(CNN) A Nigerian man has told CNN he was surprised to learn that US President Donald Trump had read a few lines of his poetry at an event marking St. Patrick's Day on Thursday.

"My sister just brought the news to me. I didn't want to believe what she said initially," Albasheer Adam Alhassan, a Nigerian banker who wrote the poem in college, said. "I posted those things when I was back in school, over 10 years ago. I never thought it would get to this level."

"Maybe I shouldn't have been a banker, maybe I should have been a poet all my life!" Alhassan added.

The poetry enthusiast, who lives in Katsina, is a business manager at First Bank of Nigeria.

Appearing at a luncheon with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny on Thursday, Trump said: "As we stand together with our Irish friends, I'm reminded of that proverb -- and this is a good one, this is one I like. I've heard it for many, many years and I love it. 'Always remember to forget the friends that proved untrue. But never forget to remember those that have stuck by you.'"

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