Buhari’s health challenge and foreign media hypocrisy
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

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.

Abdulrazaq O Hamzat writes from Abuja and can be reached on discus4now@gmail.com

hmmmmm..


waiting for pop corn I ordered observing

What a wonderful write up.
God bless u.

Nice write-up...

Peeps here please be honest enough, if your father is sick and is been told to resign, will you support it?

BlackMbakara1:
Nice write-up...

Peeps here please be honest enough, if your father is sick and is been told to resign, will you support it?

If I care about the country and his health I am fully going to support his resignation, it is only a very selfish and wicked child that won't support his resignation..............

doyinisaac:
If I care about the country and his health I am fully going to support his resignation, it is only a very selfish and wicked child that won't support his resignation..............

Even when there are provisions backed by law that has not been exhausted?

Hum

Good write up but very economical with the truth.
1. What is exactly wrong with our president? The writer said exactly what the health issues were with most of the examples he sited.
2. Did all the other leaders leave their country on medical tourism? Our president has cumulatively been away for about 6months on the same medical tourism he condemned in 2015! What is integrity without the moral capacity to do the right thing? There is a big moral burden on the President.
3. So no President in the world has resigned on grounds of ill health abi! The writer should have thought in that line too.
4. What about the money going down the drain particularly on account of the jet parked in London. @ £1000/day, it is equal to £100,000 today. But @ £4000/day, it is equal£400,000 today. Let me leave the conversion for the reader. That is for jet alone o! I remembered that jet the other day when I saw a woman on AIT appealing to the public to support her son's bone marrow transplant (N18m).
5. More so we are in the 21st Century and the writer is quoting 1919 and 1921 in countries with working systems. Let me rest my case here for now.

The OP should rather dig deep into the hypocrisy of Buhari in background of his pass utterances as regards the late President Yar'Addua's case and the APC as a national disaster who not only insulted the sensibility of Nìgerians who kept faith with them but now overtly wish to intensify the propaganda.

Hypocritical writeup.

?

Beautiful write-up.

Nice write up, the sad thing is these country is filled with unpatriotic traitors whose heart is filled with hate that has blocked their brains from properly guiding their thoughts

How people comfortably call Buhari a man of integrity baffles me. What is the meaning of integrity and the writer used 'High level integrity'.

Another stupid write up cooked to stimulate zombies as usual..Abeg our mumu don do ..Buhari resign now

beautiful piece

I know topics like this never interest lalasticlala

but let it be illiterate olajumoke issue now, Na fp immediately.

Let's not be economical with the truth. The citizens of those countries quoted had a precise knowledge of the sickness of their leaders. Instead of giving us examples of sick leaders of the 1920's, why don't the writer use the examples of Hillary Clinton and Donald trump who had to disclose their medical history while campaigning.

bilms:
Buhari’s health challenge and foreign media hypocrisy
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

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.

Abdulrazaq O Hamzat writes from Abuja and can be reached on discus4now@gmail.com

All those names mentioned,not one sought medical attention abroad. So even while ill, they were in their country. PMB budgeted billions for aso rock clinic, yet it isn't good enough for him.

Your claim that he has been truthful about is health challenge is also false. PMB once lied to us that he had hear infections. It was when he ran out of lie that he now made a vague claim on going on medical tourism abroad.

hum

Wetin concern snail with block and cement.

Only demented mumus will put Presidiot El Ab-Dullardeen Mumuharri's name and integrity in the the same sentence. That's just an aside.

If Mumuharri likes he can complete his first term and even his probable (I can't underestimate the number of mumus in this country) second term from his favourite sick bed in London. The thing no concern me.

If the 14milliion Mumugerians that voted for him are not complaining, why the fvck do I need to complain. It's not like it makes any difference one way or the other.

He always finds a way to get someone else to do his job while answering to big titles. When he was a military dictator, some other goon did all the heavy lifting. As PTF Chairman, he outsourced all his responsibilities to a private contractor and was driving all around town in big limousines oblivious of the massive fraud his consultant was perpetuating.

In conclusion, apart from entertaining us with occasional mumuish gaffes, it makes no difference to anyone whether Mumuharri resigns, stays permanently in London or just plain dies. The slug isn't even worth this longish comment from me.