Ahead of President Bola Tinubu’s 72nd birthday anniversary on Friday, March 29, 2024, the Presidency has urged well-wishers and friends of Nigeria’s first individual not to organise any form of celebratory event or place adverts in the media.
In a statement on Sunday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, attributed the President’s decision to the “challenging times” in the country.
“As the leader of our country, President Tinubu in deference to this challenging times will not host any birthday event and does not want any of his associates and numerous well-wishers across the country to organise any celebratory event on his behalf or in his name,” Onanuga stated.
By the announcement, the annual birthday colloquium for the ex-Lagos governor won’t hold. This year will be the fourth in recent times the birthday colloquium will not hold in deference to developments in the country. The President had cancelled the 2023 edition of the colloquium just as he put off the 2022 edition when terrorists bombed a Kaduna-Abuja train. The ex-Lagos governor had also cancelled the 202o edition to “empathise with those who lost their lives or affected by the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Onanuga said the President has been “working very hard to make life better for the generality of our people”.
“According to him, because of the present mood of the nation and recent killing of the officers and men of our Army and Police in Delta State and recent spate of security breaches by criminal elements in different parts of Nigeria, there should be no form of birthday event and placing of birthday goodwill advertorial messages in newspapers. Goodwill messages should not be placed on radio and television stations too,” the statement noted.
“President Tinubu enjoins friends and associates who may wish to place goodwill advertorials to kindly donate the money to charity organisations of their choice in his name.
“Although the President appreciates the gallantry of our armed forces in freeing our children kidnapped in Kuriga, Kaduna State and in Sokoto State, he will use the opportunity of his birthday to reflect and re-dedicate himself to the task of building a more stable, more secure, virile, prosperous and united Nigeria.”
