Armed Forces Remembrance Day: Why Pigeons Refused To Fly – Femi Adesina

The president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has blamed wailers for turning the refusal of birds to take to the skies into a national discourse.

Recall that pigeons released by President Muhammadu Buhari during last week’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day refused to fly.

Reacting to the conversation the development generated, Adesina expressed that the pigeons refused to fly because they felt their freedom was “too good to be true.”

This was contained in an essay Adesina titled ‘Reflections from a wreath laying ceremony.’

The president’s aide added that it is natural for pigeons to refuse to fly after they have been caged for a period.

“At every Armed Forces Remembrance Day, after the laying of the wreaths, the sitting president releases some pigeons, to symbolize peace in the land. Emblems of National harmony. It was not different last Friday.

“The pigeons had been kept in a cage. For how long, I do not know. And when birds and some other roaming animals have been circumscribed for a while, they get accustomed to their new status as lawful captives. Therefore, when you offer them freedom, they first balk, thinking it’s too good to be true. It’s a natural phenomenon.”

He also said those making jests of the president on social media do not have productive things to do with their time.