*Says “Jubril from Sudan” joke not funny
By Egena Sunday Ode
President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would not miss Aso Rock much when he vacates the seat of power next year.
Reason? He said he is being harassed, and that his efforts to make the country better have been seen as not good enough, and therefore appreciated not by some people.
Buhari stated this in a documentary shown Friday night at a private dinner organised by his family and closed associates, to celebrate his 80th birthday tagged “Celebrating A Patriot, a Leader, an Elder Statesman”.
Asked by the interviewer what he would miss about the presidency when he leaves, Buhari said: “I wonder if I am going to miss much. I think I’m being harassed. I believe I’m trying my best but still my best is not good enough. Because there are people around that think that they can intimidate me to get what they want instead of going through certain systems to earn whatever they want to earn. And there are some people who want to be clever by half.”
The President also described the claim that he was dead and his supposed body doubles as, ‘Jibril Aminu from Sudan’ was the one occupying the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock, as a joke that was not funny at all.
According to him, some Nigerians had a way of creating humour to feast on something they do not understand.
He said the rumour was the work of some mischief makers to demonstrate their cheekiness.
Asked if he heard about the crazy rumour a while back that he was not Buhari, he replied smiling, “Yes! People said I am somebody from Sudan. I didn’t bother with the name. Nigerians have mischievous ways of explaining themselves.”
Asked if he found such things funny, the President said: “No. It’s s not funny because those who made those statements, they just want to be cheeky. They want to distract attention from the main issues.
“Our main issue is to do the infrastructure, make people aware that they need to work hard to live well. They just want to enjoy life without earning the respect of their community and so on.”
President Buhari revealed in the documentary that he lost two of his children by his late wife to sickle cell anemia and that was why when he wanted to remarry, he insisted the second wife must be AA genotype, so that his children will not inherit the S from his AS genotype.
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, while proposing a toast for the celebrant, described him as a forthright, good and kind man, as well as an exemplary leader.
He also noted that the president would made a very good entertainer in retirement because of his wackiest sense of humour.
The VP recalled how the president used jokes to calm him down and made him rescind his decision to submit a letter to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), to investigate allegations of corruption leveled against him.
“Mr. President is a very humorous man and I think he would made a very good career in entertainment one way or the other when he retires.
“One day, I went to him because they were some allegations that were made against me. And I was so angry, so I went to him to show him the letter I had written to the EFCC to investigate. He looked at it and looked at me and because he calls me VP or Professor depending on his mood.
“This time he said, ‘VP, why do you worry yourself about all these people. These people just make all sorts of allegations, they make all sorts of stories up, even they are saying that I am about to get married again. And even some foolish people were waiting at the National Mosque, waiting for me to come and marry again.”
