President Muhammadu Buhari will be addressing the Nigerians in a national broadcast today, March 29, 2020, by 7 pm.
The broadcast by the president is expected to focus on efforts of the government to curtail the spread of the coronavirus and measures taken to tackle the economic impact of the development.
This was disclosed through a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, hours before President Buhari is scheduled to address Nigerians.
In his statement, the media aide to the president said, “Television, radio, and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) respectively for the broadcast,”
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
PRESIDENT BUHARI BROACASTS TO THE NATION
President @MBuhari will broadcast to the nation Sunday, March 29, 2020 at 7pm.
— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) March 29, 2020
This scheduled broadcast is coming amidst the controversy generated by the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari to regularly address Nigerians over the coronavirus outbreak in the country. This has elicitated mixed reactions from Nigerians, most of whom have been very critical of that.
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Majority of Nigerians had taken to social media to call out the president for not being able to address Nigerians in a televised broadcast just like other world leaders have been doing since the outbreak of the pandemic.
In his defence of the president’s action, the media aide to the president, Femi Adesina, during his appearance on a monitored programme on Channels Television, pointed out that not addressing the people is usually the style of the president.
Going further, he said that there was no need for a regular briefing from the president as long as there was no communication gap. He is of the opinion that the government officials are on it and so there might not be any need for the president to do that.
It can be recalled that the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire and the Director-General, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, just yesterday went to give the president an update on their activities and the existing situation about the coronavirus disease in the country.