ARMED FORCES DAY: Presidency explains why white pigeons released by Buhari didn’t fly

The presidency on Friday explained why the white pigeons released by President Muhammadu Buhari during last week’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration initially refused to fly.

It would be recalled that pigeons released by President Buhari refused to fly despite multiple attempts by the president to the consternation of Nigerians.

However, in a post on his Facebook page and titled: “Reflection from a wreath-laying ceremony,” the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the president, Femi Adesina described the incident as “a natural phenomenon.”

He also urged those that described the refusal of the birds to fly as a “bad sign” to do something productive with their time.

Adesina said: “Now, something for those who twist my every word, turn it upside down, to generate hatred. Something for them to wail about. The release of the pigeons.

“At every Armed Forces Remembrance Day, after the laying of the wreaths, the sitting president releases some pigeons, to symbolise peace in the land. Emblems of National harmony. It was not different last Friday.

“The pigeons had been kept in a cage. For how long, I do not know. And when birds and some other roaming animals have been circumscribed for a while, they get accustomed to their new status as lawful captives. Therefore, when you offer them freedom, they first baulk, thinking it’s too good to be true. It’s a natural phenomenon.

READ ALSO: Buhari gives ministers, security chiefs marching orders to end killings, banditry in Zamfara

“President Buhari opened the cage that held the pigeons, about a score or so. One hesitated, then flew, followed by another. The others temporised a bit. And then, two, three minutes later, they all took to the sky. Nothing extraordinary in the development, you would think.”

“But not to the idle and indolent, most of who populate the social media. It was time to major in something minor, cavil, find fault unnecessarily.

“The pigeons didn’t fly, they refused to fly, it’s ominous, they wailed like wailing wailers. And you began to wonder: are people this idle?

“Don’t they have productive things to do with their times? Are their minds so addled, and all they want to do is find faults against their President, ascribing spiritual connotations to a non-issue?

“For their information: Muhammadu Buhari has no time for such frivolities. He just continues to serve the country with his heart and mind, trying to make a difference in security, economy, and anti-corruption. And he will get there, by the grace of God. But if they don’t change, the wailers will be losers, standing small.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now