Rats are preventing President Muhammadu Buhari from resuming work at his office desk in Aso Rock.
Don’t laugh, please. This is not even a joke.
Actually, the president’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, says the Rodents have damaged furniture and air-conditioning fittings in Buhari’s office.
"Following
the three months period of disuse, Rodents have caused a lot of damage
to the furniture and the air conditioning units," Shehu lamented.
There are actually different animals in the ‘Rodent’ family.
Rodents are mammals characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors. They range from Guinea Pigs, Porcupines, Squirrels, Chipmunks, to house Mice and Rats.
Shehu
didn’t say which specie of Rodents invaded the presidential Villa, but
since we all know that Rats are the most intrusive and destructive
domestic vermins in this part of the world, we can settle on them as the
culprits here.
“I do not have that level of detail”, Shehu confesses through a straight face, when asked to name the class of Rodents that ransacked his principal's office.
The explanation was offered after Nigerians queried
why Buhari was going to be working from home following his 103-day
medical vacation in London.
Shehu says there’s
nothing wrong with Buhari working from home because it isn’t anything
new. As long as the work gets done, Nigerians have no right to be up in
arms, he surmises.
“There are also general works and it is not
uncommon for Nigerian presidents to also work from the presidential
villa. Buhari has used the residential office for many years.
“What
is important is that the job gets done. Whether he does it from his
bedroom or his sitting room or his anteroom—it does not matter. Let the
job be done and it will be done”, Shehu vows.
The president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, also took to the cameras to explain why no one should take the working-from-home concept out of context.
“Well,
I have seen different slants and interpretations given to the fact that
President Muhammadu Buhari is working from the office in his house for
now. I can’t understand what the fuss is all about”, says Adesina who quite frankly never sees the fuss in anything.
He continues: “The
same complex accommodates the house and the office area. Now, the
regular office needs some renovation because 103 days of absence have
affected it. There was some deterioration there and it needs to be
renovated.
“And there is an office in
the house that is almost a replica of the regular office. So that is
where he is working from. But the reportage has given the impression
that the president is luxuriating at home. No! He works in the office in
the house!
Presidency spokespersons address the media (Punch)
“In that office
in the house was where he signed a letter to the National Assembly
intimating them of his return to work. It was there he met Vice
President Osinbajo. As we speak, he’s meeting the Service Chiefs there
now. So, the work is going on without let or hindrance.
"When
I see headlines like ‘Buhari works from home', trying to insinuate that
he is not fully fit to work from the regular office, I think that’s
disinformation and misinformation and we need to adequately report
whatever is happening”.
Fair enough. But this whole Rodent or Rat infestation saga--assuming there was actually one--could have been better handled.
The
entire office could have been regularly fumigated in the president’s
absence if Aso Rock knew it had a Rat or Rodents problem.
And
why was there no maintenance of the president’s work-space while he was
away? Are government offices—not least the most powerful office in the
land—allowed to harbor Cockroaches, Spiders, Rodents and all kinds of
creeping creatures whenever the occupant takes a leave of absence?
Is Aso Villa a monument where all kinds of mammals are allowed to roam freely?
President Buhari in his home office (Facebook/Sumner Shagari Sambo)
Isn’t there a
fundamental problem with us as a nation if we allow Rats take over the
office of the Commander-In-Chief? If we can’t maintain a simple office
space, it is little wonder that the rest of Nigeria is so poorly
managed.
This Rat saga is therefore a metaphor; symptomatic of all that is wrong with us as a nation.
There's no provision for fumigation in the country's N7trillion budget? What a wawu!
My
gut tells me that this is more than a Rodent invasion saga. That some
religious clerics and Marabouts have been contracted to carry out
spiritual cleansing of the president’s office before he takes to his
seat at the Villa.
Grapevine sources say Buhari’s
frequent medical trips abroad stem from a theory that he was poisoned
in that same Villa and therefore, extra care is being taken this time
around. Some say a few persons who are victims of Buhari’s
anti-corruption war, want him dead and have gone as far as deploying all
diabolical methods in the book. It is important to state here that
these are all rumours, conjectures and speculations which I heard with
one ear and which escaped through the other.
Buhari returns to Nigeria to meet his office taken over by rats (AFP)
In any case, it
really doesn’t matter from where the president operates, in my opinion.
This country badly needs fixing and the presidency is distracting us
with this Rats today, working from home tomorrow, follow-up medical
vacation the next day, stories.
By all means, let Abuja get to work. There’s no time to waste anymore.
What a rat race!
The British
Broadcasting Corporation mocked Nigeria over claim that the president
was chased out from office by rats
- The news was reported in pidgin and standard English on Wednesday,
August 22
- Garba Shehu was quoted to have said the president could not resume in
his office because it has been infested by rats
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) mocked Nigeria in their
publication of Tuesday, August 22, over claims that the president was
chased out from office by rats.
The BBC first reported the news in pidgin and standard English, quoting
senior special assistant to President Buhari on Media, Garba Shehu. Read
more: https://www.naij.com/1121666-bbc-mocks-nigeria-rats-chased-president-buhari-office.html
No comments: