Femi Adesina: Obasanjo would have rebuked Nigerians for demanding presidential address

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, says if ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo was still in power, he would have rebuked Nigerians for demanding that he address the nation. 

Adesina said this in a Facebook post entitled, “if you can’t take blows brother, don’t throw blows”.

Reacting to the criticism he received after featuring on a programme on Naija Info FM, Adesina said he was referred to as “rude and arrogant” for defending President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said a lot of Nigerians take delight in abusing the president but would not tolerate the same thing if reversed.

He said despite having addressed the nation three times, some Nigerians were still demanding that Buhari must “talk to us” because they voted him into office.

“I’ve recently found out that it’s the opposite that some Nigerians want. They want to use foul language, harangue their President, abuse him, and then, nobody must respond to defend the President,” he said.

“For about five years, some people have made it a pastime to talk about President Muhammadu Buhari anyhow. The man just ignores them, and continues to work calmly for the country.

“Last week, I chose to give out some light blows. Very light ones. That was when I realized that those who had been dealing out the blows for years have nothing but glass jaws.

“Now, this narrative of ‘he must talk to us’ is a common one in the country. I’d responded to it more times than I could remember. But what made it a bit irksome last week was the fact that the President had just made three major national broadcasts over the previous four weeks.

“I explained that it was not the President’s style to chirrup like a cockatoo. He is a man of few words, who preferred action to words.

“You know what? If it was former President Olusegun Obasanjo that had come under the ‘you must talk to us’ barrage like that, and on live television, he would have first cleared his throat noisily, adjusted himself in his seat, and then bellowed:

“And who are you, that I must talk to you? I say who the hell are you? Who is your father? Who is your father’s father, that you are commanding me to talk to you? Were you born when we fought a Civil War to keep this country together?

“Where was your father when I received the instrument of surrender from the Biafra Forces? Don’t come here and tell me nonsense. Talk to us, my foot!”

Adesina said Buhari would never behave that way.

“But President Buhari would not upbraid anyone like that. He rather keeps his peace. And some people have now taken liberty for license, till they begin to sound like broken records,” he said.

“The fact that you have voted a man into office is not carte blanche for you to lead the man around by the nose. A leader worth his salt would not even submit himself to such cavalier treatment. Definitely not President Buhari. I made that point clear on the program.”