By Olusegun Elijah
President Muhammadu Buhari has spent 54 days on his recent medical vac in the UK nursing any one of: a prostate cancer—based on his medical history in 2011; or his internal organs pooping out—reckoning with a version the media traced to First Lady Aisha; or some doodah—going by the say-nothing press releases Garba Sheu and Femi Adesina have been churning out.
Something is, however, certain: in the over 110 days spent in the UK on three occasions this year, the No. 1 citizen has been under the knife at some points; and his recovery so far is nothing to clink glasses about.
But Buhari is still above ground.
The Moslem community got lots of hearts and flowers from him last Sunday during Eid-el-Fitr.
“My greetings to all Nigerian Muslims and our brother Christians on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr,” he said in a 96-word letter his senior media aide Sheu said his boss sent from London.
The irony of it is Aso Rock keeps urging Nigerians to pray harder for the president.
The sick rarely need so much prayer except when they slide into the twilight zone. And with the intensity of medical procedures the president is going through, and the flurries of prayers pouring in by the day from Borno and Katsina, you can’t safely say he’s as fit as a fiddle—as to do an audio post, or tweet a sallah message, or fire off a letter directing Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to sign memos. Sahara Reporters has even quoted some aides saying the president spaces out each time he takes certain medications.
And, true, delirium, many think, is hardly a sign of ruddy health.
So chins are wagging.
Toyin Daodu, a citizen advocate, said he and millions of other Nigerians believe Buhari is badly battered—and, probably, down for the count. “Despite all his intentions, he is now incapable of discharging his duties,” said Dawodu, who claim he’s a big fan of the president.
But the president’s men—his Chef of Staff Abba Kyari and cousin Mamman Daura—want Nigerians to believe Buhari is still in charge, running a tight ship.
Critics believe a picture of his could have told the story better. But Aso Rock hasn’t found a convenient time to release Buhari’s recent photo ops. No toothy smile or face even to the sallah messages.
The audio version, recorded in Hausa, and garbled in few words, in one minute and six seconds, too, has been dismissed as a spoof.
Many Nigerians couldn’t take it—that Buhari, so worn down by pill popping he has scarcely spoken with Osinbajo since he left May 7 would now belt out a sallah message, for the first time, and that in Hausa.
Not so easy.
And that hack, unfortunately, didn’t wash.
“Other than propaganda, I wonder what they intend to achieve by putting out such an audio clip at this time,” said Junaid Mohammed, one of Buhari’s chronic critics.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria in Enugu was not impressed, either. “Nigeria has more than 250 languages, so, how can the president address a section?” Godwin Madu, the group’s chairman said. “We are asking him whether he is still president of the entire country.
Again, neither the text nor the audio dropped any hint about his return. A lot hangs on that currently. By his return, the truth about his health will heave into sight. And the path Nigeria should go will get much clearer.
But Buhari’s homecoming, either in weal or woe, doesn’t sit well with some “Asocrats”—and a couple politicians.
Kyari has proved all along—with his fronting and micro-managing—that he wears the breeches at the Villa. Apart from making the cabinet members report to him, the CoS also determines whom the
