 His Excellency Gov. Umar Gandujé first spoke to me about this book in 2016, while I was visiting Cannes. And he enlisted me, as far back as that time, to write a foreword to the book. Because according to him, I should be the appropriate person to write the foreword, in his words, because I am the number one deputy in the country. I agreed. But I agreed for a few other reasons. First is that Umar Gandujé is something of a mystery to many. While, as you know, he is quiet and self-effacing, avoids controversy, and I think Professor Jigar noted that in his review of the book. He has kept completely out of controversy, making no comments about any individual. What is one of the best educated men in politics? He has a PhD. As a former lecturer, he has a PhD, a real PhD. And he's by far, and is by far one of the most experienced politicians and public servants in the country. He has officially been in this business of politics since 1979. So I thought this book would be an opportunity to understand and publicize his thoughts and ideas. But more importantly, on the subject of deputizing, no one has his experience. He has been deputy, except, of course, perhaps, his Excellency, former president, good luck dealing with him. He has been deputy governor twice. One of the few who, from being deputy governor, became a governor. And it's perhaps the only governor who has now put forward his deputy to succeed him. So he is definitely worth studying, not because he has always succeeded politically, but because he's failed many times. Yet, he always knew how to lose and not get lost. He lost controversially to Excellency Rabu Kwakwanso in the PDP primaries for governorship in 1999, but then agreed to serve as his deputy. They won the elections then. And in 2003, they were defeated by Ibrahim Shekharal. Ibrahim Shekharal served for eight years. And in 2011, Kwakwanso and his deputy, Umar Gandujie, were given the ticket. They won. And they served until 2015 from when he became governor. Second, it is rare for a politician to write a book that is not about himself or herself and his or her great achievements, even if they are the only ones who know about those great achievements. This book is not about Gandujie and his achievements. It's more a textbook on governance and politics. And as you've heard most eloquently from Professor Javier, the book reviewer today, it contains important nuggets on those two subjects. The third is that in my very early interactions with him, and there have been many, I don't think there's any state aside from Lagos State that I've visited more frequently than Cano State. And I've always interacted with him at every such occasion. I found that Umar Gandujie is probably one of the wittiest, most cerebral and most humorous politicians that you could ever find. And I always found his views incredibly witty and perceptive. And I thought it would be interesting to have some of those thoughts in writing somewhere. So if you are looking for a deep witty unforgettable analysis of a subject, then you have your man. Let me share some with you, one he has already shared with you. The first, and this is the one that is shared with you, but I'll tell you exactly how he told me. He says, many people agree that being a deputy or a vice, especially a political deputy, is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. But if you can describe the problem, and I agree that if you can describe the problem graphically, or as graphically as Umar Gandujie himself, he once said to me, well, you are a deputy, you are in a difficult position. And then he paused, as he usually does when he's telling a good story. He will stop for effect. And then he went on, every action you take is likely to be misinterpreted, not necessarily by your boss, but by the numerous minions who he described as psychophants around, anxious to be closer to the governor or president than the deputy. So he goes on, if you humbly walk behind your boss, they will say, look at him, he's not cooperating with his boss. If you walk by his side, they will say, ah, see this man, he thinks he's equal to his boss. And if you walk in front of him, they will say he thinks he's better than his boss. He's doing all these things by himself. Another wise thought of his, and this again he once told me, is that, and he says again, he'll pause for a while and say, you know, your excellency, every deputy must always remember that while you are a deputy of vice, there are many around the principle who know that they cannot become deputy of vice since you're already there. But they try to be the assistant, the assistant governor or assistant president. And the only way they can do this is to create mistrust between the deputy and the principal, or between the vice and the principal, so that they can fit it. The moral of the story is, beware of the assistant governor. Another is that every hard-working deputy has a problem with the power brokers and even the court gestures close to the principal. You would have thought that the best thing is to put in everything you can for the success of the principal