Femi Adeshina, Special Adviser, Media & Publicity to President Buhari granted an exclusive Interview during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
He spoke to GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU, Foreign Bureau Chief, United States as he stated his honest views on proscription of Independent People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu’s activities, President Buhari’s health and political plans for 2019 Presidential Elections.
See excerpts from the interview below…
Q: How will you rate the spot-on presentation of President Muhammadu Buhari to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday in New York?
You have described the presentation of President Muhammadu Buhari at the United Nations General Assembly as spot-on. Thanks for those words. That is how many people, world over, also feel, judging from the reactions we get. I am a participant- observer, so I’ll rather let other people judge and comment, and then come to a conclusion about the performance of Mr President from those comments.
Q: Why do you think some envious Nigerians are always out there to fault everything Mr. President does?
Oh, yes. There will always be naysayers around. As the saying goes, no drummer can ever please all dancers. If 98 people out of 100 praise you, there will always be the two, who will never see anything good in what you have done. We must learn to live with, and tolerate the views of such people. They have a right to their opinions.
Q: Some ‘wailing Nigerians’ even alleged the speech Mr. President read was ‘watery’ quoting Aljazeera Television and they heaped blame on the speech writer. Why do you think people can resort to this kind of arm-twisting? Those that condemn the quality of the speech have a right to their views. The funny thing is that most of them may not have read, nor did they listen to the speech.
They are professional critics who never see anything good in anything. If such people mistakenly get into Heaven, they will complain about God.
Q: These same Nigerians argued in various platforms including the social media that Mr. President commends other nations’ right for freedom in his United Nations’ speech, yet he refused ‘freedom of secession’ for Independent People of Biafra, IPOB. What is your take on this route?
The IPOB situation is an internal matter, which the government is dealing firmly with. It is not a UN matter. It is those who overrate themselves that think something like that must be brought up at a global platform like the UN. The President swore to uphold the Nigerian Constitution, and the Constitution recognizes an indivisible country. It is a President who holds his own promises with flippancy that will allow the country to scatter under him.
