[dropcap]I[/dropcap] knew Yusuf Buhari since he was about three years old, I watched him grew into a fine gentleman. Yusuf takes after his father’s many qualities. The greatest among them is his humility and kindness towards others. whenever we meet anywhere, he will stretch his hands with his head slightly bowing down as a mark of respect to his elders, and with a smile that melts even a heart made of a stone. He never carries along with him that air of authority known to be associated with those born as privileged children.
He does not go around with a retinue of friends, he is mostly found in the company of his family or one friend at any time. He honors invitation from anyone who sends him an invitation for an event, be it a wedding ceremony, naming ceremony, graduation ceremony and so on, and while there, he sits quietly with decorum through the entire process or event, this I have witnessed on numerous occasions. He also does not engage in any vice known with most of our youth of today, in any case, one should expect nothing less from the child of the no-nonsense general, now president. He appears intelligent and unassuming at the same time and never allowed the trappings of the office of his father to dictate how he lives his life, his old few friends still remain his friends till now.
We have seen how some children of past leaders behaved in Nigeria, children of governors, ministers and others, from participating in public corruption to inducement/blackmail of government officials to do their bidding to an extravagant and lavish lifestyle they lived, we have seen them all, some still facing prosecution in the courts alongside their power parents, some with their pictures sitting on heap file of money both local and foreign currency, while others splash this money at any given opportunity.
Recently we saw a music video of a son of a current minister with a serving senator showing that kind of lifestyle, some condemned it, others applauded it and see nothing wrong there, to them, it was just musical video (Make Believe) and not real, well it will have been nice if that “Make Believe” was to showcase our cultural heritage and values.
But Yusuf has never done any of these, he was properly trained by his father and mother with the help of his uncles who doubled as his brothers influencing a good culture to him.
Yusuf met with an accident on Tuesday night while riding power bike together with a friend. He sustained injuries and a broken limb. He is currently receiving treatment at an Abuja Hospital with no plans to take him out of the country at the moment since he was responding to treatment.
Mixed reactions trailed this unfortunate accident, majority of Nigerians were rightly concerned and continue to offers their prayers for Yusuf recovery. As usual, some speculated that he will soon be flown out of the country even when there is no official statement to that. Some wondered why was he riding bike when there was fuel scarcity in the country, that perhaps all the Nigerian fuel was stored in the State House (Aso Rock Villa), hence he can afford to ride or race a bike…
People pass these judgments while they were driving their cars, riding their power bikes but Yusuf should not ride a power bike because he is the son of a President and there is a scarcity of fuel.
I looked outside my House to see if the streets of Gombe where I am, presently on holiday whether it is empty so that I can also fault Yusuf, alas it is not, bikes, cars, Kekes, are all on the streets of Gombe, and I suspect the same will be in Abuja where Yusuf met with the accident and other places, so I cannot fault Yusuf riding a bike, that was his fundamental right of movement, and Yusuf does not do this all the time, I suspect he seized the opportunity of a much quieter Abuja in terms of traffic do enjoy some fresh air when the accident occurred.
The worst criticism came from no other person but the bitter Femi Fani Kayode (FFK) who feeds on misinforming his gullible supporters and has a penchant for causing disaffection, division, and disharmony among the People of Nigeria.
His hatred for President Muhammadu Buhari is a public knowledge since the defeat of his erstwhile Presidential Candidate in 2015, who has since moved on with his life, but FFK is still left in 2015. He is always quick to quote the scripture or history wrongly to drive his evil point home, he ascribed the young man’s accident to God’s anger on the father and the son, he equated the otherwise tragic event of the young man to God’s swift justice on one of the most despotic rulers to ever walk the earth, the Pharaoh, he forgot to note that even while Pharaoh was evil, his wife was an angel, innocent of his many injustices and considered a virtuous woman by God Almighty, furthermore, there is no basis for comparison whatsoever between the Pharaoh and President Muhammadu Buhari, such can only exist in the mind of someone deluded, who is a confirmed drug addict like FFK, and who has since lost the touch of human kindness,
FFK as a father ought to have at least consider his own child while mocking another’s who did nothing to him whatsoever, but then we are talking of Femi Fani Kayode whose human decency has since left him or perhaps he never has it in the first place.
Finally, to end this on a great news, Yusuf Buhari is fast recovering and once again Nigerians prayers are working. We wish Yusuf Buhari and all other Nigerians suffering from one form of illness to another including FFK with his drug addiction, speedy recovery.
Aliyu Abdullahi is a lawyer and a journalist can be reached on Twitter on @AliyuAbdullahA.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
