A new book titled “Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015-2023)” has revealed an incident that occurred in November 2015. President Muhammadu Buhari and his aides were on a plane headed to the Island of Malta for a meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government when the plane encountered severe turbulence, which lasted for a long time. The turbulence was so bad that when the plane finally landed in Malta, a frightened President Buhari asked the pilot, “What kind of landing is this?” The pilot had to apologize to the President and the other passengers who were also troubled by the incident.
The report said: “A presidential jet is not immune from bad weather and the accompanying turbulence (many hours of that we experienced). Neither is it spared from what aviators call wind shear (a sudden change in the direction of the wind). We had a frightful experience).
“In November 2015, we travelled to Malta to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and it was an uneventful flight till the flight crew announced that we should get ready for landing.
A few seconds from touching the tarmac, the Boeing 737 business jet got buffeted from all sides and began to sway dangerously. On touching down, it pirouetted and gyrated like a drunken sailor; and almost turned over.
“What kind of landing is this?”, Buhari is reported to have queried the frightened pilot, who immediately apologized to the then president.
“We have just experienced what is called wind shear, a sudden change in the direction of wind. Apologies Mr. President, and distinguished passengers,” the scared pilot replied Buhari on touching down safely.
In Chapter 21 of the new book with the caption: “Over 50 foreign trips… and a health scare”, the book lists 94 countries which Buhari visited officially during his eight-year tenure with the highest 19 trips in 2016, 18 in 2022, 16 in 2015 and 12 in 2018.
The least number of two trips undertaken by the former leader was in 2020. He made 10 trips in 2019 and five each in 2021 and 2023 before retiring to Daura, his hometown in Katsina on May 29, 2023.
