Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, has a word for the “haters” of the President — “repent in ashes and sackcloth”.

Writing in an opinion on Saturday, Adesina said that “in spite of what haters, wailers, and filthy dreamers imagine, and which they spew out”, over President Buhari’s ill-health, “God remains merciful and immutable. He has the final say”.

He maintained that despite the falsehood and outright lies being peddled about by some politicians and others concerning the President’s health, the President he saw had significantly recovered.

He said: “As we strode into the living room, I saw with infinite pleasure, the great object of my mission. Standing tall and ramrod straight was President Muhammadu Buhari, with that ubiquitous smile in place.

“He was looking a lot better than he had ever looked in the past eight months. My heart leapt for joy, and sang praises to God.

“Was this not the man they said was on life-support machine? Didn’t they say he could neither walk nor talk? But he was welcoming Alhaji Lai Muhammed, and calling him by name. I was next. I shook the hands of the man I had admired since his days as a military Head-of-State, a man I am not ashamed to call my leader and President today, and any day.”

“The President had words for each member of the team, which showed that he had been following events back home very keenly. He commended the Minister of Information and Culture, saying, ‘Lai, you are all over the place. I see you virtually every day. You have been working very hard.'”

“Pointing to Abike Dabiri-Erewa, he said, ‘She is here in her constituency. But me, I am here reluctantly’. We all laughed, and Dabiri-Erewa jocularly issued what you could call a quit notice, saying she didn’t want the President in her constituency again.”

Adesina repeated how Buhari told them that he was okay now and felt he could return home but that the doctors were in charge. “I’ve learnt to obey orders, rather than be the one giving the orders,”Adesina quoted Buhari as having said.

“If you have met the President personally, he is usually full of wisecracks, and this day was not different,” Adesina wrote.

“He said he had been watching the protests by people who wanted him to return home post-haste, or resign. He mentioned one of the leaders of the protest by name, and laughed. I did not discern any malice in the laughter.”

Adesina noted that Aisha Buhari, wife of the President, Halima his daughter, and Yusuf his son were present when the team were treated to a nice meal at the dining.

“It was a setting which a man blinded by bile, and suffused with hatred, had described as a previous fast breaking session at Aso Villa during a Ramadan season. Father, forgive him, for he knows not what he says. We ate, heartily. Our appetites had been stimulated by the state in which we met our principal,” he said.

“The health status of our President … was a testimony to the healing powers of God. This was a man gravely ill, but restored miraculously. It can only be God.

“In spite of what haters, wailers, and filthy dreamers imagine, and which they spew out, God remains merciful and immutable. He has the final say. If I were a hater, I would repent now, in sackcloth and ashes.

“Yes, I’ve been to London to see the King. The Lion King. But unlike the pussycat in the nursery rhyme, I didn’t frighten any mouse under the chair.”