Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has faulted the comparison presidential aide, Femi Adesina drew between President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In the latest installment of his “From The Inside” weekly column titled “The Priest And The President” released on Friday, Adesina explained that Obasanjo set a bad example for all believers when he called a former Plateau State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Revd. Yakubu Pam, “a total idiot”.
He added that Obasanjo made the comment while still in office in March 2004, adding that it was during the ethno-religious crisis in Yelwa-Shendam, Plateau State.
According to him, the then-president spoke while querying what effort the CAN chairman had made to nip the crisis in the bud.
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Adesina wrote:
Let’s go back in time to May 2004, when the lands of Yelwa-Shendam, in Plateau State, had turned crimson. Primitive fury and hatred were unleashed, leading to internecine bloodbath. Hundreds and hundreds of people were killed along religious lines. It eventually led to Governor Joshua Dariye being removed, as a state of emergency was declared, and a retired Army General appointed sole administrator.
While the place was turned into killing fields, the then President Olusegun MATTHEW Obasanjo (emphasis on that middle name) visited, and met with the different stakeholders.
During the dialogue session, the then Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Plateau State asked a question the President found offensive. And the Owu man, a retired Army General, flew off the handle. He let out this fusillade:
“What role have you played to bring about peace as CAN Chairman in Plateau State? CAN, my foot! What kind of CAN Chairman are you? Did your own Christianity teach you about revenge? You are an idiot. A total idiot. And I have no apologies for that.”
Pin-drop silence. Strange things do happen in Nigeria. But it had never been seen like that. For a father of the country to publicly excoriate a religious leader? For a Matthew to call a preacher an idiot, “a total idiot?” It was sacrilege walking on two legs.
And again, for a President, who laid claim to being a born again Christian, to denigrate the association of his own faith? “CAN, my foot!” It was the height of it.
In comparison, he wrote, President Buhari appointed Pam as the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC).
Reacting, Fani-Kayode, who was appointed minister by Obasanjo, said that his former principal and President Buhari were incomparable.
Quoting Adesina’s comment, Fani-Kayode wrote:
“Buhari elevated the CAN Chairman OBJ described as a total idiot”-Femi Adesina
No CAN Chairman was kidnapped & killed by terrorists under OBJ. No CAN Chairman was ever abducted for ransom by bandits under OBJ.
Comparing OBJ to Buhari is like comparing the living to the dead.
It’s like comparing light and darkness. It’s like comparing angels and demons. It’s like comparing good and evil. It’s like comparing blessings and curses. It’s like comparing joy and pain. It’s like comparing Churchill and Hitler. It’s like comparing George Washington and Idi Amin.
It’s like comparing the sun and the moon. It’s like comparing heaven and hell.