Nigerians have been told that they have no cause to worry about the health of their President, Muhammadu Buhari, as nothing has happened that should so suggest.
This is contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, issued in Abuja, Thursday night.
The statement said, “The Presidency hereby assures the good people of Nigeria that, despite the insinuations of a number of media organisations, there is no need for apprehension over the health of our President, Muhammadu Buhari.”
Garba Shehu in the statement noted that President Buhari’s absence at the Federal Executive Council meeting of Wednesday, April 26, was a last minute decision; otherwise, the cabinet and the public might have been alerted in advance.
“As eager as he is to be up and about, the President’s doctors have advised on his taking things slowly, as he fully recovers from the long period of treatment in the United Kingdom some weeks ago.
“President Buhari himself, on his return to the country, made Nigerians aware of the state of his health while he was in London. Full recovery is sometimes a slow process, requiring periods of rest and relaxation, as the Minister for Information, Lai Mohammed, intimated in his press briefing after the FEC meeting on Wednesday.
“Despite his lack of visibility, Nigerians should rest assured that President Buhari has not abdicated his role as Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria. He receives daily briefings on the activities of government, and confers regularly with his Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. His private residence, in which he has been spending the majority of his time recently, also has a fully equipped office.
“God is the giver of life and health. We are grateful that He has seen our President through the worst period of his convalescence in London. We are thankful that the President has passed a number of benchmarks already. We pray that God continues to see him through this period of recuperation,” the Presidency said in the Garba Shehu’s statement.
Social media reactions
In his own comment, Lawal Garba simply revisited the recent advice by Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde saying, “I am suggesting further delegation. Simple. If I were the President’s physician, I would recommend work for not more than 4 hours a day. He would come to office around 10am and leave latest by 4pm, with a two hour in-office break between 12am and 2pm, except on meeting days. While in office, unless it becomes very crucial, he must not attend to long memos but only to brief ones which are summaries reduced from the long ones and carrying only the essence of the matter. If possible, he should avoid meetings except the crucial ones—the Federal Executive Council, the Council of State and the like. Official visitors too should be limited only to the most essential. Think of it. Why must the President work for 18 – 20 hours daily when the official, daily average is just 8? Just for the sake of power at the expense of his health?”
In the meantime, Nigerians who speak through the Facebook social media have linked the controversies that usually rent the air any time the President decides to rest to the “bloody and bad” opposition being played by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and sypathisers of looters. They however advised the President, people around him and other unwavering supporters of the Change Regime not to give in to the blackmails of the people who they say have jettisoned reasonable opposition for national good and have since engaged in opposition for the defence of their looting paymasters.
They however advised on improved communication of necessary information that is required for members of the public to be carried along in the progress being made by the government.
Among the contributors are Mr. Frank Taylor, Mr. Lawal Garba and Jibreel Olaniran, Mrs Moyosore Olatunji and Haruna Daskum among others, who commented from Maiduguri, Abuja, Oyo and Lagos.
In his own comment, Lawal Garba simply revisited the recent advice by Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde saying, “I am suggesting further delegation. Simple. If I were the President’s physician, I would recommend work for not more than 4 hours a day. He would come to office around 10am and leave latest by 4pm, with a two hour in-office break between 12am and 2pm, except on meeting days. While in office, unless it becomes very crucial, he must not attend to long memos but only to brief ones which are summaries reduced from the long ones and carrying only the essence of the matter. If possible, he should avoid meetings except the crucial ones—the Federal Executive Council, the Council of State and the like. Official visitors too should be limited only to the most essential. Think of it. Why must the President work for 18 – 20 hours daily when the official, daily average is just 8? Just for the sake of power at the expense of his health?”
Haruna Daskum, who saw the controversy surrounding the period of rest by the President as “reincarnation of PDP apologists”, said on his Facebook wall that, “Whenever the president goes for a checkup or simply decides to rest, PDP bootlickers go into a frenzy of emotional excitement and euphoria that goes beyond allowable opposition limits. All sort of madness was let loose when the president stayed in the UK for some time. From roadside musicians (2Face) to Atlanta prof to Jonathanians, all jubilated in expectation of the president’s demise but their expectations never came to fruition.
“Now that PMB was absent in FEC meeting, the reclusive PDP had suddenly come to life, spearheaded by its defeated candidate Jonathan who accused PMB of meddling into his family affair, then Makarfi and some groups said PMB should hand over power since he is unwell, another group gave a time frame to the president to resign since he won’t attend a meeting.
“Certainly opposition in Nigeria had assumed a level of intolerable craziness to a level that some people want the whole president dead, the fact that anybody can drop dead anytime would not matter to them,” Daskum expressed but took consolation in the fact that the President and the people around him are not letting down on their guards as they are committed to tackling the Nigerian problems headlong once and for all.
A respondent of The DEFENDER noted that with Buhari in place, it is the first time something tangible is being done in tackling the Nigerian protracted problems and that no stone should be left unturned in bringing the effort to a logical point.
