Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari has been out of the country for the past 100 days, attending to his health issues in London, United Kingdom
Before he becomes president, London is where Mr Buhari receives medical treatment due poor management of Nigeria’s health system. His doctors have been the same for decades, they have his medical history and it would be unwise to change his health manager’s now, considering his old age. This is a reality no one can ignore
Mr Buhari is a sincere President, with high level of integrity. Upon departure from Nigeria to attend to his health, he told his country men and women about his health complications and appropriately transferred power to his vibrant Vice, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, who has since been acting with full authority in Buhari’s absence. This is a very commendable act and something unrivaled in Nigeria’s recent history
However, since Buhari’s departure from the country, the opposition elements have been mocking the President and his health, raising all sorts of spurious claims to instigate citizens against the President
Some said he his dead already, while others claim he his on life support. But majority of Nigerians are still behind the man many consider a special breed among politicians in 21st century
Recently, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the United States television medium, Cable News Network (CNN) mocked President Buhari over his continued absence due to illness. Similarly, a group known as ‘’OurMumuDonDo’’ led by Charlie Boy, a veteran comic artist started a protest in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital to demand that the President should ‘’ResumeOrResign’’. Majority of Nigerians condemned the protest, including the Nigerian senate, which stated that the president has done all that is required of him by law
However, the protest against President Buhari’s Health situation resonated with some people, especially Nigerians in diaspora, who maintain that a President shouldn’t remain in office if found to be ill. Some even boasted that such situation can never happen in civilized nations because of what they described as ‘’working institutions’’, but this argument is unfounded. It is not based on any known fact
The numerous examples in U.S and Europe clearly tell us that no president resign over ill health in those part of the world, no matter how severe their conditions are, except if the situation has gone out of hand and irredeemable
Republic records show that, former Presidents who are so ill to the extent that they couldn’t speak, stand, sit or even see in U.S, France and U.K at different times never resigned from office. Some even went ahead to contest for second term despite their illnesses and they still served their tenure. This is why I find the BBC and CNN mockery of Nigeria because of President Buhari’s health as uncharitable
Woodrow Wilson for example is a former U.S President, who in the midst of a campaign to promote the Treaty of Versailles across the US in 1919 suffered a severe stroke that left him incapacitated until the end of his presidency. Records show that, despite his bad health, Wilson remained in office until the end of his term in 1921. This was said to be made possible by his second wife Edith, who acted as a mediator between the largely immobilized president and his cabinet
What about former U.S President, Franklin Roosevelt who was diagnosed with polio in 1921? Record have it that, despite the disease leaving him unable to stand or walk without support, he went on to serve 12 consecutive years as US president
Again, we have another former U.S President Dwight Eisenhower, who lived through three major medical crises while in office. In September 1955 he suffered a heart attack that resulted in several weeks of hospitalization. Less than a year later, he underwent urgent surgery to treat Crohn’s disease, and in late 1957 he suffered a light stroke that left him temporarily unable to speak. But he went ahead to contest for second term despite poor health, he won and still served out his tenure
Even the famous JF Kennedy suffers ill health while in office as U.S President. Details of Kennedy’s ill health were largely said to be unknown during his presidency, but only emerged after his assassination in 1963. According to Dallek, John F. Kennedy was hospitalized 9 times during his 2 ½-year presidency, a fact kept secret until his demise
The people mentioned above are not the only former U.S Presidents who suffered ill health while in office, one of the pioneers of United Nations Ronald Reagan also underwent several surgeries that raised questions as to whether he was medically fit for office. In 1985, he temporarily transferred presidential authority to his vice-president, George H.W. Bush, yet still served out his tenure
Even Mr Bush senior himself fell ill in office. In 1992, Mr Bush vomited and then fainted in front of television cameras at a banquet hosted by the prime minister of Japan, Kiichi Miyazawa. He still continued in office, managing his health until he finishes his tenure
Let it be known that i am not trying to dive into the morality of holding unto power in the face of illness, but I make bold to say that, if any moral question will arise from this Buhari’s incident, many great leaders that the world celebrate today are guilty of this
