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A presidential aide, Femi Adesina, has explained why the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), is demarketed as a religious bigot in his first three attempts to become the country’s president.
The move, he said, had been the strategy of those who had a dark past and was afraid the President’s uprightness and incorruptibility may affect their chances going forward.
According to him, it was a narrative deliberately concocted and conjured by those who were afraid of the probity and integrity he could bring into public office.
Adesina, who is the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Buhari, stated this in his article titled, ‘Buhari, Osinbajo and the bigotry question’, shared on his Facebook page on Thursday.
He added that after the bigotry narrative had give way after the President realised in his dream in 2015, and chose Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a Redeemed Pastor, as his second in command.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is a man that had been serially de-marketed, flagellated, and excoriated as a religious bigot. It was a narrative deliberately concocted and conjured by those who were afraid of the probity and integrity he could bring into public office. They tarred him with the brush of bigotry, which hindered the man from attaining the presidency for a long while.
“But every lie has an expiry date. A time came when the public no longer bought the jejune argument. Pro-Buhari forces fought back vigorously. One of them was eminent virologist, Prof Tam David-West (God rest his soul). He wrote a book with the title ‘16 Sins of Muhammadu Buhari,’ in which he debunked the lies being told against the former military head of state. One of them was the allegation of being a religious bigot.
“A larger number of Nigerians got to understand that the bigotry tag was fake, false, an attempt to give the dog a bad name, in order to hang it. Muhammadu Buhari coasted to office as President in 2015, after three earlier trials.
“But there is still a remnant that maintains its entrenched position. And they are the ones who look down on us Christians, for going to “work with a Fulani Muslim, a jihadist who does not want to see Christians at all.” True? False.
Highlighting the President’s level of religious tolerance, Adesina wrote, “Who else can you trust more than the man (or woman) that cooks or serves your meal? Possibly nobody. Buhari has Christian cooks, male and female.
“And who can you also trust more than the man that drives you? He can decide to do bad, bad things to you. Buhari has Christian drivers.”
He added, “As the administration winds down (in 14 months) I pray for grace to be able to document my experiences with this President. People would then realize how unfair they’ve been to him. A man more sinned against, rather than sinning.”
