President Muhammadu Buhari has described the claim that he is dead and that there is reportedly a body double called ‘Jibril from Sudan’ that is occupying the presidential villa in Abuja as humour taken too far and not funny.
Buhari bared his mind in a documentary shown on Friday night at a private dinner organised by his family and associates to celebrate his 80th birthday.
According to him, some Nigerians have a way of creating humour to feast on something they do not understand, adding that the development was the handiwork 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 have said I am somebody from Sudan. I didn’t bother with the name. Nigerians have mischievous ways of explaining themselves.”
On how he found such jokes bandied around, Buhari said: “It’s not funny because those who made those statements 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 said, contrary to widely-held opinion in some quarters, he would not miss the Aso Villa much because “he is constantly being harassed as his efforts to make the country better are not good enough and appreciated by some people.”
“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. There are people around who think that they can intimidate me into getting 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.”
In proposing a toast for the celebrant, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo described President Buhari as a forthright, good, and kind man, and an exemplary leader.
Osinbajo jocularly noted that the president would make a good entertainer in his retirement because he also possesses a tremendous sense of humour.
