[dropcap]I[/dropcap] watched a video that has gone viral last night. It was a “hot mic” video of casual off-record conversations by world leaders at the Nuclear Security Summit going on in the United States of America right now.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is attending the summit in which majority of Nigerians have said is a waste of resources for the country that is crippled under the weight of 9 months of untold fuel scarcity.
The video, released by Reuters, shows President Muhammadu Buhari exchanging greeting with the host of the summit, US President Barack Obama. Who asks Buhari about his accommodations? I don’t understand… Is the Nigerian president unable to afford his stay in the US? Why should Buhari be asked about his accommodations? Is he squatting in the US? Can’t Buhari pay and stay in a hotel? What happened to the millions of dollars claimed from Central Bank of Nigeria on account Buhari’s many foreign trips. That’s just one part of the video which captures many world leaders making off-mic comments… By the way, Buhari is heard answering, “Yes,” to Obama’s question.
Just then, the new Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, the 44-year-old politician who was sworn in on November 4, 2015. Obama beckons on him to meet Buhari, who dismissively appears to say, “Oh, yeah, I have met him”. As Trudeau moves on to what appears to be better things, Obama says, “He’s doing a good job.” Of which the Canadian PM, says “Yeah, indeed,” and walks away not even looking at Buhari who the camera doesn’t even bother to capture after that.
What could be more condescending of our President? Could Obama be more dismissive of Buhari? Tell me if Obama, known for his arrogance, would have referred to the Chinese President in that manner? “Hey, Trudeau, though you are going somewhere important, let me stop you and beckon on if you have met the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping?” And then, Trudeau would glance at the Chinese leader and go, “Oh, yeah” and walks away. Then Obama’s says, “Oh, he [Xi Jinping] is doing a great job,” and Trudeau trying to be polite, just says, “Yes, indeed,” and walks away. That can never happen.
This exchange, caught off record, when a mic was on when it should have been, sums up the disdain that Obama and the United States government have for Muhammadu Buhari. No amount of photo-ops and spin by the Presidency can cover this up. This was a real moment and it shows that Buhari is a laughing stock among world leaders and a man nobody had time for.
It is time Buhari heeds the voice of Nigerians and ends this charade of foreign travels and actually sits back home to fix something at home. I suggest he starts with calling off “his people”, the Fulani militia who are at present committing genocide against the ethnic minorities and Christians who live in North Central Nigeria.
And to think that some dumb APC supporters of Buhari have manufactured a lie and celebrating it on Facebook. What’s the lie? Just read this… President Obama at a news conference in Washington Saturday, said to Buhari, “We agree that Nigeria deserves her nuclear energy space. And because of the respect Nigeria had recently attracted from the global community since the election of President Buhari, I shall lead other world figures to Nigeria in April to seal the nuclear deal. There is no doubt America and the world will depend on Nigeria in years to come to survive in many respect.”
Whoever came up with that piece of falsehood and passed it off as some kind of propaganda for Buhari is certainly clinically disturbed. That’s all!
Gift Jackson is a freelance journalist based in Abuja. He can be reached via email HERE.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
