With 14 months to the end of Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration, Femi Adesina has revealed his desire to document his
experiences with the President so many critics could realize how much they’ve
been unfair to the man from Daura.
Adesina made his desire known in his article titled “BUHARI,
OSINBAJO AND THE BIGOTRY QUESTION.”
Adesina in the article explained why Buhari should never be
regarded as a religious bigot.
In a part o the article, the media aide said his principal
was labeled a religious bigot by those who are afraid of his integrity.
The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity finalized that
after full documentation of his experience with the president, Buhari will be
seen as a man more sinned against, rather than sinning.
Please read the full article below:
Have you ever met a religious bigot before? Pray that you
don’t. It’s not an interesting experience, irrespective of the faith the bigot
professes.
A bigot is obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief,
opinion, and is prejudiced against or antagonistic towards a person or people
who don’t share what he believes.
I ask again: have you met a religious bigot before? Pray
that you don’t. And if you unfortunately do, don’t argue, don’t remonstrate
with such person. Just show a clean pair of heels.
President Muhammadu Buhari is a man that had been serially
de-marketed, flagellated and excoriated as a religious bigot. It was a
narrative deliberately concocted and conjured by those who were afraid of the
probity and integrity he could bring into public office. They tarred him with
the brush of bigotry, which hindered the man from attaining the presidency for
a long while.
But every lie has an expiry date. A time came when the
public no longer bought the jejune argument. Pro-Buhari forces fought back
vigorously. One of them was eminent virologist, Prof Tam David-West (God rest
his soul). He wrote a book with the title ‘16 Sins of Muhammadu Buhari,’ in
which he debunked the lies being told against the former military head of
state. One of them was the allegation of being a religious bigot.
A larger number of Nigerians got to understand that the
bigotry tag was fake, false, an attempt to give the dog a bad name, in order to
hang it. Muhammadu Buhari coasted to office as President in 2015, after three
earlier trials.
But there is still a remnant that maintains its entrenched
position. And they are the ones who look down on us Christians, for going to
“work with a Fulani Muslim, a jihadist who does not want to see Christians at
all.” True? False.
Who else can you trust more than the man (or woman) that
cooks or serves your meal? Possibly nobody. Buhari has Christian cooks, male
and female.
And who can you also trust more than the man that drives
you? He can decide to do bad, bad things to you. Buhari has Christian drivers.
I was glad to hear Vice President Yemi Osinbajo touch on the
matter early this week. While receiving Senegal-based Grand Khalifa of Tijaniya
Movement Worldwide, Sheikh Muhammadu Mahi Ibrahim Niass, he said in seven years
of working with President Buhari, he has not had any issues with him,
particularly in the area of religion.
Said the Vice President: “President Buhari is a serious
Muslim, and I am a pastor. Both of us have worked together for about 7 years,
we have not had any issues. The President has shown great leadership, he has
shown that he wants a country where people of different faiths live in harmony
and with love for one another.”
Well-spoken, well-proven. And I have stories to tell to
buttress what VP Osinbajo has said.
Just two weeks ago, someone who was in the inner caucus when
President Buhari was putting together his team in 2015, told me a story. It
went this way:
“When the President likes you, he just likes you. I remember
in 2015 when they brought three names to him as possible media advisers. They
were made of Christians and Muslims. He just brought out his pen and marked
your name. That was all.”
A media adviser is in the inner caucus. You can see your
boss whenever you want to, and that was what the President told me the very day
I resumed: “Adesina, ensure that nobody keeps you away from me. Whenever you want
to see me, just come.”
Bigot? He won’t give such position or latitude to a person
of a different faith.
Early in the first term, one of my spiritual fathers passed
on. Rev Cornelius Obasi had taken a keen interest in me as a young man growing
up in the Foursquare Gospel Church in Lagos. That was in the 1980s.
He was the Assistant Pastor of the branch I attended in the
Omole area. The main pastor was Rev Felix Meduoye, who later went on to become
General Overseer of the Church for many years.
I had completed National Service, was working as a Current
Affairs Officer in Radio Lagos. But I never joked with church services, and
soon became a teacher in the Sunday School.
One day, after service, Rev Obasi called me. “Brother Femi,
you speak good English. Who are you really?” I told him about myself and thus
began a lifelong friendship.
When he passed on (was it late 2015 or 2016?), a two days
funeral was being organized. And I wanted to attend, to pay my last respects.
So I went to meet the President.
I asked him for two days off and told him why I needed it. A
religious bigot would never hear of such. But not President Buhari. He told me:
“I am happy that you’ve decided to go and give last honors to such a man.
Please go. We will be here till you return.” And that winsome smile.
When I returned to Abuja, I went to see him again, to say I
was back. He welcomed me and said something I’ll never forget.
“Adesina (he prefers to call me by my surname), I want to
thank you for going to honour a man who contributed to bringing you up
spiritually. God will give you lada for it.”
I thanked him and left. But lada, what does it mean?
I sought out my friend, Garba Deen Mohammed, now NNPC
spokesman. What does lada mean? I told him the story. He laughed and explained
that lada means reward or wages. He said the President was praying that God
will reward me for attending the burial of Rev Cornelius Obasi.
A bigot? I hear.
Our first Christmas in government. December 2015. I wanted
to spend the season in Lagos. And I asked him for permission. By all means, he
answered. “I know the Vice President, yourself, and some others are church
people. Please go. Spend Christmas and New Year with your families. When you
now come back, me too I’ll go for a few days.” And he laughed. Bigot? They
never want to hear of Christmas. Since 2015, he would give all Christians
working with him time off every Easter and Christmas. I like that kind of
‘bigotry.’
When the Foursquare Gospel Church turned 60 years in
Nigeria. I told the President, and he gladly agreed to meet with the
leadership. He did. Bigot? Please tell me another story.
The Vice President survived a helicopter crash in 2019. The
President publicly rejoiced with him, and then at the next Federal Executive
Council meeting, he congratulated the VP again. Jocularly, he said: “I can
imagine that when the chopper crashed with a bang, VP as a pastor must have
shouted, Jesus!Jesus! Jesus! And fortunately, Jesus was not far away, so He
saved him.”
We all laughed. But one instructive lesson. Bigots don’t
like Jesus. They never want to hear His name, or attribute anything miraculous
to Him. Buhari, a bigot? I beg, comot for road, make I pass.
It is said that as a military commander, he gave an
opportunity for Muslim soldiers to observe the jumat on Fridays, and Christian
soldiers were allowed to go to church on Sundays. A bigot would allow Muslims
and pretend that Christians didn’t exist.
As the administration winds down (in 14 months) I pray for
the grace to be able to document my experiences with this President. People
would then realize how unfair they’ve been to him. A man more sinned against,
rather than sinning.
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