Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media
and Publicity, said wicked people tagged his principal ‘Jubril of Sudan’
because they wanted him dead.
He said this in a birthday tribute in honour of the president.
Titled “Why we love Buhari”, Adesina described the president as a man
of integrity, man of accountability, one whose word you can take to the
bank.
He wrote: “Don’t misunderstand me. Not all estimated 196 million
Nigerians share this sentiment. Not possible. There are those who are
passionately opposed to the President. They are a very vocal minority,
who abhor his integrity, hate his sense of accountability, and even want
him dead. But we are not talking about those who Fela Anikulapo-Kuti
called “opposite people.” On this day of his 76th birthday, we are
talking of the teeming masses who love Buhari, and who can go to the
ends of the earth for him.
“I have said it before, and say it again. It will take a while before
Nigeria will see another political leader with such ability to pull an
unsolicited and uninduced crowd like Muhammadu Buhari. Anywhere he goes,
he doesn’t have to procure the crowd. They turn out in their numbers to
see and hear him. They will trek from Africa to China, walk from Cape
Town to Cairo, all to see, hear and cheer the man they love.
“Why? Many reasons. He is an honest man. My father, that stern
educationist, who ran the home and the schools he administered with an
iron hand, used to tell us: “Honesty is the best policy.” That was true
over 50 years ago when he drummed it into our ears, and it is still true
today. And will remain true tomorrow, and forever. That is why we love
Buhari. He is an honest man, who will tell the truth to his own hurt.
“At a recent meeting with governors, while discussing the seemingly
knotty issue of minimum wage, the President told them to level with him.
He said he knew that general elections were by the corner, “but I don’t
like to lie to anybody. I will still like to tell Nigerians the truth,
and nothing but the truth, as to what we can truly afford to pay.”
Consultations are still ongoing.
Some people will give you fibs, just because they want to hoodwink
you, and get your votes. They will announce that they’ve increased the
salaries of fictitious workers, even when truly they are owing many of
their employees. But not President Buhari. Nothing for him is a matter
of life and death. Truth is the best thing in a man’s keeping. Make
yourself an honest man, and there is one rascal less in the world. That
is why we love the man.
Accountability. I will never forget a promise Buhari made to the
crowd at a campaign rally in Lagos in 2011, when he ran with Pastor
Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly. Two honest men. “Every kobo that
comes into the treasury will be used for the good of Nigerians.” That’s
the accountable man, who would not dip his hands into the treasury for
private gains, who will not line his pocket at the expense of the
people. That is why we love him.
Just over a week ago, I met a man who was an accountant at the
Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), when the then Gen. Buhari was chairman.
Executive Chairman, who could do anything he wanted, since the place was
awash with billions of petrol money.
“I told him his salary would be N200,000 monthly,” the man recounted.
“He said it was too much, since he still drew pension from public
coffers as a retired General and former head of state. I don’t know how
he calculated it, but he said he would rather be paid N84,000 monthly.
And that was what he earned.”
Yet some people say don’t follow this honest man. Till he has one
tooth left in his mouth, and is bent double over his walking stick, we
will, no matter what they say. Honesty is still the best policy. Today,
tomorrow, and forever.
See all the positions he has held in this country. Governor of
North-east, then made up of what is now six states. Minister of
Petroleum for over three years. Head of State for 20 months. Chairman of
PTF for many years. Yet he remains a man of modest means. That is why
we love him.
In the early days of this administration, when oil prices had crashed
to as low as 39 dollars per barrel (from as high as 115 in preceding
years, stabilizing at over $100 for a long time, yet we had no savings,
no reserves), it was usually a spectacle to see the President and the
then Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, seated and apportioning funds for
the week. Depending on what was in the coffers, they prioritized
spending, just like traders with low capital base.
Nigeria had been run into a hole. No reserve for the rainy day, and
we were being badly beaten by the rain. Yet salaries must be paid as at
when due. At least 27 states could not meet their obligations, till
President Buhari gave them a lifeline. And then, one day, a counsel was
given at a meeting: “This is the time to ideally cut the strength of the
federal civil service by at least half, as we may not be able to carry
the load for long.” It made a lot of fiscal sense. But to the President,
it was nonsense. “If it lies within my powers, I will ensure that no
single person loses his or her job. Yes, it may be the right thing to
do, looking at the state of our finances, but I won’t do it,” President
Buhari said.
And you say we shouldn’t love this President? We will love him till Africa and China meet.
A confederacy has arrayed itself against the honest man. A crooked
confederacy. Anybody that is anybody in the pantheon of questionable
character is there. Are Nigerians fools? After their eyes have been
opened, will they willfully afflict themselves with blindness again? Not
on their lives! The country will never go back to the slave market. Not
after we have known prudence, experienced accountability, and we are
are inching out of the morass in which we were soused and marooned.
For more than five decades, mere lip service was paid to
diversification of the economy. But we remained a mono-product country.
Oil. So, whenever the price of oil crashed in the international market,
we simply crashed with it. Now gradually, and inexorably, we are on the
road to a diversified economy. Wonders are being done in agriculture.
Mining is flexing muscles. Manufacturing is showing prospects. All in
less than four years.
What of infrastructure? The sum of N2.7 trillion spent in two years.
The roads are roaring to life. The rail is snaking in. Power is powering
back. Wonders are being unfolded in different parts of the country. And
we shouldn’t love this President? We will, no matter what the naysayers
say.
Hear pensioners rejoice: This is the best administration we’ve had since the advent of Contributory Pension Scheme 14 years ago.
Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State spoke at a meeting of governors
with the President last Friday. He said since the creation of the state,
this was the first time pensioners were being paid, adding that pension
liabilities have been cleared by about 40%. Just because there is a
President that cares.
Former Nigeria Airways workers. Railway workers. Former Biafran
policemen. And many others, have had their pensions paid. And we
shouldn’t love the ‘birthday man?’ They should tell it to the marines.
When you have a heart for men, it is God himself that keeps you
alive. We have seen a practical demonstration in President Buhari.
From the brink of death early 2017, there is now an unmistakable glow
in him, evidence of good health from the inside. It is God at work. No
wonder wicked people came with the idiocy of Jubril of Sudan. Otiose.
Hollow. Products of addled minds. That was why we ignored them, till the
President himself responded to a question from Nigerians in Poland two
weeks ago.
For millions upon millions of Nigerians who love this President, it
is an unconditional love. The full cost of our love is no charge. Happy
birthday, Mr President.”