Mouth agape, like one who had just landed on this planet after a long sojourn on the moon, I was shocked that barely three weeks after the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari as the 6th President of the most populous black nation, he finally realised that age was a limitation to what he can do.
I know by now he will be regretting that Dame Patience Jonathan and other PDP chieftains warned him not to dive into the murky water of politics.
At first, I thought my ears and eyes were playing pranks on me, because this was a man that went through the length and breadth of the country campaigning that at 72 he can move mountains.
“I wish I became Head of State when I was a governor, just a few years as a young man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do,” President Buhari stated this when he spoke with Nigerians living in South Africa.
To the APC, Buhari spoke in strange “tongues”, there was need for interpretation. After all, most Nigerians are known as carnal laymen.
The words had barely come out of his mouth, when the National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina jumped out as “Interpreter Generals of the Federation.”
They hurriedly organised a marathon lectures on the course: “NOW AT 72, THERE IS A LIMIT TO WHAT I CAN DO.”
“What President Buhari was saying, which was lost on those who issued that jejune statement, is that only his love and passion for the country could have made him, at his age, to come out of retirement to seek the office of President, over 30 years after he presided over the affairs of the country,’’ the “Interpreter General” Lai Mohammed explained.
As if that was not enough, the second Interpreter General, Femi Adesina who had been recently baptized on “political Pentecost” took over from Lai Mohammed giving his own version.
According to him; Buhari was misquoted by national dailies and online media, noting that, “like old wine, Buhari gets better with age”.
He added that “old wines are tasty” and the President Buhari we have today, is a man, like old wine, that has got tastier.
The naïve Femi Adesina in the holy month of Ramadan was not politically correct in using wine, forbidden in Islam as an analogy for the President.
Let us not forget President Muhammadu Buhari is so religious to the extent that he “snubbed’’ foreign delegates who came to grace his inauguration by abandoning them to attend Juma’a Prayers.
Wait a minute, or was Femi Adesina trying to tell Nigerians that President Buhari was under the influence of alcohol when he made such glaring statement? I smell a rat.
I wondered how “At 72, there is limit to what I can do” can be interpreted to mean “old wine that has got tastier.”
For offering that interpretation, Femi Adesina must be a poor teacher and a bad interpreter or a false prophet.
As a former dictator, President Buhari has always meant what he said, and always said what he meant without minding which ox is gored.
I remembered vividly during the electioneering campaign, he was on Aljazeera on February 8, and despite seeking for votes, he blatantly said that those who do not like his face should not vote for him. On hearing that I almost lost my breath;
“If people don’t like Buhari’s face for what he did as a military Head of State, let them join the ruling party or any of the other mushroom parties and vote against him and convince his constituency to vote against me.”
Or did Nigerians need the chief priest in Okija shrine to come and interprete this again?
President Buhari has been known for making blunt statements and has never been diplomatic in his statements. A soldier is always a soldier!
Nigerians don’t need the interpretation of Lai Mohammed and Femi Adesina to understand the statement of their President.
Or is the APC telling us that we no longer understand English, because I do understand that Buhari did not make that comment in Arabic or Swahili.
The meaning of his statement is that he is too old to pilot the affairs of this country, QED.
We can see that Pa Buhari is yet to make major appointments such as the Secretary General of the Federation, SGF, and Ministers after three weeks of his inauguration.
We are aware that a string of attacks by suspected Boko Haram militants has come in the wake of the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, leaving hundreds dead and several defenceless citizens injured.
We don’t need a soothsayer to tell us three weeks after Buhari assumption of office Nigeria is still wobbling and crawling with no direction in sight.
We are aware he referred to the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, as “President Michelle of West Germany.”
Some social media lovers chided the President for making such an error.
When, Buhari said “at 72, there is a limit to what I can do”, he meant what he said, and he said what he meant.
The task is enormous for a 72-year old man.
Femi and Lai Mohammed who are spin doctors can offer their interpretation to the mariners. We are already reading the handwritings on the wall.
Is President Buhari Now Speaking In Tongues? By Audu O. Audu
