TheCable

For the first time since Nigeria confirmed its first COVID-19 on February 27, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari has been pictured in a face mask.

In line with the guidelines issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 had made wearing of face masks in public compulsory for all Nigerians.

So far, the president has not been pictured using a face mask, though has strictly adhered to the guidelines on physical distancing when meeting visitors.

Even when Buhari met with members of the PTF, he was never pictured wearing a face mask.

However, that changed on Thursday when the president touched down in Mali for a one-day visit.

The trip, which is the president’s first to a foreign country in the past five months, came on the heels of the briefing by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, special envoy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to Mali.

Jonathan had held a meeting with Buhari on Tuesday to give details on the protests in Mali, and efforts to ensure peace and stability in the country.

Buhari is expected to hold a meeting with other African leaders to forge a way forward on the current uprising against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali, who has spent two out of the five years second term in office.