Femi Adesina - The Man I Don't Envy At All

It will not be out of place to say that the work of the presidential spokesman at the moment is a very daunting one. Especially in the face of what many may call,' ill-defined' updates trailing the true health status of Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari.

The facts available are 'dim' and Nigerians need further clarifications and somebody will have to supply the much needed information on Mr. President who is away in London.

Now that Mr. President's test results are out and his doctors have advised that he'd stay much longer in the UK; away from work and the running of the affairs of the country, it falls on the presidency and particularly his spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina to give Nigerians updates and clarifications as events unfold.

Adesina & The Hot Seat

While I sat and watched, I thought to myself 'I don't envy the presidential aide one bit'. It was indeed a tough one for him. The whole country were keen and watching. Everybody was eager to know the true health condition of Our leader, and there we had someone we believe had the closest knowlegde on the true state of things.

Oh! How Hard It Is To Be Femi Adesina At A Time Such As This...

Recall, Adesina spoke on Channels TV journalists and there were some spotlights that were punchy in the course of his conversation with the programme anchor on the state of President Buhari’s health:
   
Excerpts...

Are you not really sure of what exactly the ailment he has gone to the UK to treat is? Nigerians deserve the right to know.

You know that there is doctor-patient confidentiality; no doctor would release that to you.

Mr. Adesina, the President asked for the vote of Nigerians and they want to know the situation of things.
I am sure that if we get to point when the President has to disclose the status of his health, if he needs to disclose, he will do that.

Mr. Adesina, if I have a headache, I will say it and as an adviser to Mr. President are you saying you are not aware of Mr. President’s health status?

I am not aware and when I say that to you, believe it, I am not aware. The President is the one who can release his own medical status. The day he left, we spoke and he told me this was his condition. He told me he is going to rest and he would do medicals and that was included in the statement we released. If there is anything serious, the onus is on Mr. President to disclose or not to disclose. Knowing this President as a straight forward person, if there is anything that he needs to tell Nigerians he will surely do so.

He has asked for the prayers of Nigerians and if you are praying for someone, you need to know what you are praying about. It is not necessary If you asked me to pray for you, Mr. Adesina, I will ask you what you want me to pray on.

You can pray for people without even knowing specifically what is wrong with them.

God Himself will want to know what you are asking from Him.

No, you are looking at it from a narrow perspective. You can pray for people you did not even know.

You are aware of the rumours in the social media about the state of Mr. President’s health. Are you assuring Nigerians that Mr. President is okay?

Those carrying malicious and evil rumours have the right to the rumours they are carrying. We didn’t respond to them. We have told you Mr. President is okay. When they said he was dead, we said he was alive and that answers the questions as far as I am concerned. Now that he says he wants to do more medical investigation, if you want to pray for him, you do not necessarily need to know what exactly is wrong; just pray for well being of Mr. President.

Do you know when he is returning? 

If there is a day he would be returning it would have been in that statement. The issue now is that there is no vacuum in government, no lacuna, because power has been transferred to the Vice President who is Acting President, so Mr. President can take the time he desires and when the doctor gives him a clean bill of health, he can return home.

Adesina's Antecedence

No doubt President Buhari appointed Femi Adesina due to his many experiences as a seasoned journalist who had always been in news media over the years.

Adesina who wrote for Vanguard Newspapers and National Concord Newspapers before joining the staff of The Sun Newspaper, he rose to rank of an editor-in-chief.

He was named Editor of the Year for 2007 by the Nigeria Media Merit Awards. He also served a two-year term as president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. Although re-elected for a second term as Guild president, Adesina stepped down after receiving his government appointment. He also stepped down as editor-in-chief of The Sun. Adesina was sworn-in as special adviser on media and publicity to Buhari on August 31, 2015.