But despite that, some of them still achieve great things in face of severe health challenge and we can’t take that away from them
The above explanation is to inform those, who claimed the health status of Mr President should automatically make him resign, even after legally transferring power to his vice. This is unheard of in any part of the world and all those blackmailing Nigeria, include some UN-informed Diasporas, BBC and CNN should henceforth desist from doing so
Furthermore, if anyone is questioning the U.S examples as articulated above, maybe we should take them to Europe, where François Mitterrand, former French president died of prostate cancer in 1996, a year after the end of his two-term presidency. It was reported that during those long years in the Élysée Palace, he and his doctors concealed his condition from the French public. David Owen, in his book ‘’ Sickness in Power, reveals the lengths they went to conceal Mr Francois condition
Owen explained that, the illness was so severe that, the President couldn’t live without daily routine of drips before he could speak in public. When Mitterrand may have been power crazy, the president’s personal physician “hung the intravenous drip on a picture hook or a coat hanger so as not to have to hammer a nail into the wall of an embassy or another government’s guest house”
Additionally, Harold Wilson is another example of note. During the British prime minister’s second term of office from 1974-76, he suffered symptoms that were later diagnosed as colon cancer. He may also have suffered from Alzheimer’s while in office (like Reagan). But Harold is not the only UK prime minister who served his tenure with severe illness; even the famous Winston Churchill combated different illnesses all through his tenure as UK Prime minister. Apart from depression and mental over strain experienced by Churchill over a long period of time, he also suffered a heart attack at the White House in 1941 and contracted pneumonia a few years later. It was explained that, during his second term as prime minister from 1951 to 1955, Churchill was, in the words of his biographer Roy Jenkins, “gloriously unfit for office”. Ageing and increasingly unwell, he often conducted business from his bedside. He had suffered a stroke while on holiday in 1949 and, while in office in 1953, suffered another
Despite being paralyzed down one side and doctors fearing he might not survive the weekend, he conducted a cabinet meeting without; it is claimed, anyone noticing his indisposition. News of this stroke was kept from parliament and the public, who were told that he was suffering merely from exhaustion
With the above, we can all see that all over the world, leaders get sick in office. Some hide their illnesses from the public, while others don’t. Nigeria is blessed with a leader who is so open about his health issues, not leaving us to continue guess endlessly. It would not be appropriate to use President Buhari’s sincerity against him
If global practice is anything to go by as seen in the above list, then, we can say that it is not a practice for most leaders to resign from office simple because of illness and we should not demonize our President for his own choice
President Muhammadu Buhari has proven to be among the rare few who are truthful and courageous enough to inform the people about their condition. Even when his aides were busy trying to conceal his health situation, the President openly explained his condition to Nigerians and sorts our support during this trying period. Let us support him as much as we can; this is the least we can do
Legendary Senegalese born U.S singer Akon, had said in one of his business interaction with young people in Africa. “Hip hop singers in U.S are very rich. The only problem is that, immediately the video shoot is over, they call uber driver to take them home, continuing their life off camera and without any Bentley as shown in the video
In Nigeria however, The Olamide’s, Wizkid’s and Davido’s all use Bentley, Benz and others, but in this case, they really own those cars’’. The irony of it, according to the U.S music star is that, many believe it is the American rappers that are rich and the Nigerians are not, but in reality, the reverse is the case. Akon opined that, this is all about branding and we must tell our story how it should be told, not allowing others twist it for us
The same situation is playing out in the case of President Muhammadu Buhari. While many foreign leaders in U.K, France and U.S often conceal their illnesses, the Nigerian leader informed the public and even transfer power to his Vice in compliance with the constitution, yet foreign media, whose leader are less open and sincere want us to think less of our President for daring to do what their leaders couldn’t do. This shouldn’t happen and our media have a major role to play in this regard
It is my sincere hope that President Buhari will return home soon and achieve great things for Nigeria
Written by Abdulrazaq O Hamzat, the Executive Director of Foundation for Peace Professionals
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