It is in Buhari’s best interest to come clean about his health records

Though the jury still out on whether a sitting president should have the right to keep his medical record, the release of such record not only enhances democracy but also, surprisingly, attracts public sympathy.

Currently, Nigerians have had to rely on ‘’tweets’’ from those the president had spoken to over the phone to know how he is doing. For instance, the speaker, Yakubu Dogara, says he discussed extensively with the president last Wednesday. Also, the senate president and the acting president claim that from their discussions with the president he is ‘’hale and hearty’’.

Granted, you could argue that there’s currently no power vacuum, but the masses who voted in Buhari because of some of the traits they saw in him would be very disappointed: How could a ‘’hale and hearty’’ president, who is just waiting for some laboratory results, stay out of work for so long?

This anger could be intense in those who understand Nigeria’s political cycle: This administration only has 2017 to make its mark. Since elections are in mid-2019, politics would submerge developmental economics from next year.

The job of a president is a very stressful one. And if you observed Presidents Obama and Jonathan, for example, you would notice that they aged quickly while in office. So, considering Buhari’s age and his history of medical check-ups, this might not be his last medical vacation. (This doesn’t mean one doesn’t pray that a miracle happens in the president’s life.)

And should the president have any reason to stay longer in this current vacation or go for another when he returns, then it could be difficult to explain why a ‘mere laboratory result’  is taking so much of the president’s time.

Surprisingly, history has been fair to politicians who have been honest about their health records.

For example, in 2004, when Americans were asked if they were concerned that John Kerry’s bout with prostate cancer would affect his effectiveness if he became president, over 90 percent said they weren’t. Another example is the favorable public opinion about Dick Cheney’s heart problem and how it affected his work as vice president. (Dick Cheney survived many heart attacks and had a transplant. Also, he had complex procedures while in office.)

Apart from the public sympathy an honest disclosure of Buhari’s health might provoke from his admirers, such disclosure would help institutionalize democracy and transparency in Africa.

African leaders have been known to conceal their health status. It is even a taboo to discuss such issues in some African countries. Little wonder that about 22 African leaders have died in office and, in some cases, their deaths provoked ‘political tensions’. (Though some U.S. presidents concealed their health records, none of them died in office.)

Thus, just as former President Jonathan set a precedent in Africa with the way he conceded defeat, President Buhari could set a precedent with the way he handles his heath records. Such precedent could force other aspiring presidents and current ones to declare their health status. It is important African politicians aspiring for stressful offices, such as that of presidents, declare their health status in order to avoid ‘political tensions’.

Presidents have access to the finest kind of healthcare services within and outside their countries. Thus, many health conditions which might be death sentences to ordinary citizens, are not to presidents. So, a case can always be made for a president’s fitness and quick recovery. (Establishing that a president is incapacitated would be hard to prove, in practice, in Africa.)

That said, the president will continue sending a very wrong image of himself if he continues talking to party leaders alone – such as Tinubu, Akande, Osibanjo, Dogara and Saraki – and keeps ignoring Nigerians, even though he is ‘’hale and hearty’’. He needs to address Nigerians in order to kill all kinds of rumours about his health. He could continue with his vacation after killing these rumours. After all, the country has been running under Osibanjo’s watch.

Nigerian’s oversubscribed $1 billion Eurobond

Though it is $1 to over N500 in the black market, investors still see something good in Nigeria’s economy.

In 2013, when the price of oil was at an all-time high, Nigeria’s $1 billion Eurobond was four times oversubscribed, but today, even with the current downturn, it is eight times oversubscribed.

This and the yield attracted by Nigerian’s third Eurobond, despite a recent downgrade of Nigeria’s credit status, should encourage everyone about the country’s prospects.

If the Niger Delta remains calm and oil stays at its current price, policy makers have no reason not to put this country on the path of prosperity.