Femi Adesina: Nigerians not happy with Buhari? Where are the facts?

Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, does not agree that Nigerians are unhappy with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking with Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show, Adesina said anyone who says Nigerians are unhappy with Buhari is guilty of “over-generalisation” — unless such claim is backed by “empirical facts”.

When told that Nigerians are suffering and are not happy with the Buhari government, Adesina said: “Well, I would just say that person is guilty of over-generalisation. When you say Nigerians, where are the facts? It is not empirical.

“What research has he conducted, how many Nigerians did he talk to? How many responded this way, how many responded that way? It is not scientific, it is not empirical. It is not true.

“I tell you, millions  upon millions of Nigerians are with this administration, they are with this president, they believe in him, they believe he would bring change to the country, and they are willing to wait till that change touches different aspect of our lives.”

Adesina said change had come to the northeast, and highlighted the progress that had already been recorded in the region.

“Of course, in different areas of our national life, we have seen the change. For instance, don’t you trust your government now, particularly the government at the centre? You trust the government.

“That was why fuel prices changed, went as high as N145 per litre, and all hell didn’t break loose, because people trusted the leadership: he is doing this in our own interest.

“A number of people think change is when the naira exchanges one to one to the dollar; it would be a good change. We will get there. That can never happen by a sudden flight; we’ll get there.

“The economy will pick up. We are in recession now, we will exit it and things will get better but it needs patience. The promises that have been made to Nigerians, we would need patience before we can inherit the promise.”

Buhari had said while in Germany, that his wife, Aisha Buhari belongs in the kitchen, the living room and the other room.

But Adesina declined to address the president’s comment on his wife because “that has been well taken care of”.

“It is not something I would talk about,” he said, although he added that his own wife is a professional who belongs to every room — not just the kitchen, living room and the other room.

“They [the rooms] exist in every home,” he said. “My wife belongs to every room. My wife is a professional, she works.”

He urged those talking of a cabal in Buhari’s government to name members of the cabal. He also spoke on the recent raid of judges home by the Department of States Security (DSS).

“The DSS is an independent arm of our security agencies, they saw what was needful,” he said.

“The DSS, among others, is to act against anything that can threaten the security of the state, and you know corruption in the judiciary [is] a big threat to the state,  and so the DSS moved against it.”

Adesina said those making all sorts of allegations had “eaten sour grapes” and “their teeth are set on edge”. He added that the fact that the PDP “ate sour grapes, their teeth must be set on edge”.