EditorialTHEWILL Editorial: How Not To Handle The State Of Health Of A...

THEWILL Editorial: How Not To Handle The State Of Health Of A Nation’s Leader

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BEVERLY HILLS, February 9, (THEWILL) – Alas, it has somewhat been confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari has medical issues. This followed the presidency’s disclosure that he extended his vacation to enable doctors conduct further medical tests on him.

This rather belated exposé has understandably raised more questions, the answers to which those speaking for the administration seem to have complicated by their many half-truths.

Granted that sickness is a natural phenomenon in life, which even a Nigerian President cannot escape, it is critical that citizens be told the truth about their President’s health condition, particularly as the bill for his treatment and stay abroad is being picked by the Nigerian state.

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Despite the clarification that Buhari will be going for some medical tests, it is baffling that the presidency and some government officials still deemed it fit to play politics with the situation by refusing to disclose his condition, what he is being treated for or the hospital where he is receiving medical attention. Yet Nigerians were told that Buhari has become a victim of his transparency.

There was presidential spokesman’s position that Buhari extended his vacation to enable him receive the result of his medical tests and the conflicting statements by Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, among other government officials.

Osinbajo recently told State House correspondents that the president was hale and hearty and that he was in regular conversation with him. Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives have also made similar claim.

The Presidency had earlier stated that Buhari is not in a hospital, but is at the Nigerian House in London even as the Information Minister said categorically that Buhari is not even sick.

These incoherent standpoints show that the Federal Government is trivializing a very sensitive matter as the President’s health. We warn against a continuation of this on-going drama, or any attempt to reincarnate the despicable power play witnessed during the era of the late President Musa Yar’Adua, when governance was hijacked by a cabal owing to the then President’s illness.

The Buhari government, which preaches accountability and transparency, should not take Nigerians for a ride on an issue that demands openness and truth. From the way the establishment has been twisting the matter, it is obvious that rather than carrying the citizens along, they inadvertently built a web of distrust around the government.

It is unfortunate that some clueless government officials are allowing this situation to grow out of hand at a time when the country needs a mentally alert team to navigate it out of the current economic recession.

THEWILL condemns attempts by government officials to conceal the ailment of Nigerian leaders. There have been past instances where the illness of some state governors were also shrouded in secrecy.

While commending the President for transmitting a letter to the Senate, invariably informing of the extension and the continuation of Osinbajo as President in acting capacity, we do not support any attempt to deceive the people about the health state of leaders.

Buhari is saddled with presiding over Africa’s most populous nation, with the inherent huge challenges that come with this responsibility. Therefore, those shrouding his health status in mystery should borrow a leaf from the developed climes where the health conditions of leaders are in the public domain.

We recall the case of the late South African President, Nelson Mandela, whose sickness was open to the people, including a blow-by-blow account of his response to treatment before his eventual demise. Nigerians would accept nothing short of a similar transparency in their leader’s case.

THEWILL aligns with the statement by the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Kingsley Chinda, that Nigerians are entitled to know the President’s state of health at all times. This, he argued, is because the people pay his medical bills and his entire welfare is borne by the state.

While THEWILL also concede to the fact that Buhari is entitled to vacations, we cannot accept this voyage of cover-ups, which the presidency has thrown the nation into. It is embarrassing to Nigeria in the international community.
THEWILL recommends that henceforth, the health status of anyone seeking to occupy public office should be an issue during the campaigns. Nigerians must insist that candidates present health fitness certification duly endorsed by credible and reputable medical doctors.

We believe that it is only when the people are rightly informed about their leader’s health status that they can appropriately pray for the speedy recovery of Buhari to continue the critical task of governance.

THEWILL regrets that Buhari could not seize the moment to calm the apprehension in the country by addressing Nigerians through a live telecast or via Skype or Facebook to assure them that he is truly “hale and hearty and neither sick nor in the hospital”.

While it is a given that detractors and rumour mongers went on overdrive by making a big deal out of the President’s medical holiday, Buhari should have discountenanced these by going ahead to assuage the fears and apprehensions of Nigerians genuinely concerned about him and the nation, through a live address. This is one burden of leadership that he must endure without being told.

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