Femi Adesina: Buhari Was Not Just My Boss, He Was My Friend
Femi Adesina has mourned former President Buhari, saying he was not just a boss to him, but a friend.
Former presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina has paid a heartfelt tribute to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, describing him not only as a leader of deep conviction but also as a personal friend who governed with a level of restraint rarely seen in Nigerian politics.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Sunday night, Adesina said Buhari’s death was devastating to him personally because of the bond they shared while working together for eight years at the heart of Nigeria’s presidency.
“He was not just my boss, he was my friend,” Adesina said, painting a picture of the relationship he shared with the late former president.
Adesina praised Buhari’s integrity, recalling that even when accusations were levelled against some aides, no personal corruption charge or conviction ever touched the former president.
He said, “Till now, there hasn’t been one conviction. There are allegations, but allegations don’t stand amount to conviction. Until those people have their days in court, and some are in court, and the cases are concluded, you cannot say they abused trust. But even if at the end of the day, some of them were convicted, it has nothing to do with President Buhari. Nobody can accuse him of anything that has the slightest affinity to corruption. He was such a straightforward man. But I will not discount the fact that some of those who worked with him may have done some things that are not admirable. But till now, no single conviction.”
He described Buhari as a leader with a strong sense of personal accountability that also gave those who worked with him the latitude to carry out their work freely, calling it a style of “eyes on and hands off leadership.”
“There are many types of leadership. There is the one they call eyes on and hands off. That was President Buhari for you. He had his eyes on what you were doing, but his hands were off. He would not disturb anybody that was working with him. He would let them do the work. But if it becomes apparent that you are failing in your work or you are tampering with public funds, then he acts. You know that about two or three ministers were removed under him. So it shows you that he had his eyes on what was happening,” he said.
Adesina, when asked on what he believed were the late president’s weaknesses, said Buhari was “too permissive.” Recalling instances from their time in office, he said Buhari tolerated even those who regularly attacked him publicly — sometimes entertaining them at his table hours after they had insulted him on television.
“Talking of weakness, I think it is being too permissive. You would see people on talk shows in the morning abusing Buhari, and you would get to his house in the evening and you would see those same people at the dinner table with him. He was too permissive, and that was why maybe some of his aides and some of his appointees rather took advantage of that. He was really, really permissive without being a weakling, but he was permissive.”
Adesina defended Buhari’s often-criticised slow governance style, insisting the former president was deliberate and principled in his pace, saying, “He himself responded to that. He said, they call me Baba Go Slow. He said, yes, I will move slowly, but I will do the right thing. He said, order is better than speed. That was one quotation I picked from one of his speeches. Order is better than speed. You don’t speed so much and you jumble up everything. He believed that order was better than speed. So even when he was military head of state, he always said it. Yes, we will be slow, but we will be steady.”
The former spokesman said Buhari’s legacy would be remembered for integrity, and accountability.
Source: AriseNews
