Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina says the social media is the abode of lazy Nigerians.
Mr Adesina stated this in an article: “Reflection from a wealth laying ceremony,” yesterday.
His principal, President Muhammadu Buhari, TODAY POLITICS recalled, had during his first tenure ascribed Nigerian youths to being lazy.
This was after he earned the sobriquet “Baba Go Slow” from critics over his decision not to immediately appoint ministers when he took over until six months after.
Mr Buhari was embarrassed last friday at the National Arcade, the Eagle Square, Abuja, when the pigeons he released refused to fly.
He left the birds and went to his seat after repeatedly persuading them to fly to which they refused.
One of his aides said the birds refused flying away due to the love they have for his principal but immediately deleted his assertion when knocked by Nigerians on social media.
Commenting on the development, Mr Adesina said those ascribing meanings to the stir caused by the birds were idle and lazy just as his principal said. He added that the social media is the abode of critics he had earlier pleaded with to reduce criticism.
“At every Armed Forces Remembrance Day, after the laying of the wreaths, the sitting President releases some pigeons, to symbolize peace in the land. Emblems of National harmony. It was not different last Friday,” he said.
“The pigeons had been kept in a cage. For how long, I do not know. And when birds and some other roaming animals have been circumscribed for a while, they get accustomed to their new status as lawful captives. Therefore, when you offer them freedom, they first baulk, thinking it’s too good to be true. It’s a natural phenomenon.
“President Buhari opened the cage that held the pigeons, about a score or so. One hesitated, then flew, followed by another. The others temporized a bit. And then, two, three minutes later, they all took to the sky. Nothing extraordinary in the development, you would think.
“But not to the idle and indolent, most of who populate the social media. It was time to major in something minor, cavil, find fault unnecessarily. The pigeons didn’t fly, they refused to fly, it’s ominous, they wailed like wailing wailers. And you began to wonder: are people this idle? Don’t they have productive things to do with their times? Are their minds so addled, and all they want to do is find faults against their President, ascribing spiritual connotations to a non-issue? For their information: Muhammadu Buhari has no time for such frivolities. He just continues to serve the country with his heart and mind, trying to make a difference in security, economy, and anti-corruption. And he will get there, by the grace of God. But if they don’t change, the wailers will be losers, standing small,” the presidential spokesman added.