and the government. But that comes with consequences. And such consequences are worse in our type of society, many societies, because people are quick to accuse the deputy of wanting to take over from his boss by hook or crook. The third, like she says, is about the perception of people about the job of the deputy. Or they say the deputy or vice is a spare tire, and this, again, is repeated. Professor Jigam mentioned this as well. It's a useless job. But why do people still want the job if it's such a useless job? It was the great political wordsmith, Dr. Kingsley Badiway of the Caterpillar and Jogger Not Faith, who once disdainfully described the vice presidency, and I quote, as the repeater station of a major station, end of quote, the repeater station of a major statement. It was his verdict that was meant to convey the very low esteem in which he held the office. But we must note that he only came to this conclusion after he had lost out to Dr. Alex Equemeth in his bid to serve as presidential chagrary's running mate in 1979. So a thought that runs through the book is that despite the put downs of the office, being political number two is important because political office is about the lives of millions of people, not just about the prestige of office. Yes, the spare tire analogy is probably right. But a more on point description is that of the relationship between the captain of a flight and his deputy. A commercial flight, and I want you to imagine a commercial flight with people, including yourself on a plane, there is a captain and then there is his deputy, sometimes called a copilot. The captain flies the plane, but no human being can be completely focused for several hours. So sometimes the captain gets up and goes to the bathroom. While the flight is gone, his deputy usually will take the place, but his deputy had better be a good pilot, otherwise lives are completely at risk, even for the short period that the captain is away. Can you imagine a situation where the captain leaves the cockpit briefly, goes into the bathroom, and you hear an announcement from the cockpit. So ladies and gentlemen, I am the deputy to this captain, but I am only a spare tire. I'm not sure what to do now. Can you imagine you've been there? I'm sure you will ask God for forgiveness, forever expecting that the deputy or vice should only play the role of a spare tire. The truth, as Umar Gandujay says, is that the deputy or vice must be up to the task every day. He must be the most hardworking in the government, bringing his own skills and talents in representing the principal as efficiently and as effectively as possible every single day. I think, unlike deputy governors, vice presidents have a few more well-defined constitutional roles. The vice president is chair of the National Economic Council, a monthly meeting of 36 governors, is chair of the National Planning Commission, chair of the National Council on Privatization, and chair of several other boards, but also deputy of several other official bodies. But still, in our constitutional democracy, the effectiveness of the number two, the effectiveness of the vice president or the deputy governor, depends a great deal on the trust reposed in him by the president. And that also is a function of loyalty. It goes both ways, as Umar Gandujay points out so eloquently in his book. And I think personally I've been more fortunate than others in my relationship with my principal, with Mr. President. And I believe he also genuinely believes in the role of the vice president. When he was leaving on medical leave, the second time, I think first or second time, he said, and he said to me, when I told him that I was going to send him a few, there are a few things that were outstanding, which I was meant to send to him. He said to me, he said, I don't want you to send me anything at all. It's your job now, just make sure you do a good job. Don't send me anything. And as president, Jonathan said of his own relationship with the late Governor Alamissia, the president doesn't expect that I'll call him at all when he's away. He expects that I know what to do and I should just go ahead and do it. Indeed, once when I called him, when he was away, he said to me, he said, and depending on how he feels, he does his VP or professor, when he wants to be, when he wants to pull my leg, he says, professor, professor, professor. So on this day, he said, professor, professor, professor, I'm away, I'm on leave. You are supposed to do your job, leave me out of this, do whatever you want to do. When I come back, we'll talk about it. And that's the way that is always related. And I think that that is ideal. I think that that is ideal. And I recommend that to principals everywhere. I'm probably one of the few who has read this book, except of course the book reviewer. And I think it's a book full of wisdom and wit from a practical politician and an erudite social scientist, Governor Omar Kanduje. I recommend this book to everyone, not just politicians, but everyone who has any kind of interest in good governance. Thank you very much.