The foremost aspirant for the 2024 Edo State Governorship election, Professor Senator Oserheimen Aigberaodion Osunbor, has challenged those who say he is too old to run in a race or press-ups.
Osunbor, 72, threw the challenge while addressing the press at the media centre of the APC National Secretariat in Wuse, Abuja, after picking up his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms on Thursday, January 25, 2024.
The former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria said he was as healthy as all the gentlemen of the press at the venue, asserting that functioning optimally as governor or in any position of that nature is about how healthy one is.
“I am here standing before you, so I leave it to you to judge whether I am too old or too young to run, for that matter. But at any rate, if you see any of such people saying it, let him challenge me in a race or through press-ups,” Osunbor told the ostensibly thrilled pressmen, who responded with thunderous applause.
He continued, “somebody was telling one of my aides that I am too old, and he told the person, Professor, if you pick up his phone at 2 am, he is still busy online. He doesn’t go to bed as early as you do. You are saying the professor is old by 10 p.m.; you are already sleeping. It’s about how healthy you are.
“These parameters and indices are adjusted from time to time. At a time, they said 70 was the beginning of old age, but now it’s been reversed so that old age starts at 80. I have it on my phone, and I can share it with you.
“I am as healthy as any of you. If you doubt it, take me on a race or press-ups”.
Osunbor has traversed Edo State, propagating his aspiration but remains as fit as fiddle, which lends credence to the age-old axiom that age is just a number to the healthy.
Age doesn’t figure in the 12 essential leadership qualities that Senator Osunbor possesses and has demonstrated extensively over time. They are: self-awareness, respect, compassion, vision, communication, learning, agility, collaboration, influence, Integrity, courage, gratitude, and resilience.
Osunbor has proven to be a leader with integrity, self-awareness, courage, respect, and compassion. He is resilient, agile, flexes his influence while communicating his vision, shows gratitude, and collaborates effectively.
He is the ideal leader Edo people need to help guide them and make the essential decisions, big and small, that keep things moving forward.
Joe Biden is 81. He was elected president of the United States of America, which is the vanguard of democracy, at age 78, seven years older than Osunbor at the time. Interestingly, the country has experienced relative peace and progress under his watch compared to the reign of Donald Trump, who is four years younger.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a typical example of how easily good health renders age inconsequential. He was considered too old by many while running for Nigeria’s number one seat, but he covered all 36 states of the Federation and Abuja, consulting and selling his candidature. None of the younger candidates could attempt the feat he achieved almost effortlessly. He has now spent seven months in the saddle without any noticeable recourse to the hospital at home or abroad for any ailment.
