Some of those who have publicly criticised President Muhammadu Buhari in the last six years visit him behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa.
The President’s media adviser, Femi Adesina, made the claim on Thursday in a piece titled ‘Buhari, FFK, and the Quality of Mercy.’
“I have worked with the President for over six years, and I have seen amazing things in terms of accommodation and capacity to forgive,” he said.
“I have visited him at home many times in the evenings, only to find at the dinner table with him people who had been abusing his forefathers on television earlier in the day.”
In the piece, Adesina was reacting to the outcry among some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) sparked by the return of former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, popularly known as FFK, to the ruling party.
‘To Err Is Human’
Defending his principal, he believes President Buhari has displayed an amazing capacity to forgive, show mercy, and let bygones be bygones, by agreeing to the readmission of FFK to APC and hosting him at the Villa.
He also recalled some past remarks by Fani-Kayode while in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the Nigerian leader and himself (Adesina), and a host of others.
The President’s spokesman, therefore, appealed to members of the ruling party to follow in the step of their leader and show the ability to forgive those who have offended them.
“How many of us can do that?” the presidential aide asked. “This President has a capacity to forgive, and forget, and make peace; that was what he displayed in the case of FFK. Nothing short of divine attribute, which I and you should covet and seek to approximate.
“I think those screaming blue murder and lamenting the injustice and unfairness of it all should hold their peace. They have made their points and should let things be. Many times, FFK has used unprintable words against me.”
“He has deployed phrases from the nether region against me. But after writing those things, and we met in public places, he would embrace me, calling me his ‘friend and brother’. I agree, we are brothers, though I should hold giant-sized grudges against him. President Buhari has shown us the way. To err is human, to forgive, divine,” he added.
