President Buhari and his London Visitors – Dele Momodu Writes

Fellow Nigerians, let me warn quickly that a new circus has come to town and there is a theatre of the absurd ongoing in the city of London. The patrons are very important personalities from Nigeria who have turned the supposed illness of our dear President Muhammadu Buhari into a stage play. At the rate these medical tourists are going, Nigeria may be empty of all its fat cats as they jostle to pay obeisance lest anyone accuses them of nonchalance and of plotting against the President or wishing him dead. Yes, we can be that petty in this clime.When President Buhari suddenly left our shores, several weeks ago, he did what our late President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua failed to do which was to send a simple letter to the National Assembly about his intention to go on vacation or for medical treatment, or whatever, and hand over authority to his Vice President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. At least, it shows President Buhari had learnt a useful lesson from the experience of his brother and we must praise God for little mercies. What else could he have done? I think he should have improved on this uncommon performance by telling Nigerians he’s been battling with some debilitating ailment for some time which necessitated his having to travel regularly and sometimes suddenly. For God’s sake, it is not a crime to fall sick. We all do, in various degrees, from time to time. At over 70 years on the surface of this earth, no one would expect President Buhari to be in the most perfect state of health. It is a miracle that he survived the harrowing vicissitudes of life after he was thrown into a dungeon in 1985 during the military coup that toppled his dictatorship. He also had to contest some bloody elections a record four times before fortune smiled at him. Naturally, all of these events would have combined to conspire against his health.So why should he be ashamed of telling the world that his health is failing and that he would have to attend to it as frequently as possible? No one needs to consult a doctor or a prophet to know our President is not very well at this moment and that he deserves our understanding and prayers. Even if we thought otherwise, his London visitors have virtually confirmed our worst fears. Aso Rock media gurus who have been regaling us with tales of how well and fit the President is should have worked harder on their powerful friends to stay in Nigeria and wait to flood the airport whenever it pleases God to bring him back in one piece to Nigeria. Rushing to London to mark register is absolutely unnecessary and a total waste of scarce resources. The London visitors have wittingly or inadvertently attracted more attention to the President’s frailty.I have taken time to study some of the pictures that have emerged from the President’s shrine in London and most of them did not do justice to whatever it is some people are trying to cover up by fire by force. The pictures have shown clearly why the President cannot just yank himself off from London and return home pronto as his tedious job demands. It is very obvious that the President is no longer in London of his own free volition, even if he ever was at some point. Someone should please beg the Good Samaritans to allow the President receive his medical treatment in peace and hopefully recuperate handsomely and adequately. Only his immediate family should be allowed access to him at this moment. The visitors actually make it look like they are on an espionage mission to ascertain the true state of the President’s health in order to plot, position and manipulate what seems an impending power game, sooner or later. At the very best of intentions, the visits represent a free photo opportunity for the new and sudden emergency friends of Buhari.Where’s the coterie of acolytes who fell over themselves to display unsolicited affection when the President was sick and flown to Saudi Arabia? If President Buhari is in perfect condition, as his ubiquitous media handlers want us to believe, they should allow him enjoy his vacation and return home when he pleases instead of fighting over the pages of newspapers and the airwaves singing discordant notes on how he may arrive today or tomorrow or claiming that his return is delayed by the uncompleted servicing of the Presidential jet when there is more than one such jet and, in any case, it is not a crime to charter a private jet on this one occasion, or beg one of his wealthy party members or friends to send a comfortable plane to pick him up and return him home in perfect comfort. I’m sure they would be too happy and proud to do him that favour. Also, I know it is easier for the NTA to do a regular live broadcast from London whenever our President misses home to assure us there is no cause for alarm. The President and his team seem to forget the importance and pre-eminence of the ordinary Nigerian citizen in all this debacle. They elected the President. He is answerable to them. It is to them he needs to turn to in order to allay their fears about his health and rumoured death. He can do this by even a one minute video broadcast.