The Presidency has reacted to the decision by Punch Newspaper to henceforth refer to President Muhammadu Buhari as General Buhari.
In a notice titled “Buhari’s lawlessness: Our Stand”, Punch earlier today stated that it will
“Henceforth prefix President Buhari’s name with his military rank ‘Major General’, and refer to his administration as a ‘Regime’ until they purge themselves of their insufferable contempt for the rule of law.”
The newspaper in the editorial referenced the DSS’s non-compliance to court orders on trial of Omoyele Sowore, publisher of SaharaReporters; invasion of courtroom and trial of Shiites’ leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky amongst others.
Punch said its decision shows its protest against autocracy and military-style repression under Buhari’s administration.
However, in reaction to Punch’s decision, Femi Adesina, a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said the newspaper’s decision to call Buhari ‘Major General’ is not out of order.
Adesina on his Twitter page @FemiAdesina added that Buhari has earned the rank ‘Major General’.
If you decide to call him Major General, he wasn’t dashed the rank, he earned it. So, you are not completely out of order. The fact that you can do so is even another testimony to press freedom in Nigeria.
— Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) December 11, 2019
Adesina wrote: “If you decide to call him Major General, he wasn’t dashed the rank, he earned it. So, you are not completely out of order.
“The fact that you can do so is even another testimony to press freedom in Nigeria.”
Read Adesina’s full statement below:
A newspaper says it will henceforth address President Muhammadu Buhari by his military rank of Major General.
Nothing untoward in it. It is a rank the President attained by dint of hard work before he retired from the Nigerian Army. And today, constitutionally, he is also Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
All over the world, just as in our country, a large number of retired military officers are now democrats. It does not make those who did not pass through military service better than them.
Rather than being pejorative, addressing President Buhari by his military rank is another testimony to free speech and freedom of the press, which this administration (or regime, if anyone prefers: it is a matter of semantics) has pledged to uphold and preserve.
