The needless controversy, that has trailed President Buhari’s delayed return to Nigeria, would have been unnecessary, if the presidency had been more proactive and forthcoming about the president’s health condition. The ceaseless rumors indicated that Nigerians were desperate for answers to questions about their President. But the Presidency didn’t care to tell Nigerians what was happening to the president, even after his media aides, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, battled to debunk the many fabricated news following rumors of his death in a London hospital that went viral on social media. While we supplicate for restoration of good health and Buhari’s safe return home, it must be stated that the secrecy around the President’s health, which for long, has been the currency in official circles in this country, can no longer be said to be in the public interest. In the interest of transparency, Nigerians need know whether or not their President is healthy enough to live up to the exalting responsibilities of his high office.
The President’s health has been the subject of much speculation. His current visit to London makes it the second time in less than a year he has gone there for medical treatment. He visited London in June 2016 for treatment to what the presidency said was a persistent inner ear infection, which caused him to pull out of several scheduled engagements. That visit invited a hailstorm of public criticisms over what many Nigerians considered as medical tourism. Nigerians were angry, and justifiably so, that the President whose duty it is, in the first instance, to raise the standard of health care delivery in the country, would be seeking medical attention abroad for an ear malignancy that Nigerian hospitals can handle. And even after the president himself acknowledged his ear infection, Adesina tried to lie about it, insisting rather patronizingly that, “illness” was not the appropriate word to describe the case. He said Buhari would only use the period of “his rest” to see an ear specialist.
The President had proceeded on a 10-day vacation in UK on Jan. 19 for a routine medical check as indicated in a letter to the Senate which also authorized Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to act as president pending his return. However, at the expiration of the 10 days, the President, who could not make it back to the country, transmitted another letter to the Senate requesting extension of time to complete his check-up. Hitherto, the President’s return after several days away was heralded with pomp and activities, but when his return became shrouded in secrecy, speculations began making the rounds, especially as nothing on ground suggested the president was being expected back home. Contacted regarding official preparations to receive the president, his Special Adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina was quoted as simply saying: “when the information is out you’ll be told.”
Without unduly emphasizing it, discerning Nigerians are becoming increasingly restless over Buhari’s frequent overseas travels, fueling suspicions that all is not well with the president. Even as this latest visit was being dogged by rumors of the president’s death, the presidency failed to feed the public with credible information about Buhari’s whereabouts after the president failed to return to the country on schedule. There were questions awaiting official and credible answers which were not forthcoming. Amid speculations about the state of health of the President, House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, came out to say he had spoken with the president on the phone. Senate President Bukola Saraki, who said he had also spoken with Buhari, tweeted: “He is hale and hearty, going by his voice on telephone which suggested that he is in sound health.” Sensing Nigerians were not convinced, the presidency tweeted a photo of Buhari meeting with APC chieftain and former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu and former APC national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, in London.
The rumors about Buhari’s health developed and worsened because the Presidency dithered and vacillated over the fog of uncertainty about his condition. Although Adesina eventually announced the president had extended his vacation on the advice of his doctors, his tepid explanation was too little, too late. As Communications Minister, Adebayo Shittu noted, the president like any other person is entitled to medical check-ups after strenuous official engagements, hence there’s no reason to make issues out his health condition. True, Buhari is human. As a human being, he is likely to suffer occasional bouts of ill health. There is nothing in human nature that says the president cannot fall ill. The President is rumored to suffer from Ménière’s disease; a disorder of the inner ear that causes severe dizziness, ringing in the ears, and a feeling of congestion in the ear, which can lead to permanent deafness.
No one has confirmed what’s ailing the President and, in the absence of official information, speculation has dominated the headlines. Presently, the nation is awash with rumors that Buhari is suffering from prostate cancer and liver problems. It hardly matters if the rumors are true or not; official silence implies the rumors are true. No smoke without fire. From the photo of his meeting with the APC chieftains, keen observers could determine the president is showing more wear and tear mostly in his frail and diminished frame, the declining swagger of his gait and the deterioration in his voice. The President’s men insist all is fine even when Buhari now cuts the picture of an isolated president, frail, distraught, distracted, completely out of touch; indeed, a character to be pitied.
Opinion is however unanimous that Buhari is overwhelmed by the exacting challenges of his job; he looks tired and exhausted and the regime is fragile and running out of steam; plagued by a lack of vision, on how to respond as corruption fights back and with no concrete ideas of how to reverse the economic meltdown, the lack of transparency on the president’s health creates a dangerous uncertainty.
A number of lessons must be learnt from this experience. The presidency must treat Nigerians with a modicum of respect. Nigerians are not a cohort of kindergarten kids whom the government can just ignore with impunity. There is nothing sacred about the health of the president. The president is a public figure, at least in his capacity as head of state. A public figure enjoys limited privacy. If Buhari is in poor health, it is in the public interest to inform the nation. A culture of secrecy undermines rather than enhances the image of the government. In the absence of dependable information from the Presidency, the public will invent rumors to satisfy their appetite for information. That is a problem you must deal with when you allow rumor to evolve. Rumor thrives when official sources of information are sealed or corrupted. Better communication over what Buhari is suffering from, what the prognosis is and perhaps some comment from the President himself would go a long way to ending all these speculations.
