Donald Trump allegedly referred to Nigerian president Buhari as ''lifeless'', Buhari fires back

US president, Donald Trump has reportedly referred to Nigerian, president, Muhammadu Buhari as “lifeless” shortly after a meeting between the two leaders on April 30, Financial Times said on Monday.

Buhari, the first sub-Saharan Africa president to meet Trump since he was sworn in January 2017 as the 45th American president, was in the US for bilateral talks on Trump’s invitation.

The meeting ended with Trump saying he never wanted to meet someone as lifeless as Buhari again, Financial Times reported citing three persons familiar with the matter.

The Nigerian government in a reaction to the publication published on the same day Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta will be at the White House said; this was not the first time Trump was heard to make such derogatory remarks at World leaders, hence Buhari would not be distracted by such.

The Buhari Media Organisation, BMO, who on Monday, rubbished the report by the US President insisted that Buhari was fit and capable of running for the 2019 elections.

A statement signed by the group’s Chairman and Secretary, Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Maduekwe, BMO reads,

President Muhammadu Buhari is fit and capable to run for the 2019 elections and oversee the affairs of the country for four more years President Donald Trump’s hate speech notwithstanding.

We are aware that President Trump’s disrespect for World Leaders is not new; his comments on Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, calling him ‘meek and mild’; his reference to Germany’s Leader, Angela Merkel’s actions as ‘insane’, or his outlandish Tweet at the UK’s Theresa May, and more recently, the alleged remarks he made after meeting President Buhari.

It is indeed not the first time President Trump would be heard to lower the standards of respect for his colleagues on the World Stage. We are not surprised, we know that this age-long character of the US President would not change anytime soon. But it is important that we put it on record that President Buhari remains fit and sprightly, even for the next decade.

We recall that during President Buhari’s visit to Trump in the White House, the US President commended the successes that the Buhari administration had recorded especially in the fight against insurgency and the war on corruption.

The US President was full of admiration for Nigeria’s President during the visit, thus such outlandish remarks as reported by the Financial Times are not just to be taken with a pinch of salt but are untrue in themselves.

  

This new narrative is a contrast to what Trump said of Buhari at a joint press briefing held after their bilateral talks.

Trump said he had in implicit belief in the Nigerian president to rein in the “massive corruption” in the country and commended his efforts at doing that.

Nigeria has a reputation for very massive corruption. I also know that the President has been able to cut that down very substantially, Trump said.

We talked about that, he is working on it and they have made a lot of progress and I think they will continue to make a lot of progress.

However, Trump has a history of gaffes when it comes to Africa.

Prior to the April meeting between the two leaders, Trump had come under fire for allegedly referring to some African countries as ‘shithole’ at a private White House meeting on January 12. But he denied making the comment and labelled his accusers as fake news peddlers.