Arising common phenomenon at the Presidential Villa, Abuja is the series of jokes now being thrown by the leaders at public functions.
The number one and number two citizens, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, have continued to seize every available opportunity to make their guests and staff laugh.
They have continued to loosen up a bit and not make every occasion strictly business.
Through their jokes, they have been able to engage the attention of their audiences and easily drive home their points.
Jokes have been found to play a very important role towards easing individuals’ lives and working as a good medicine to relief their stress.
They can also help people in bad mood or in a problem feel better.
Many benefits of laughing and sharing funny jokes include boosting up the human immune system by increasing infection fighting antibodies, impacts blood circulation and help with heart and other cardiovascular problems, stimulates most of the organs of the body and increases endrophins released by brain, which helps in reducing pain.
Other benefits, according to experts, include relieving stress and soothing tension, which go a long way to reduce anger and depression, increases heart rate and blood pressure, while also helping to sharpen sensibilities.
Buhari exhibited the special trait during the 2017 Christmas homage paid on him last week Monday by the residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) led by the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello.
After the FCT Minister and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) FCT chapter, Jonah Samson, had made their remarks, it was the turn of the President to speak to the visitors.
He started his remarks by cracking jokes.
He said: “I have to digress right from the word ‘go’ to thank those who drafted the Nigerian constitution with respect to the number of senators which puts states on equal terms and excluding the FCT. (While all the states have three Senators in the Senate, only FCT has one Senator).
Pointing to the only FCT representative in the Senate, Senator Phillip Aduda (PDP), who was sitting on his immediate left in his sitting room, Buhari added: “Because he is from the other party.”
The Presidential sitting room, which was filled to the brim, immediately erupted in laughter.
The President added when the laughter subsided: “I think you will know clearly when you know that Bayelsa State has 8 local governments, Kano State has 44 local governments, but in the Senate they are all equal as they produce three senators each. I think this is very fair.”
Not done with the jokes, the President again cracked another one while observing protocol of the government officials and guests in the sitting room.
He said: “The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, members of the Federal Executive Council, I do not expect to see the Ministers here, I thought they will be busy in their constituencies.”
He then added the joke: “But I think it is good excuse they are here as they will spend less.”
The guests again burst out laughing with heads turning in the direction of the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, who were seated in the hall.
A week to the Christmas homage, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also almost burst the ribs of journalists covering the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The occasion was the end-of-year seminar of the State House Press Corps (SHPC) at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
Osinbajo was to declare open the seminar with the theme: ‘Journalists and Retirement Plans’.
Already seated at the high-table before Osinbajo made his remarks were the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Jalil Arabi, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the Chairman of the occasion, Nasarawa State Commissioner of Information, Mohammed Kwara representing the governor, the guest lecturer and Chairman of Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu and the SHPC Chairman, Ubale Musa.
Jokes after jokes, Osinbajo succeeded in lightening up the hall and making the seminar a memorable one for the State House Press Corps.
He jokingly recounted his ugly business experiences when he ventured into journalism in the past.
He said: “I have always been a media person by default sometimes and by the nature of my other engagements. I served on the advisory board of the News and the Tempo for many years. It was then I realised how difficult it is to do business with journalists because I was never paid any legal fees for my efforts.”
The journalists and other guests in the hall could not help but laugh.
He went on: “We sat at various meetings. There was no sitting allowance, nothing. In fact, I always wonder that I always see you people selling, how come there is no reward at all?”
The hall again erupted in laughter.
“So, I could understand that there could be need for very serious debate about this issue of remuneration.”
He was again interrupted by the journalists with laughter and clapping.
Osinbajo then continued: “My other engagement as a ‘media person’ was when I co-founded an anti-corruption organisation, called ‘Integrity’ in 1994.
“And we had a publication called ‘Scrutiny’. One afternoon the SSS came to ask for the Professor from my editor, the editor of the publication, Kunle Oshadipe, initially a journalist with The Tempo,
“He had on a pair of round eyeglasses. I was not there when they came. As soon as they asked for the Professor, he told them ‘I’m not the Professor’. They told him ‘It’s a lie.’ And they carried him away.”
The hall erupted in laughter again.
“To cut a long story short, Kunle’s wife called me and said ‘They were looking for the Professor and they have carried my husband. My husband is not the Professor’.
Laughter again followed the Vice President’s remark.
“Everybody deserted the office; all of us who were strong advocates of the anti-corruption fight deserted the office.”
Another round of laughter ensued.
“But I felt that I had no choice, as the only Professor in the whole setting. So I went to the SSS office where I was held for over 24 hours. Nobody said anything to me. They just sat me there and I was hearing screams of people who were obviously being beaten. They didn’t say a word to me.
“But late that night, one guy came to me and said ‘I hope you heard the screaming.”
Another laughter in the hall.
“He then brought out a lot of the pamphlets that we have published and said ‘Do you think it is worth it to lose your life for these?’
“By the grace of God, an elderly woman came in and said that somebody I taught in the university asked me to be released. So, she said I should pick my things and go. I immediately disappeared from the office,” he said
Another laughter followed.
