Shifting Narratives Over Buhari’s Health

By Robert Obioha

Since President Buhari left Nigeria for London on medical leave, over a month ago, Nigerians have been fed with differing and sometimes conflicting statements over the health status of the number one citizen. And because Buhari’s media handlers dish uncoordinated tales, which most Nigerians now take with a pinch of salt, the rumour mills are agog with scary tales, especially the uncontrolled social media, which the All Progressives Congress (APC) used to its advantage to come to power in 2015.

*Buhari 

The hapless citizens, after waiting anxiously for Buhari’s return, which has no fixed date, have tended to believe information emanating from the rumour mills. They no longer believe their government and its numerous spokespersons because their chaotic tales sound like fiction to majority of Nigerians. Rumour thrives in an atmosphere where facts are hoarded; where there is attempt to misinform the people; and where truth is deliberately hidden or utterly distorted. This is basically the corner the APC government has literally boxed itself now.

When the president failed to return after the expiration of the 10-day’ vacation, Nigerians were told that he needs to do more medical tests as advised by his doctors. While this drama was still unfolding, the presidency insisted that the first citizen is ‘hale and hearty’, a phrase that is fast losing its intended meaning in Nigeria’s peculiar case. They even said that the president was not in any London hospital, that is to say that he was not hospitalized but having a good rest at Nigeria’s House in London.

When the president reportedly transmitted another letter to the National Assembly asking for more time for another round of medical tests without stating exactly when his leave will be over, the anxiety over his health status heightened and Nigerians started asking questions which Aso Villa handlers were unable to provide credible responses. Perhaps, they do not have adequate information on the president’s illness or they are just hoarding it from Nigerians or saying what they are asked to tell worried Nigerians.

Nigerians are more worried not because a president cannot be sick or seek for better medical treatment abroad considering our comatose healthcare system; they are worried because they have travelled this ugly path before when former president Umaru Yar’Adua was sick and the details were hidden from Nigerians. Incidentally, Buhari hails from the same Katsina State with Yar’Adua, although from Daura axis. During the Yar’Adua episode, those in information apparatus of APC now then demanded for a daily update on Yar’Adua’s illness, which is legitimate.