By Ademola Adeleye
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari today landed in Bamako the capital of the West African country of Mali. This is Mr. Buhari’s first visit outside of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city since the coronavirus pandemic forced a partial lockdown of the country in March 2020.
Yesterday, Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina had hinted that he would be departing for the Mali capital in a press statement titled: “President Buhari embarks on peace mission to Mali.”
The decision to have the president travel to Mali was made after Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s former President and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Special Envoy to Mali briefed him.
Adesina said: “President Muhammadu Buhari will Thursday depart for Bamako, Republic of Mali on a one-day visit, following the briefing by the ECOWAS Special Envoy to the country, former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The Nigerian President and some ECOWAS leaders led by the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the sub-regional organisation, President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic, agreed to meet in Mali to engage in further consultations towards finding a political solution to the crisis in the country.
“Host President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Presidents Machy Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire are expected to participate in the Bamako meeting.
Mr. Buhari’s travel to Mali has met largely with disapproval from Nigerians who have strongly criticized him for abandoning the country in distress and jumping on the first opportunity to leave the country.
In a popular radio programme monitored in Abuja on Thursday, journalist and public affairs analyst, Okheria Agbonsuremi raised questions about the travel:
“That the president is going on this trip shows that he can travel, this is coming from a president who has not addressed Nigerians more than twice during the COVID pandemic, he has not visited any part of the country in spite of the various insecurities and killings, but he is going to Mali on a peace mission.”
Mr. Agbonsuremi’s sentiments were shared by citizens on the streets who wondered why the president would leave his country on fire to go solve problems for other countries: “It is such a slap on the face of Nigerians and you don’t need any other proof that the president thought little of us. We have incessant killings all over this country every day, we have the pandemic cases soaring high, and the President has not addressed us even once.
“The two times he has addressed us was a speech, we don’t know his thoughts on insecurity or even the COVID, but the President can go to a foreign country to help solve their problems while Nigerians are dying at home. It is a shame,” Adetunji Onaolapo, a system analyst told INFACTNG.
However, in spite of opposition at home, Buhari said he would be asking the ECOWAS leaders for a briefing on Mali’s internal problems in other to know the way forward. He told Goodluck Jonathan: “We will ask the President of Niger, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS to brief us as a group, and we will then know the way forward.”
Finally, the President wears a mask
Since the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic, Mr. Buhari has come under severe criticism for not wearing a protective mask despite having physical meetings with visitors at his Aso Rock residence. However, the Presidency had defended the President’s action saying, “he was in a safe environment and no face mask is required,” Lauretta Onochie , the Personal Assistant on Social Media to the President said.
It was therefore a breath of fresh air to see Mr. Buhari adorn a facemask for the first time in public as he alighted from his aeroplane in Bamako. He was seen wearing a KN95 mask as he was being received in Bamako.
It is not known what is responsible for the change in Mr. Buhari’s attitude towards face mask, however, some Nigerians are still not happy about his choice.
“The President can wear a mask because he is not in Nigeria, but we have been begging him to protect himself and others and wear a mask in Nigeria, he refused. That means that he is more concerned about non-Nigerians than us, which is very sad,” says Stanley Abia.
