Special adviser to the president on media and publicity Femi Adesina has said his principal could be described as a “kind bully” following the president’s recent comments about dealing with trouble makers.
Twitter deleted some comments made by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday which it said violated its policies.
“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Buhari had said.
However, in his weekly article published on Friday on Facebook, Mr Adesina said the president could not be described as genocidal, adding that Buhari makes decisions in the best interest of the nation.
He wrote, “President Muhammadu Buhari spoke on Tuesday, warning troublemakers in the country that the picnic was over, and the next day, I saw this comment online from a Buharist, as lovers and admirers of the President are known:
“I just finished watching the President on TV reading the riot act to troublemakers, and I couldn’t be prouder of the President. I suddenly remembered why I fell in love with the President.
“That respondent sure spoke the minds of millions of Buharists in Nigeria and the Diaspora. The man we fell in love with is of iron and steel, one ready and willing to knock sense into contumacious heads, whipping everyone into line. And being kind to us in the process. A kind bully, if you like the oxymoron.”
Adesina explained that the president made the statement “that is perhaps the most epochal in recent times” because he was alarmed at the spate of attacks on public buildings in the southeast.
“President Buhari is not genocidal, and can’t ever be accused of such intentions. But a leader worth his salt cannot look on, and watch law and order break down irretrievably. It is not about a people, or region. It is about the country he took an oath to keep together,” he added.
