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Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, says there is no animosity between President Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan, his predecessor.
In his weekly column, Adesina said while the supporters of the duo are “spitting in one another’s eyes”, the two leaders are treating each other like brothers.
Adesina narrated what happened when Jonathan visited the presidential villa in Abuja earlier in the week.
“On Tuesday, this week, former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, was at State House, along with President of Ecowas Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou,” he wrote.
“Dr Jonathan had been appointed Ecowas Special Envoy to Mali, to intercede in the crisis rocking the West African nation, after disputed parliamentary elections. Many lives have been lost, and the opposition members, under an umbrella called M5, are sticking to their guns that President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, must leave office.
“I was privileged to sit in at the meeting between our former President and the incumbent. And I took away some lessons, which should really be for everyone.
“President Buhari and his guest came into the diplomatic room of the Presidential Villa together. Dr Jonathan gave a rundown of the situation in Mali. When he concluded, and made his recommendations, President Buhari was full of praises for him, saying he had elucidated clearly the Malian conundrum.
“Thank you for updating me so effectively. I have a very good brief of events now, President Buhari said. He promised to wade into the Malian situation, along with some other key Ecowas leaders. With the briefing concluded, Dr Jonathan went into other issues… Time to go, and the former President made a move for the visitor’s exit door. But President Buhari would have none of it. He led him through the exit exclusively meant for a sitting President. Very impressive.
“Meanwhile, out there, the Bitter-Enders are knocking their heads against the wall, sitting on the complaint counter and wailing endlessly. But here are the two main men, treating each other like brothers.”
Adesina also shared an encounter which he said reinforced his belief in the saying: “nothing is permanent”.
“Our President ushered Dr Jonathan to the visitor’s seat. A while back, Jonathan was the host in that very same room, ushering visitors to their seat. Now, he is in that same seat,” he wrote.
“If President Buhari visits the seat of power after May, 2023, he too would be ushered by somebody else. Such is life. Are you holding tight to anything today? Vanity of vanity. We are all birds of passage. Nothing lasts forever. Not power.
“Not position. Not any office. Not even life. A vital lesson I’ve learnt from President Buhari is his constant realization that he would not be in State House forever. He would often tell in private conversations: “While we are here, we shall do our very best.”
