By Ishaya Ibrahim
President Muhammadu Buhari was in Kebbi State on March 12 for the unveiling of this year’s Argungu fishing festival. But he had to break off from the event to admire a towering rice pyramid, a sign of the farming prowess of the Kebbi people.
For Buhari, it was the evidence that Nigeria has achieved rice sufficiency as he posed for a group photograph with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s governor, Godwin Emefiele, the Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, his predecessor, Adamu Aliero and the Jigawa State governor, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, with the pyramid forming the backdrop.
It was all smiles until suddenly a young man rushed in the direction of the president, and the smiles of the dignitaries turned to apprehension and confusion, signalling that something was amiss. The intruder was immediately overpowered by the security details who initially were caught napping.
Then the debate began whether the man was going for a presidential handshake or an attack.
Special Adviser to the president on media, Femi Adesina, said the young man was merely excited by the presence of the President and wanted a handshake.
But a careful analysis of the video shows that the young man was aggressive in his movement and must have put up a frown that probably alarmed the other dignitaries who became apprehensive and had to scream for help.
There is also the cultural dissonance in Adesina’s claim. Young men in Hausa culture don’t shake hands standing erect with an elderly person, and especially with their hero-figure. They bend their head while approaching such a figure and receive the handshake in a squat posture.
But there is also the possibility that the young man may not be heading to attack the president because, with a little charge, he could have beaten the sleepy security detail if that was his intention.
He may as well be a deranged fellow who wanted to gate-crash into the photo-shoot.