Femi Adesina special adviser on
media and publicity pens this moving tribute on his boss President Muhammadu
Buhari as he clocks 77.
I boarded a commercial airliner
heading to Lagos from Abuja. I was already seated, and strapping my seat belt,
when a young man approached me. He must have been in his late 20s, or at most,
early 30s. I shook hands, greeted him warmly, and he slipped something in my
palm. He went back to his seat.
It was a piece of paper, and on
it was written: “Please, tell Baba we are with him all the way.”
My eyes became misty. I knew who
he was talking about. My principal and Baba of the country, President Muhammadu
Buhari, who turns 77 today.
“Please, tell Baba we are with
him all the way.” What a message! What confidence! What love! And what
reassurance.
At times, if you listen to the
Babel of voices in the country, particularly on social media and some critical
segment of the traditional media, you think everything is all wrong with the
land. You think it’s all sorrow tears and blood, the regular trade mark of
failed or failing countries.
The biblical prophet, Elijah,
felt at a time that he was the only true prophet of God left in Israel. And he
complained to God: they have all followed Baal, the strange god. I am the only
one left with you.
But God gave him a tutorial: you
only think so. I have for me in this land 7,000 other prophets, who have not
bowed the knees to Baal.
That was what happened in that
aircraft.
The young man who slipped the
note into my hand is like millions upon millions of quiet Nigerians, “who have
not bowed the knees to Baal.” People who love President Muhammadu Buhari, who
appreciate that he is here for such a time as this, and who believe that he is
leading us to a new Nigeria, a land flowing with milk and honey. I believe. I
am in the number of millions of people, who daily wish Buhari well, and pray
that he will lead the land to fair havens, halcyon shores, before 2023.
If all the information you
consume is from social media, and the critical segment of the traditional
media, you will likely miss the correct pulse of the country. Let me share an
experience here.
Some months before the 2019
general elections, I ran into Governor Nasir El-Rufai in the Presidential
Villa, as he was going in to see the President. We greeted warmly, and I asked
if he could please stop by in my office on the way out. He promised to do so.
What was my worry? The trend on
social media, as to how the elections would go. I had a broader view of the
reality, but I needed some reassurance. And I knew El-Rufai was analytical, and
constantly had statistics at his fingertips. He’s not a first class quantity
surveyor for nothing.
The governor turned up. I
unfolded my worries, and asked for his opinion. He merely opened his laptop
computer, and shared the result of a scientific research with me.
What did the research say? With
large sample size from across the country, and painstaking state by state
analysis, it stated that President Buhari was going to beat his closest
opponent by millions of votes. And wait for this: the social media would
account for just between nine and 11 percent of the votes. And wait again: that
percentage would not go to one party alone.
It would be shared between the
two leading political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It turned quite prophetic.
The young man in the plane is
among the millions of Nigerians who tilted the scale. They know that Nigeria is
not where she should be, not yet, but it is not business as usual. There is one
man who is laboring hard to turn the country right side up. He is Muhammadu
Buhari, and the journey may be tedious, arduous and slow, but we are headed in
the right direction.
Friends, Nigerians, countrymen.
Yes, I have come to celebrate Muhammadu Buhari, as he turns 77 today. See the
sycophant, the fanatic, some people would say. But do I mind them? I don’t. I
have chosen my own hero, let them choose theirs. As we say in local parlance,
‘say your prayers, and let me say amen. No quarrel for church.’
I have said it before, and I say
it again. I have followed Buhari since he was a military ruler, when I was an
undergraduate, and if that regime had lasted for longer, Nigeria would not be
in the doldrums that she found herself. It was a tough administration, but
which was leading us on the right path. Till forces of reaction struck, and we
were back to worse than square one.
You could imagine my joy when
Buhari eventually emerged civilian President after 12 years of struggle. I
didn’t think I was going to ever serve in government, but I found myself in it.
Just because it was Buhari. More than four years down the line, have I changed
my mind? No. Is it a perfect government? There’s none anywhere. But I still
remain a Buharist, just like millions of other Nigerians.
I know many people who started
with us in the Buhari camp, but who are now on the other side. Some were were
lured away by the garlic, cucumber, onions and leeks of Egypt, while some
others jumped ship because of the color of the currency they saw. Some others,
who expected quick fixes, are now singing the Lord’s song in a strange land.
Some others are vacillating between many opinions. But for some of us, it is
the immortal words of Sir Walter Scott: “Other people’s resolutions may fluctuate
on the wild and changeful billows of human opinions. Our’s, now and forever,
are anchored on the rock of ages.”
Why are we dyed-in-the-wool
Buharists? Is he a perfect, infallible man? Show me who is. So, why do we
remain resolute, irrespective of what people on the other side see as foibles
and failings of the administration? Many reasons.
Buhari is not a thief. Can you
say the same of many past leaders in this country? No, you can’t. I’m not
saying they’ve all been light fingered, but we know those who served us
honestly, and those who stole the living daylights out of the country. They and
their confederates.
