President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja reminisced about his life, particularly his involvement in politics.
His family, other close relatives, friends, and associates had gathered to celebrate his 80th birthday.
Buhari dwelt on the pressure of being president, his family, and life after office.
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He mentioned that he was pained by the rumour sparked by his prolonged hospitalisation in London in 2017.
The president recalled that some people had claimed he had died and a Jubril from Sudan had been procured as a body double to replace him.
According to him, the brains behind the rumour as cheeky and mischievous.
He spoke in a documentary which was one of the highlights of the birthday event.
Responding to a question in the documentary about whether or not he was bothered by the rumour, he said he also heard it but chose not to be distracted by it. However, he said he did not find it funny.
He said:
“Yes. People said I am somebody from Sudan. I didn’t bother with the name. Some Nigerians have mischievous ways of explaining themselves.
“No. It’s not funny because those who made those statements, they just want to be cheeky. They want to distract attention from the main issue.
“Our main issue is to do the infrastructure, make people aware that they need to work hard to live well; they just enjoy life without earning the respect of their community and so on.”
The president further promised to continue to do his best in service to Nigeria, despite criticisms from some quarters that he has not done enough.
Asked what he would miss most when he leaves office in May next year, the President said he would not miss much.
“I wonder if I am going to miss much. I think I’m being harassed. I believe I’m trying my best but still my best is not good enough because there are people around that think that they can intimidate me to get what they want, instead of going through certain systems to earn whatever they want to earn and they are same people who want to be clever by half.”
