Buhari’s health: Falsehood elevated to an art

BY CHUKWUDI ENEKWECHI

With the recent visit of some governors and All Progressives Congress leaders to President Muhammadu Buhari in London, Nigerians now have incontrovertible evidence against the liars and alarmists who have ceaselessly peddled falsehood about our recuperating president.

As it is commonly known, pictures don’t tell lies, and the pictures that dotted the front pages of most national dailies where the president had lunch with some APC leaders has put to rest any doubts as to the status of President Muhammadu Buhari’s health.

From the picture of the meeting, it was easy to see and feel the radiance of his face and body. His concentration and focus on his visitors and the discussion going on equally debunked several lies and propaganda about the state of his health. Previously, Nigerians have been inundated with scary stories of a man on life support, and whose speeches are inaudible. But now, we know better.

The sense we can make in all of these is to take the critics to task by challenging them to desist from misinforming the public. The attempt to sensationalise President Buhari’s ill health, and create panic in the country is needless and will not serve the interest of anyone including the peddlers of lies and misinformation.

Nigerians can now rely on the news that filtered out from the wife of the president Aisha Buhari and the acting president, Yemi Osinbajo that the president will be “returning soon”. For any ailing person it is incumbent on the medical doctors handling him or her to determine the discharge date.

To be sick is human and President Buhari cannot be an exception. Granted that the high office he occupies demands certain responsibilities, yet disclosing his ailment to the public is his prerogative, and this has not violated any law of the land.

In a situation as this, Nigerians ought to be in unison to pray for the quick recovery and return of Mr. president. For the avoidance of doubt, it is in the enlightened interest of all Nigerians that Buhari recuperates fully and returns to his duty as he remains a stabilising factor in the scheme of things in Nigeria.

It is also consoling that president Buhari’s absence has not created a vacuum in leadership, and this is partly because he adhered to due process and transparency by transferring power to his deputy. On his part, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has also given a good account of himself by running the affairs of government smoothly in the absence of president Buhari.

Buhari’s emergence as president has become an eye opener for Nigerians on the level of sleaze in the various administrative organs of the country. Today, humungous amounts of money have been recovered and returned to the national coffers. One can only hazard a guess as to the grave implications the uncontrolled sleaze would have had on the nation’s economy.

Similarly, it is to his credit that the nefarious activities of the menacing Boko Haram have been curtailed and the country now enjoys relative peace. Understandably, there are still isolated incidents of bombing, yet the war has been substantially won by the Nigerian military over a period of two years. Territories being previously occupied by the sect have been recovered, and the terrorists are on the run and in disarray.

Under president Buhari, Nigeria has witnessed accelerated growth in various sectors, especially in the area of economy, agriculture, infrastructural development and a reorientation on our attitude to public office. It is therefore worrisome that despite his determination to refocus the country on the path of value re-orientation and accelerated economic development, that some unpatriotic elements have been peddling falsehood and rumors against his person. Obviously, the intention is to create ill will and unnecessary tension in the land. But this is uncalled for.

Nigeria is at cross – roads presently on account of the various ethno-religious agitations in the country, and no peace-loving group or individuals will stoke the embers of division and conflict as it is capable of igniting a conflagration of unimaginable dimensions.

The visit of APC governors and leaders to President Buhari in London has indeed raised our hopes of his imminent return to Nigeria. Therefore as we await his return we fervently pray and hope that it will usher in a new era of hope and peaceful coexistence for Nigerians.

His return will also restore the confidence of local and foreign investors in Nigeria, as well as boost the economy and fast-track infrastructural development. It is expected that by 2019 the threshold of his administration’s achievements will doubtlessly spur Nigerians to clamour once again for his re-election.

It is also gratifying that president Buhari hosted a delegation of the Nigerian governors’ forum which included some People’s Democratic Party governors. Such bipartisan approach to leadership will greatly douse the tension in the polity and reassure Nigerians on the good intentions of President Muhammadu Buhari.

By now, the issue of the president Buhari being on life support or not must have been put to rest as even PDP governors like David Umahi of Ebonyi and Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom states were on the recent delegation that visited him in London. The visit has also somehow restored calm and peace to the country as many politicians jostling for relevance have realised that they cannot change the plan of God for Nigeria through president Buhari.

As Nigerians are desirous of change, President Buhari remains an important factor towards the realisation of the objective and it behooves all well-meaning Nigerians to lend their support in seeing to the realisation of the anticipated ‘change’. As it is said, Rome was not built in a day and with the several policies being put in place by the Buhari administration Nigeria has all it takes to realise its potentials. However, these expectations will remain an illusion where corruption thrives.

Chukwudi Enekwechi, journalist and politician, wrote from Abuja and can be reached via [email protected]