By Mike Ozehkome
It was
Izaak Walton (1593 – 1683), an English writer, who once said: “Look to your health: And if you have it,
praise God, and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second
blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy.”
Health, it is said, is wealth.
And anyone who has been ill from mere headache can relate to the travails of
Mr. President in recent weeks.
*Buhari |
When the president transmitted
his letter to the Senate
for vacation to the United
Kingdom , little did we know that the
subsequent events to follow would raise much ruckus and fuss within the polity. However, for a minute, let us all sheath our ideological swords and
thank God Almighty for the president, his family and Nigerians at large, for making it possible for the president to return alive; for it could have
been, indeed, worse. God forbid!
What makes a Southerner happy
to be a Nigerian is quite different from what makes a Northerner happy to be a
Nigerian. Sometimes, this is caused by ignorance, sometimes by the weakness of
the human mind, which loves to categorise. Other times, because of the various
vested interests by different groups. One fact is indisputable; uneasy lies the
head that wears the crown, particularly in Nigeria , a country with about 388
ethnic groups that speak over 350 languages (Onign Otite); some say over 500.
Sometimes, we forget that our
leaders are also human, with their weaknesses, foibles, strengths, fears and
anxieties. It would be unfair to gloss over some great things that President Muhammadu
Buhari (PMB) has done for Nigeria .
His has been that of service to his nation, since his youth, when he was born
of a Fulani family on 17th December, 1942, in Daura, Katsina State ,
to his father, Adamu, and mother, Zulaihat. He is the twenty-third child of his
father. Buhari was raised by his mother, after his father died when he was
about four years old.
At over 74, Buhari is not a
youth. Indeed, one of the first regrets he expressed upon becoming president
was that he wished he were younger. Even if he were younger, with the luggage
that is Nigerian governance, he, or any one, could fall ill. So, why did his
minders make a big issue of his ill-health? Why did they turn Abuja House, London , into a Mecca
of some sort, giving a babel, a cacophony of PMB’s state of health? To be sure,
Buhari lost his privacy, anonymity and individuality the day he became
president. Even as a private citizen, making my modest contributions to
national risorgimento, from my own little corner, Nigerians from all works of
life rose up for me when I was kidnapped in 2013. I discovered to my eternal gratitude, that I was no longer anonymous. How
much more a whole president
No one should blame Nigerians
who voted for Buhari for inquiring into his state of health. Except for the
unseen and invisible social media activists that Wole Soyinka derogatorily and
painfully called “Slugs”, “Millipedes”, “Imbecile”, “barbarians”, and
“blabbermouth”, in his “Wolexit” threat frustration, I do not know of any responsible
Nigerian patriot, who wished Buhari dead. But, his minders and visitors
complicated matters. They engaged in phone calls; reported he was either on
vacation, to “do routine medical
check-up”; or that when they visited him, he was “hale and hearty”, “cracking
jokes”; “very witty”; “in his elements”.
No one believed them, not even
the Muslim Rights concern (MURIC), which, through its Director, Professor Ishaq
Akintola, rejected government’s opaqueness, saying “we refuse to accept the
Federal Government’s claim that the president is hale and hearty. That sounds
more like tales from moonlight”. PMB has now shamed his image makers, who cried
more than the bereaved. In a no-holds-barred interview, he told a bewildered
nation:
“I have rested as much as humanly possible; I have received I think the
best of treatment I could receive. I couldn’t recall being so sick since I was
a young man, including the military with its ups and downs. I found out that
technology is going so fast that if you have a lot of confidence you better
keep it because you need it. Blood transfusions, going to the laboratories, and
so on and so forth…
“I couldn’t recall when last I had blood transfusion, I couldn’t recall
honestly I can say in my 70 years. I couldn’t remember this drug that Nigerians
take so much, very common, I think one of our terrible things is self drug
administration. We have to trust our doctors more and trust ourselves more, the
places I visited they only take drugs when it is absolutely necessary. They
don’t just swallow everything.”
Thus, in one fell swoop, Buhari
accepted being critically ill; received blood transfusion; and warned against
self-medication. That was highly presidential, honest and commendable.
Ruben Abati narrated his
personal experience when former President Goodluck Jonathan had a stomach upset
in London and
had to be rushed to a hospital. GEJ had quarreled with Abati’s innocuous
statement to the media, to the effect that GEJ was indisposed, but that it was
nothing to worry about. GEJ felt he should have disclosed the exact nature of
his illness. This was how Abati recalled GEJ as putting it:
“This press release does not disclose that I am here just because of a
stomach upset. You have to tell the people what the exact ailment is to prevent
any speculation. If you don’t state it as it is, you will allow people to start
guessing.
“Anytime I am ill, just tell Nigerians what exactly is wrong with me.
That is why I sent for you. Nobody knows tomorrow, but whatever is related to
my health as president, you must inform Nigerians fully.”
Gbaam! That is the stuff
presidents are made of: PMB and GEJ’s openness with Nigerians. I hope the
Goebbels are hearing.
*Chief Ozehkome is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)
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