25th February, 2017
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari has called his media spokesman, Femi Adesina from the United Kingdom, saying he is still resting.
Adesina said in a post on his facebook wall that the president called him at 2:43pm on Saturday and spoke with him.
“At exactly 2.43 p.m today, Saturday, February 25, 2017, my phone rang. Who was at the other end? Tunde Sabiu, Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari. “Hold on for Mr President,” Tunde said.
“And in a matter of seconds, the very familiar voice came: “Femi, how are you?” (He calls me Adesina most times, but today, he opted for Femi) I screamed :”Mr President, I have missed you. How are you sir?”
“He first laughed. That familiar laugh. Then he said: “I am still resting. Thank you for holding out against mischief makers.” I said it was my duty, the very least I could do, adding how happy I was to speak with him. “How is your family?” I said we were fine, and he asked me to extend his greetings to them. “I hope to call you again, ” Mr President said, and I bade him farewell, adding: “Best wishes, sir,” Adesina said.
Adesina said it was a defining moment for him since for more than a month, he had always spoken with aides who were with the President in London.
“Not once did I ask them to take the phone to him, deliberately so, because I didn’t need to speak with him to validate the fact that he was alive. And since he was on vacation, he had a right to his privacy.
“Of his own volition, President Buhari spoke with me. It made my day. Even if he hadn’t done so, he would have remained my President, my leader, and my man any day,” he said.