President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday played host to former President Olusegun Obasanjo inside his office. Buhari has everything to appreciate God for. This is because he is still in the good book of his former boss. Apart from the many times they might have met away from the prying eyes of journalists, Obasanjo has visited Buhari not fewer than three times in his office since he took over from former President Goodluck Jonathan on May 29, 2015.
Towards the end of Jonathan’s administration, Obasanjo refused to visit the Bayelsa State-born former Nigerian leader. Rather, he resorted to writing letters to him on national issues that he felt strongly about. Even in this current dispensation, he has written one of such letters to the National Assembly. So Buhari should naturally be happy that Obasanjo has not decided to inflict on him the pains of reading long letters.
As Obasanjo made his way out of his Sports Utility Vehicle, he saw cameramen who were focusing on him. He pointed to them and said, “What is this that you are doing?” Instead of answering him, we all greeted him. I observed that he was in a good mood. A few hours earlier, photographs of him and Jonathan’s wife, Patience, had gone viral on the Internet, so I quickly said, “Your Excellency, we saw some photographs of yours where you were dancing.” Obasanjo did not allow me to complete the statement before he said, “eh en? Do you want me to dance for you?” He made a gesture as if he wanted to dance before he walked into the President’s office.A few minutes before the Ota farmer arrived the Villa, words had gone round that he would be visiting the President at noon. So we decided to lay ambush for him in the forecourt of the President’s office.
The drama did not end there. At the end of the meeting with the President, Buhari saw Obasanjo off. He came downstairs with him up to the main door. When the President saw us, he quickly shook hands with Obasanjo and returned upstairs. As Obasanjo was stepping out, he pointed to us and shouted, “You guys are terrorists. You can see that because of your terrorism, the President saw you and he quickly backed out.” We all laughed over the joke.
One of us capitalised on the joke and asked if terrorism was one of the issues he discussed with the President. We threw many questions at him and he answered the ones he wanted to answer while he parried others. For every question that the former President did not want to answer, he would start by saying “eh en?” He even interjected in pidgin English when he was asked to disclose the nature of the experiences he said he shared with Buhari during the meeting. “Ha, ha? If I say I shared experiences with my wife, you will ask me wetin I talk with my wife?” he asked.
After the brief interview, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, approached him in order to exchange pleasantries with him. Obasanjo quickly told the journalist-turned politician that she is now on the corridor of power. He later corrected himself that Dabiri-Erewa had moved beyond corridor to the sitting room of power. He also pointed to the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, who he said was inside the bedroom of power. He said we, the journalists, were the ones operating on the corridor of power.
Who says Obasanjo does not like journalists? During the brief interaction, he asked Dabiri-Erewa if a law could be promulgated to ensure that media houses do not owe their workers salaries. The former lawmaker said there was a move towards achieving that when she was a member of the House of Representatives but journalists themselves shut the idea down.
With Obasanjo’s interest, do not be surprised to hear from him on the matter very soon. I hope he will not decide to write letters to publishers.
Lull at the seat of power
These days, activities at the Villa are oftentimes at the lowest ebb. The reasons are as simple as they are glaring. The first is the fact that Buhari seems not to be favourably disposed to the idea of people running into the Villa at every excuse under the guise of paying courtesy visits, therefore distracting him. Most times, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo receives these people on his behalf.
Another major reason is the way both the President and the Vice-President travel. For instance, the Villa was temporarily left empty last Saturday as both of them travelled outside the country. Buhari had penultimate Wednesday left Abuja for Washington DC to participate in the 4th Nuclear Security Summit which started on Thursday. He departed United States of America last Sunday and arrived in Abuja on Monday morning.
Osinbajo who had been holding the fort for the President since penultimate Wednesday however also left the country on Saturday. The Vice-President travelled to Niamey, Niger where he represented Buhari at the inauguration of President Issoufou Mahamadou who was recently re-elected as the President of that country.
His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, issued a terse statement later in the evening announcing Osinbajo’s whereabouts. “President Muhammadu Buhari is being represented today (Saturday) in Niamey, Niger, at the inauguration of President Issoufou Mahamadou, who won a second term recently. The Vice President returns today (Saturday),” Akande simply wrote.
In a congratulatory message the President sent to Issoufou penultimate Thursday, he had indicated that he would not be able to attend his inauguration because of his official engagement in Washington DC. He was however silent on whether he would be represented at the event or not.
“The President acknowledged an invitation to attend President Issoufou’s swearing-in for a new term in office, but regretted that he will be unable to attend due to his ongoing participation in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC. Wishing President Issoufou a successful new term in office, President Buhari expressed the hope that peace and progress will continue to prevail in Nigeria and Niger Republic,” the statement read.
There has been an unwritten rule that the President and the Vice-President do not travel out of the country at the same time. The rule preceded the present administration. Last month, the Vice-President’s planned trip to India was cancelled when it was discovered that it clashed with Buhari’s trip to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Osinbajo would have attended the Indian/African Summit in India before the development. The rule was however bent slightly on Saturday because Osinbajo returned to the country on the same day.
The Villa was deserted on Saturday afternoon due to the absence of the President and Vice-President. Similar scenario played out the previous day because of Osinbajo’s absence. He travelled to Yola, Adamawa State to attend the wedding Fatiha of the son of Governor Muhammad Bindow.
There may not be any remarkable difference in what will happen in the Villa next week as Buhari is scheduled to travel to China and he is expected to be away for a couple of days.
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