Aso Rock Visit: How Buhari Allowed Jonathan Use Door Meant Exclusively For Sitting President – Adesina

President Muhammadu Buhari and ex-president Goodluck Jonathan treated each other like “brothers” when the latter recently visited the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Jonathan, in his capacity as the Ecowas Special Envoy to Mali, had briefed President Buhari on the political unrest in the West African country during his visit to the State House alongside the President of Ecowas Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou.

Buhari’s senior media adviser, Femi Adesina, revealed in an opinion piece on Friday, that his principal allowed Jonathan to use an exit door “exclusively meant for a sitting president” when the former president was about leaving after his visit.

Adesina said the mutual respect Buhari and Jonathan showed each other should serve as lesson to their supporters who always attack themselves on social media.

He said, “The fissure among most Nigerians today is sustained by primordial loyalties, and by who they supported in the 2015 presidential election.”

Adesina said, “President Buhari and his guest came into the diplomatic room of the Presidential Villa together. 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. 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.”

The presidential aide said the atmosphere between Buhari and Jonathan was, “Calm, friendly, characterized by absolutely no tension. No animosity. While uncountable Jonathanians and Buharists were spitting in one another’s eyes round the country, abusing one another’s father and mother at the same time, here were the two men, the perfect picture of geniality. I say again, no tension, absolutely none. They were both perfect pictures of civility.”

According to Adesina, Buhari was full of praises for Jonathan after the ex-president gave him a rundown of his findings about the Mali crisis.

He added, “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.”