By Ishola Adeleke and Okereke Udoakpuenyi, YeyeNews.com, November 4, 2021
President Buhari showed his sense of humor as he and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta exchanged banters when the two presidents met at the sidelines of the Climate Change Conference, COP26 in Glasgow Scotland. Buhari started by telling Kenyatta that he (Buhari) main goal henceforth was to become the most-travelled sitting African Head of State, a source revealed to YeyeNews.com. Then Buhari told Kenyatta he had set a target to beat his record before leaving office.
According to the source, earlier on before the meet, President Buhari was astonished by the number of foreign trips Uhuru Kenyatta had embarked upon since 2013 when he was first elected and had he was quoted to have said to his aides that the way Nigerians complained that he thought he (Buhari) was the most traveled president. “Kenyatta’s trips are getting close to 150! I have not even done close to 100 and Nigerians won’t let me be”, Buhari was quoted to have said.
However, Kenyan president was up to the moment as he was reported to have laughed loudly before replying that the only “sport” that President Buhari could beat him was in “foreign medical trips”, Yeyenews.com source disclosed.
A source inside Aso Rock told YeyeNews.com reporter that provisions will be made in the next two budgets to cover for lots of travels, that will enable President Buhari to catch up with the foreign trips of Uhuru Kenyatta. “Though Uhuru Kenyatta is presently high up in the league of foreign travels, it is still possible for Pres. Buhari to beat his record before 2023. It is a great feat but in no way insurmountable. Can you believe that in less than seven years the Kenyan president embarked on more trips than a former president that spent 24 years in office? As we speak he has traveled out of his country more than 100 times and he still has about than ten months left in his term. But we believe that with adequate budgetary provision the over 70 trips we have line up for President Buhari in the next two years can make him achieve his desire. Nigerians will only complain in the social media but we would not be deterred. The achievement will be be a source of pride for our country”.
A social media personality in Kenya Moi Bongo expressed his reservations about the possible of President Buhari succeeding in his quest. “Though Kenyans will be glad if this unenviable record can transfer to the Nigerian president, but sadly we think Uhuru Kenyatta will retain it. This is because between now and August next year when his tenure will end our president will still make at least 30 foreign trips. That means by the end of his presidential term Uhuru Kenyatta would have traveled about 200 times outside Kenya. So this is something we will have to live with. Unfortunately Nigeria cannot save us from this one”.
