forum tagged “A Conversation With Vice President Yemi Osinbajo: Nigeria’s Economic Prospects” The event would be hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an independent and nonpartisan think tank established to help Americans better understand the world. The vice president is expected to speak on Nigeria’s economic recovery, investment and growth opportunities, and the recent general elections.
On Sunday, the Vice President said the current challenges facing Nigeria were signs that the country was bound for greatness. Osinbajo spoke at a congregational service at a branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in the Bronx, New York. The vice president said greatness was impossible without a period of difficulties as currently being experienced by Nigeria.
“Our country is bound for greatness. Whenever you hear that ‘oh, there are conflicts, oh there are difficulties’, just know that it is impossible to be great without difficulties. Even from the foundations of the earth, when God created the heavens and the earth, the scripture says on that first day, according to Genesis 1, there was confusion, complete confusion. The Bible says it was bleak and dark, and there was confusion on the surface of the earth, everything was void.
“But despite the fact that everything was void, the spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God spoke and said let there be light, and there was light. The scripture says he separated the light from the darkness, and saw that the light was good. That is what is going to happen in our own country. All we hear is there is confusion here, confusion there, but the word of God is there also.”
According to him, the word and spirit of God are already hovering over the surface of Nigeria, and they would do something that would make the world to marvel. He urged members of the congregation and by extension all Nigerians to keep praying for the nation.
“We should remain in prayers for our nation, because all of us, whether you live here or intend to live here, the truth of the matter is that it was no accident that you were born a Nigerian. God makes no mistake. So, you have a stake in the success of your homeland, you have a stake in the success of your own nation, and as I said earlier, Nigeria is heading for greatness,” he added.
Earlier in a sermon, Pastor Nathaniel Rotimi of RCCG, Abuja, said the key to greatness was total submission to the will and commandments of God. In the sermon titled “Total Obedience Key to Enjoying God’s Maximum” and taken from Gen. 12:1-3, Rotimi enjoined Christians to be obedient to God to access His plans and vision for them.
He cited the case of Abraham, who by simple obedience to God, got rewarded with “generational blessings”. The host pastor, Pastor Daniel Ajayi-Adeniran, later led members of the congregation in prayers for the country and its leaders.
With the vice president at the service was the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, retired Hon. Justice Sylvanus Nsofor; the Consul General of Nigeria in New York, Mr Benayaogha Okoyen, and other senior government officials.
