“[The Vice President] visited me when l was convalescing.It is really me, l assure you. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and l’m still going strong.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has finally put rumours that his clone presently occupies Nigeria’s seat of power, saying he is the real Buhari.
He spoke on the issue while interacting with Nigerians living in Poland, in his first official engagement, ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which began yesterday.He said a lot of people had wished him dead during the period of his ill health.
President Buhari, while responding to question from a Nigerian, who wanted to know if he was the real Buhari or the much talked about Jibril from Sudan, at the town hall meeting in Krakow, yesterday evening, said, “A lot of people had hoped that l died during my ill health. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday; l’m strong.”
The president described the sponsors of the rumors as “ignorant and irreligious”.
“Yes, a lot of people had hoped that l was dead and call the Vice President and asked whether he should consider them because they thought l was dead.
“He visited me when l was convalescing. It is really me, l assure you. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and l’m still going strong. I only get harassed by my grand children because they are getting too many,” he said.
President Buhari had expressed his happiness with the report by the Nigerian Ambassador to Poland, Eric Adagogo Bell-Gam. He told the audience that his administration had degraded Boko Haram who used to control about 17 local government areas, but now use hit-and-run method to attack innocent citizens “This is because they understand the terrain better. It is not easy financing the war against terrorism.”
The president, while lamenting the state of infrastructure, said they were nothing to write home about as at the time his administration took over power, adding, “but we have been fighting that.”
On the economy, the president said Nigeria has virtually stopped the importation of food, especially rice. I’m trying to save a lot of money, l only go out when it is necessary. My priority is to secure Nigeria.”
Responding to question on the falling standard of education, he said he was always upset seeing little children carrying plates and begging for food.
“Educated people are removed from ethnicity and religious politics, which is a major problem we are having in our country” he said.
