Just In: Some Nigerians won't mind selling their mothers if doing so would remove Buhari from power — Adesina

It can be argued that the current covid-19 pandemic is the greatest test yet, for the Buhari administration since it came to power in 2015.

Confining an already poverty ridden population to their homes without adequate measures in place to help meet life's most basic needs, is tantamount to mu*der by starvation. But the Buhari administration so far, believes it is handling the COVID-19 pandemic pretty well.


Critics of the Buhari government however, think otherwise. And with barrage of criticism hitting the Presidency from all sides, Mr Femi Adesina who is Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, thinks there are people in the country who can do despicable things out of hatred for Buhari.

Adesina in an article titled: Enemy of the State, in reaction to the leakage of the unedited draft of President Buhari's covid-19 broadcast, said "Some people hate their own country, and ironically would be the first to complain that things were not going well."



He said, "Every act of the government (any government) they would undermine. If they can stick a knife into the soft underbelly of government in any way, they do it with relish, and would be the first to grumble that things were not going right.

"Enemies of the State. If the person that leaked the unedited draft of the broadcast had access to more sensitive national documents, he would do the same thing. If he cottons on information that could sell Nigeria to the enemy, he would gladly do it. Thou art in the midst of foes, watch and pray.


"I am surprised that a large number of people, including newspaper houses, fell for the gambit. They took their information from the wrong source, and ended up publishing falsehood. That was what the Enemy of the State wanted. Cause maximum confusion. And he succeeded to some extent.

"There is a way we release information from the media office of the President. And the media knows it. If a presidential speech was to be given ahead, there would be an embargo on it for a particular time. The circulating copy bore no embargo, yet they fell for it. And got embarrassed by publishing inaccurate information. Serves them right, do you say?



"The final copy was released by 8.06 p.m, good enough time for a newspaper to still produce and get early to market for the next day. The social media is being used for every purpose: good and bad. It is the bastion of fake news, hate news, concoctions and all sorts of conjurations. Will the users and consumers be more discerning?

"It is said that the person that stole a keg of palm oil from the rafter is not the only thief. The person that collected the keg from him is also a rogue. Those who began to share an obvious leak, rebroadcasting it, are also not guiltless. Be quick to hear, and slow to speak.




"It was amusing to me to hear armchair critics blaming the media office of the President for the leakage. Ignorance. Why pontificate about what you don’t know? They were on radio and television stations the next morning, magisterially shooting breeze.

"It was Dr Reuben Abati, immediate past media adviser to a President who gave some proper perspectives on how a presidential broadcast is originated and produced, and how it was improbable that the leakage came from the Presidency. The lesson?


"Seek information, get your facts right, before arriving at a conclusion, lest you look foolish and uninformed. Some people are not interested in the well- being of their own country. Sad, very sad. Such would sell their mothers, and their country for thirty pieces of silver. Thou art in the midst of foes, watch and pray."