Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has given reasons why pigeons released by the president initially refused to fly during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day.
According PUNCH had reported that the doves, otherwise known as white pigeons, released by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day ceremony last Friday, refused to fly despite multiple attempts by the President.
This elicited reactions from Nigerians, some of whom described the incident as a “bad sign”.
In an article on his Facebook Wall titled, ‘Reflection from a wreath-laying ceremony,’ Adesina described the pigeons’ refused to fly as “a natural phenomenon”.
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He said, “Now, something for those who twist my every word, turn it upside down, to generate hatred. Something for them to wail about. The release of the pigeons.
“At every Armed Forces Remembrance Day, after the laying of the wreaths, the sitting President releases some pigeons, to symbolise peace in the land. Emblems of National harmony. It was not different last Friday.
“The pigeons had been kept in a cage. For how long, I do not know. And when birds and some other roaming animals have been circumscribed for a while, they get accustomed to their new status as lawful captives. Therefore, when you offer them freedom, they first baulk, thinking it’s too good to be true. It’s a natural phenomenon.
“President Buhari opened the cage that held the pigeons, about a score or so. One hesitated, then flew, followed by another. The others temporised a bit. And then, two, three minutes later, they all took to the sky. Nothing extraordinary in the development, you would think.”
