…Buhari visited 94 countries in Eight years
President Muhammadu Buhari’s plane nearly crashed with him and his aides in November 2015, six months after he was sworn in as Nigeria’s president.
The incident is captured in the book, Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015-2023), written by Femi Adesina.
The incident occurred while the Nigerian leader was travelling to the Island of Malta to attend a meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government.
The plane ran into frightful turbulence just when the plane was about to land.
The report said the turbulence was so severe that when the plane eventually landed in Malta, President Buhari queried the pilot: “What kind of landing is this?”
The pilot instantly apologised to the President and the other troubled passengers.
“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 had 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.
“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 was almost turning over.
“What kind of landing is this?”, Adesina wrote in the book.
The pilot apologised and explained why the landing was rough.
“We have just experienced what is called wind shear, a sudden change in the direction of wind. Apologies Mr. President, and distinguished passengers,” the pilot explained to the President 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.
The highest trip, 19 in total was in 2016, followed by 18 in 2022, 16 in 2015 and 12 in 2018.
The least number of trips was in 2020 during which he travelled out only twice.
Buhari made 10 trips in 2019, and five each in 2021 and 2023 before retiring to Daura, his hometown in Katsina State on May 29, 2023.
