Referring  To Me As Jubril of Sudan,Expensive Joke- Buhari finally  reacts 

Sola POPOOLA

Years after he was rumoured to have died in certain London Hospital by his detractors,  President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigerians have some mischievous ways of reacting to issues they could not comprehend.
Recall that  by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),now in custody of the Department of State Services(DSS) had claimed  that President Muhammadu Buhari is ‘Jubril of Sudan‘.
The President  spoke at a private dinner organized by his family and very close associates, marking his 80th birthday tagged “Celebrating a Patriot, a Leader, an elder statesman”.
In a documentary of the event  shown on Friday night,Buhari said he was unaware of the reckless joke and the extent to which it trended but he never allowed that to bother him.
Pressed  by the interviewer if he heard about the crazy rumour a while back that he was not Buhari, he replied smiling, “Yes! People said I am somebody from Sudan. I didn’t bother with the name. Nigerians have mischievous ways of explaining themselves.”
According to him ,the rumor of his dead and his supposed body dubbed, ‘Jibril Aminu from Sudan’ as the one occupying the presidential villa in Aso Rock is an expensive but funny joke.

The President said some Nigerians are skilled in creating humour to feast on something they do not understand or comprehend.

He described the rumour as the work of some mischief makers to demonstrate their cheekiness.

Also Femi Adesina, Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity had dismissed the claim, saying  it  is  “idiocy” to claim that the president is dead and was replaced with Jubril from Sudan.

In his  article titled, ‘The Essential Buhari: VP Osinbajo got it!’ Femi Adesina recalls how Buhari, upon return from his medical trip abroad in 2017, recognised him.

“I remember that day in August 2017, when the President returned to the country finally from his medical vacation. From January of that year, he had been in and out a couple of times, but spending weeks and months outside, attending to his health. And finally, on August 19, he returned home, triumphantly.

“We were at the airport to receive him. I have told the story a number of times, to dispel the idiocy that it was a certain Jibril of Sudan that came back and not Buhari. The daughter of the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Gabriel Olonisakin, was getting married. And I had attended both the church service and reception, decked in full Yoruba traditional attire of Agbada and a cap to match. Straight from the ceremony, I went to the airport to join the welcome party for the President.

“We the principal aides were on a line to receive the President as he descended from the aircraft. And he shook hands with each person, having one wisecrack or the other to say, as is typical of him. When he got to me, he said, “Adesina, this is the best I’ve seen you dressed.” And we both laughed.

“Jibril of Sudan? How did he know I was Adesina? How would he know how I normally dressed? Idiocy, I say again. But that is just a digression, not the story I really want to tell to support the topic at hand.” the article read in part.

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