Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), the president, has disclosed that he lost two of his children to sickle cell anemia.
At a special dinner held by his family and close friends to celebrate his 80th birthday on Friday night at the State House Banquet Hall, Buhari made this clear in a video that was shown.
Speaking about his personal life, the President disclosed that two of the kids he had with his late wife Safinatu died of sickle cell anemia.
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This explains why, when he married Aisha Buhari, the first lady, he stipulated that his second wife must have the AA genotype in order to prevent his children from inheriting the S from his AS genotype.
Some Nigerians who believed Buhari to be long deceased and replaced by a body double dubbed “Jibril of Sudan” also claimed that he was “not a humorous joke.”
The President claimed that the untrue rumor was the product of some troublemakers who enjoy creating confusion.
In the documentary interview, Buhari responded to a question about the rumour saying, “Yes! People said I am somebody from Sudan. I didn’t bother with the name. Nigerians have mischievous ways of explaining themselves.”
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Asked if he finds such allusions to be funny, he said: “No. It is not funny because those who made those statement, 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 want to enjoy life without earning the respect of their community and so on.”
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo characterized Buhari as a straightforward, kind, and excellent leader earlier when he proposed a toast for the celebrant.
Osinbajo eulogised Buhari for leading the nation with “great courage and commitment,” saying, “I invite your excellences, ladies and gentlemen, to join me in proposing this toast to an exemplary leader, a forthright and honest man, a good and kind man, and a man who has led this country with great courage, determination and commitment for so many years.
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“We pray that the almighty God will preserve his life for very many years to come and that he will live all of these many years in good health, peace, joy and with the love of all of our country men.”
In attendance were governors of Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu; Katsina, Aminu Masari; former Ekiti state Governor, Kayode Fayemi; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, the President’s Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; cabinet members, family members, captains of industry including Chairman of AriseTV and the Thisday Group, Nduka Obaigbena, among others.
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