7 things we learnt as Buhari meets Governors - Gist Life reporters

On Sunday, July 23, 2017, the Nigerian presidency finally blessed the nation with a photo of President Muhammadu Buhari having bananas and Coca Cola.

The president was dining alongside Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), at the Abuja House in London.

It’s the first public photograph of Buhari since he left Nigeria on an open-ended medical vacation on May 7, 2017.

We can imagine that it was the best photograph from a number of takes. Nigerians wanted to see their president looking hale and hearty and that photo of a smiling Buhari has been bang on target.

Buhari is apparently looking healthier than when he left his homeland weeks ago.

That Nigerians had to wait 77 days for a picture of their president, is subject matter for another day.

Here are seven things we learnt as the Nigerian president sat down for ‘supper’ with State Governors:

1. Buhari’s sense of humour is a thing.

When acting president Yemi Osinbajo returned from his trip to London to see an ailing Buhari on July 13, he told the nation that her president hasn’t lost his sense of humour and wit.

play

Osinbajo walks into the Abuja House, London

 (Bishop Ikedi)

“Buhari is in very high spirits. He is recuperating very well and we had a very long conversation. We spoke for well over an hour and his humor is all there”, Osinbajo had said.

ALSO READ: 7 things we learnt from acting president's meeting with president

Fast forward a couple of days later, and the president’s sense of humour was among the many things a bunch of Governors returned home with after they met Buhari.

According to Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha who was among the traveling party,  the “president was very cheerful and has not lost any bit of his sense of humour”.

We thank God for sense of humour and wit.

2. Buhari has been following developments at home closely.

Buhari hasn’t lost touch with the country he was elected to oversee on March 31, 2015, according to the Governors.

That also means he knows what Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose and IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, think of him at this point. Not like he never did, anyway.

playBuhari watches ChannelsTV during his first medical trip earlier in the year (Presidency)

According to a statement from presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina, “the party delegation spent more than an hour with President Buhari over lunch, and it was very clear from the discussions that he followed developments at home very closely”.

Oh well, isn’t that sorta....very reassuring?

3. Buhari is aware that you’ve been saying a lot of horrible things behind his back.

We are not even about to guilt-trip you, but London has got ears too, you know.

So, if for instance, you’ve been wishing the president dead and saying things like a cabal is holding him hostage, you better be very, very afraid.

At least you can’t say we didn’t warn you.

playBuhari returns home in March this year and says he's never been so ill (AFP/File)

Here’s Femi Adesina again: “When asked to react to all the negative things being said about him, the president just laughed, describing such negative reports as lies. Governor Okorocha said president Buhari was completely unperturbed by the cocktail of lies. He, instead, sent his best wishes to Nigerians”.

Awwwww.

Mushy much?

Sorry, guilty much?

4. Buhari knows that Nigerians now sell lies about him.

Ok, there’s a modern term for people who make a living off selling lies. It’s called ‘Fake news’.

But Buhari and the Governors would rather refer to them as “merchants of lies.”

Ouch!

playOkorocha and Buhari during an event in Nigeria (Sahara Reporters)

Here’s Governor Okorocha: “By our visit to London today, the merchants of lies have been put out of business and Nigerians will not buy the garbage they have been selling. All those who look up to fake news can find better use for their time.”

That’s putting a whole lot of people out of business in a recession and we are not even sorry for them.

5. Only the Doctors are stopping Buhari from returning home.

If you think Buhari hasn’t missed home, well, think again.

The Doctors are the reason why he’s kept the entire nation waiting, guessing and speculating.

playSpokespersons Lai Mohammed and Femi Adesina (The Nation)

Adesina and Okorocha put it this way: “Nigerians don’t have to worry at all….President Buhari will be back as soon as the doctors give him the green light”.

You heard them. You don’t have to worry at all.

6. PDP Governors weren’t invited.

I mean, imagine inviting Fayose for a meeting like this….a perfect opportunity for the Governor to get a lot off his chest, just slipped by.

That musta hurt, right?

playAyodele Fayose is Governor of Ekiti State (Daily Post)

The problem is that Fayose is PDP and if you must know, PDP Governors weren’t handed tickets to London.

Some ministers and 'big boys' also made the trip, but they were all APC chieftains.

Among the delegation for London were “Governors Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa; Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna; Yahaya Bello of Kogi; and APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun”.

Rotimi Amaechi was also in the building and chuckling the whole time.

Here’s a suggestion for PDP and its Governors--if you are excluded from the delegation for a particular trip, maybe organise yours?

7. Buhari loves hour-long meetings.

playBuhari meets presiding officers of national assembly (Rockcity)

 

When Osinbajo returned home, he said: "We spoke for well over an hour ..."

When the Governors returned from their own trip, they said: "the delegation spent more than an hour with President Buhari over lunch".

When next you are booked for a session with Buhari, just know your meeting will last a little over an hour. No more, no less.

We outta here peeps!!

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