When I then see a honest man, the
Mai Gaskiya, should I not follow him? Should I not trek from here to China for
his sake? I would even trek further from Beijing to Yokohama. Larceny and
plunder have been bane of our country. That was why we were consigned in gross
backwardness and underdevelopment. Now that I see a man who has come to make a
difference, I choose to stand by him all the way.
We know people who were worth
only thousands when they got into leadership positions in this country. But
they came out in obscene wealth. In other words, they went not to serve the
country, but themselves.
And here is Muhammadu Buhari, a
man who wants nothing from Nigeria, but who has come to empty himself in the
service of the country. And some people say we are fanatical supporters? Yes,
for the sake of our country. For the future of our children. For the good of
ordinary people, we are Buharists.
Simplicity. President Buhari is a
Muslim, a good one, and I am a Christian, trying daily to be a good one. I see
him at close quarters. At home, in the office, in the country, out of it. What
a simple man. He holds power with simplicity. He eats simply. Wears the most
modest things. No swashbuckling, no ostentation. And when we talk privately, I
love when he indicates that he’s in a temporal position, which he wants to use
for the good of the larger majority of Nigerians. That’s why I’m a Buharist,
and no apologies.
Abhorrence of corruption. I said
it before. President Buhari is not a thief, and he cannot vouch for you if you are
tarred with the brush of corruption. You will simply be on your own. There is
the jaded talk of the anti-corruption war in the land being selective. Well,
those who say that are merely operating from a mindset. No matter who you are,
however close you can be to him, when it comes to corruption, this President
speaks up for no one. That is why the anti-corruption agencies are making
conquests. He tele-guides them in no way.
An eye on history. That’s where
the President keenly focuses. He wants to be positively remembered as a man who
came, who saw, and made a difference. That’s why the country is one big
construction site.
Roads, rail, airports, power,
water projects, and many others. Nigeria must get a new lease of life, and
history must record it that the revolution started under one man: Muhammadu
Buhari.
A kind man. Don’t mind the names
you hear. Tyrant. Iron fist. Military ruler. Violator of rule of law. Major
General (as if he’s not one). And many others. But you know what? This
President is a kind man.
An eye on history. That’s where
the President keenly focuses. He wants to be positively remembered as a man who
came, who saw, and made a difference. That’s why the country is one big
construction site.
In 2015, some months into office,
a proposal was thrown up at a meeting. The civil service was unwieldy, the
economy was down, and salaries were being paid through the noses. It may well
be time to cut the civil service strength by half, since most of them were even
idle.
But the idea didn’t sell. The
President said if he had his way, not a single civil servant would be sent home
due to rationalization. Things were tough enough for them, not to add loss of
jobs. And so it happened.
When labour unions came some
years later to agitate for higher pay, the President first balked. He said it
was not sustainable, which was the truth. But eventually, he buckled, due to a
kind heart, and new wages are being paid at serious cost to government.
Let me say this, with the
presumed permission of the President. He kept the Service Chiefs he inherited
in 2015 for a couple of months. And when it was time to let them go, he sent
for me one afternoon.
He gave me the names of the new
appointees, and told me not to announce till the next day.
“I have informed the outgoing
Service Chiefs some minutes ago. But I don’t want their families to hear the
news over radio or television. I want them to get home, and break the news
themselves,” the President said.
I told him we would not be able
to keep the news under wraps till the next day, that it should rather be
announced immediately.
He looked at me, laughed, and
said: “You have not been sacked before. That’s why you are talking that way.
Me, I’ve been sacked from office before, and I know how it feels.” We laughed.
When the chief executive of a
major corporation was also going to be replaced, he gave me the new name, and
said I should not announce for an hour or two, so that the outgoing man would
have received his letter, and not hear it from the media.
Many acts of kindness have I seen
the President shown to many, and also to me, yet some people want to call him
strange names. And I should believe it? I hear!
On this auspicious day, I
celebrate our President. Cynics and scoffers would say why won’t you applaud
him since you are part of the largesse of office. Yes, I hold office under the
President, but I am yet to see the largesse. Maybe tomorrow. Or day after. And
whether in government or out of it, count me among those who believe.
I am a Buharist. So are also
millions of Nigerians. We thank God for bringing him our way. May his strength
be renewed daily.
He’s our miracle man, whom nobody
could have predicted two years ago would still be with us today. We love him
because he first loved us, and is serving us with all that is in him. Like that
young man in the aircraft, “Please, tell Baba we are with him all the way.”
Adesina is Special Adviser on
Media and Publicity to President Buhari
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Such an interesting piece.. I totally enjoyed reading this, thank you Femi for sharing this.. I remain a Buharist forever although I wish he would be proactive and speak to us sometimes but still I believe GMB is doing a beautiful job and Nigeria is on its way to greatness
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