Buhari’s secret identical twin brother

When Prof. ‘Folabi Olumide chose Harbour Point, Victoria Island for the celebration of his 80th birthday, he failed to produce his secret identical twin brother-President Muhammadu Buhari, but we shall come to that later.

The party was not meant to be “the party of the year.”  It was just great fun and the ambience was a perfect score – food, drinks, music, poetry, dancing plus a review of two books written by the celebrant.  Such infectious joy and abundance of conviviality are increasingly rare while we are under siege as we ponder on the destiny of a nation that has been ambushed by vandals, bandits and marauders.  All the same, the celebrant accompanied by his radiant wife Folasade made the event memorable by reminding us that even if it’s only by a thin cord, we are still connected with civilization.  The sacrifice of Monday – the first day of the week, for Thanksgiving and the acknowledgement of the bountiful mercies of the Almighty is too little a price to pay while wrestling with the profundity and complexity of change.

Eighteen pages of the book are devoted to riveting photographs from the family album (and rightly so).  Each photograph tells its own unique story and provides confirmation that indeed a photograph is worth a thousand words.

On page 283 we are provided with the smoking gun.  The caption is:

“Professor ‘Folabi Olumide (Vice-Chancellor) receiving the then, military Head of State, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, at the Lagos State University in 1984.”

The photograph has gone viral as concrete evidence that the two principal characters in the photograph are somewhat/somehow related.  After subjecting the photograph to intensive X-ray, digital forensic audit, & 3D investigation and MRI the conclusion is that they are identical twins!  They are both of the same height; they are never without their glasses; same ophthalmological prescription; exactly the same gap toothed smile; follicular identity (balding) is without doubt the same; and both of them portray similar Spartan disposition and insistence on self-discipline.  As if to throw us off the scent, one professes Islam and is a devout Muslim while the other is a committed Christian (even though his children have gone Pentecostal).  One wears a beard but the other is clean shaven.

The common traits are a legion – their puritanical posture, prudence, frugality, and reticence bordering on laconism (monosyllabic).  They are both self-contained.  For both of them, being enigmatic comes with their disposition – as second nature.  One minor difference though is that Prof. Olumide has no knowledge of guns or other weapons (only the scapel) but the general, even though retired can still throw a grenade (whether political or otherwise).  Our political landscape and economic/sociological scaffolding are studded with IEDs.

Prof. Olumide spoke for both twins when on page 54 he declares:

“I knew very early in life that I needed to work hard, which I later termed as ‘perspiration’.  For me, there was a lot of perspiration.  Give or take, eighty to ninety per cent of my achievement was gained through perspiration while inspiration made up the remaining ten per cent.  That was me.  Some folks relied on just a little bit of study and they were fine but not me; I had to put in a lot more.  I knew that and never deceived myself for a minute that I had the ability to succeed without working very hard.  Neither did I try to get into the social moulds of other students, who were outgoing and popular.  I was a totally different breed.  That’s not to say I was one of those complete introverts, who had no social life whatsoever.”

Of course, President Muhammadu Buhari’s blood type is a closely guarded secret but Prof. Olumide has voluntarily disclosed this to the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

It turns out both the President and the Professor share the same blood type which is a common feature amongst identical twins.  However, what is startling is that CNN recently featured the four children of President Buhari – three girls and a boy.  It turns out that this is an exact match with the offspring of the Professor – three females namely, Oyinkansola, Olajumoke and Olufunmilayo plus a male Rotimi.

Equally, relevant are the traumatic experiences which Prof. Olumide has gone through starting with:

“Oluseye studied theology in Britain.  He was ordained in 1971 in Birmingham and has since lived in Britain ever after his ordination.  He later got married and the marriage produced five children.  Unfortunately, a fire accident which occurred in 1984, took the lives of all five children at once.  My brother is yet to fully recover from the tragic occurrence but we thank God for the endurance He has given him, in the face of adversity.  He was made an archdeacon in Nigeria, though still resident in Britain.  He is now retired.”

He also had to contend with false accusation of corruption when he was Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU).

“Despite putting in my best, there were accusations from certain quarters that I was trying to use transactions such as the customizing of the guest house cutlery, to siphon money from the university into my personal purse.   God knows I came out of LASU poorer than when I got there.”

Then came the ultimate humiliation:

“Perhaps the most disappointing episode for me during my LASU years was the case of the honorary doctorate degree ceremony for Professors Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, and J.P. Clark, three legendary icons, that was abruptly cancelled a day to the event!  I was stunned!  There was no prior notification and no reasons given for the cancellation.  It threw us into total confusion and despair.”

However, he ultimately triumphed:

“Sincerely, when I consider the resolve of my detractors, and the opposition I faced, I cannot but thank God that I went in and came out of LASU intact.  I did my first term which was four years and then another two years which made it six years in total.  I thank God that my records are there for all to see.”

What is uncanny is that President Buhari has survived similar traumatic experiences not the least of which is the loss of his beloved mother while he was in detention (but the regime of General Babangida would not release him if only for a day or two to attend the funeral).  He also lost his first wife (and a child or two along the way).

Besides, he contested presidential elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011.  On each occasion he believed rightly or wrongly that he was robbed by rigging.  He took his case up to the Supreme Court but the verdict was always against him.  He refused to give up until he finally triumphed in 2015.  The rest is history.

Beyond that, we need to rewind the tape back to 27th August 1985 when he was toppled by his then Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Ibrahim Babangida.  He was arrested in Dodan Barracks by a detachment of soldiers.

President Buhari can benefit immensely by deferring to his twin brother’s prescription in dealing with Nigeria’s myriad of problems:

“Since we deal with human beings, it is a whole range of interactions between us and the patients, our calling, as well as other members of the team.  Particularly in surgery, there is the surgeon, his assistant, the anaesthetists and the nurses.  It is a whole team which entails detailed team work and everyone has to play their part, with the surgeon being the leader.  You have to communicate with the patient, find out what is going on and pin down the problem, which is the diagnosis.  The patient must be told what tests are to be carried out, the natural history of the condition, how it ends and how it progresses, what you should do and what could happen if you did not do it.”

Unfortunately, General Buhari is not only fighting corruption he has adorned his battle gear to fight demons and monsters without checking the stock level of the anaesthetics.

Last week, Prof Adebayo Williams delivered a brilliant verdict:

“The historical providence behind a Buhari presidency at this point in time stems from the fact that he is the only one with the integrity, the mass appeal and the moral charisma to carry out the painful cultural, political and spiritual reform needed …….”

We should be forgiven for being somewhat baffled by Prof. Olumide’s description of his day job:

“A vast flux of my work after I returned to Nigeria was centred around endoscopy of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tracts.  This requires that we look into the intestine from the mouth, on to the anus – upper GI Endoscopy (stomach and adjacent areas) and lower GI Endoscopy (colon and rectum).”

Pray how is this different from the work or audit trail of chartered accountants who are engaged to carry out forensic audit?  Little did we know that Prof. Olumide is our professional colleague.  So also is his identical twin brother – President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

J.K. Randle