'WHY BUHARI INTERACTS MORE WITH FOREIGN MEDIA'- Presidency

The Presidency on Monday explained why
President Muhammadu Buhari discusses major
policy thrust of government and his policies with
the international media rather than its local
counterpart, stressing that the world is a global
village hence where Buhari speaks should not
really matter.
The President has come under intense criticism
for always disclosing to the foreign media issues
Nigerians back home are yet to know about
regarding his government, including publishing an
op-ed article in the Washington Post. This trend
repeated itself last week in New York where the
President opened up to foreign journalists about
his intention to head the Petroleum Ministry.
But clarifying what brought about the
development, Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, told WE
106.3 FM’s Morning Mojo programme monitored
by DAILY POST in Abuja that, “when he (Buhari)
goes abroad we always schedule the international
media to have an engagement with him. That may
not always be easy when he is at home because
he has so many things to attend to.
“But we make it a point of duty that every trip
abroad, we schedule the international media to
speak with him and that is why in France, in New
York, in South Africa, wherever he has gone, he
will always speak with the media and of course
because the world is a global village,” he stated.
Admitting that he is aware of the criticisms that
come with the President’s resort to the foreign
media, the presidential spokesman said: “it sort of
pays us to say the world is a global village when
we like and when we don’t like we criticize it. But
that the world is a global village, we accept.
“Wherever he (the President) says it does not
matter; all that matters is that he has said it. The
truth is that, whatever he says gets back to us in
Nigeria. So does it matter where he says it?” he
asked.
Speaking further on why it is easier for the
President to speak with the international media
during his trips offshore, he said: “You know that
in the past four months, he had been doing the
work; trying to reset the foundation for a lot of
things. As ministers come, you know there will be
more devolvement and some of those things he
had being doing personally, ministers will begin to
do.
“He will then have freer time with which to take
on the media here in Nigeria. He has been very
very busy. The Media Chat will resume soon. You
can be sure that when that Media Chat resumes,
it is going to be free.”