President Muhammadu Buhari’s
continued stay in London, in the
United Kingdom, for medical vacation
has seemingly turned the city to a new
‘Holy Land’ for APC chieftains ,
GBENRO ADEOYE writes
Jerusalem, Rome and Mecca have been
traditional holy lands for thousands of
years but Nigerian politicians seem to
have added a new location to the
exclusive list –London .
Before now , London , the capital city of
United Kingdom, to Nigerians , was
only one of the world’s major
economic centres . But when it was
chosen by President Muhammadu
Buhari as the ideal place for his
vacation and medical tourism , the city
adopted a new role for Nigerian
politicians, particularly for members
of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Buhari had few weeks ago, written to
the Senate that he would proceed on
medical vacation for 10 days and that
Vice- President Yemi Osinbajo would
act on his behalf as President for the
period. In the letter addressed to
Senate President Bukola Saraki, Buhari
said he would be away from Monday,
January 23 to Monday , February 6 ,
2017.
Since that time, speculations have run
rife on all sorts of theories about the
urgency required for the trip and his
health status . And because there was
no official disclosure of the President’s
state of health, the speculations simply
festered and blew up to rumours of his
death and an alleged cover - up in the
Presidency to manage the information
for selfish reasons .
This led to several calls by Nigerians ,
including the Nigeria Labour Congress
on the President to address the
citizens from the UK to assure them
that he was alive and well , but the
calls were ignored by the Presidency,
which insisted that Buhari could not
be compelled to speak or disclose his
health status .
Then , a picture of a frail looking
President Buhari with Governor
Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State , who
was in company with a former
senator , Daisy Danjuma , and another
individual , surfaced online. But rather
than douse the speculations , it only
helped to the crowning of London as a
new ‘Holy Land’ for Nigerian
politicians.
And when the President again wrote
to the National Assembly on February
5 , informing the lawmakers of his
desire to extend his leave in order to
complete and receive the results of a
series of tests recommended by his
doctors, it only fuelled rumours that
something was amiss .
There was controversy over the
picture of President with Amosun and
others, with allegations trending
online that it was photoshopped or an
old picture that was edited to make it
appear fresh.
However , Amosun had later at an
event at the Olusegun Obasanjo
Presidential Library , Abeokuta ,
insisted that he had indeed visited
Buhari in London , but that he would
not delve into the President’s health
status .
“ Yes , it is true I visited our President
in London and he is doing fine ,” he
had said .
“ If you ask me pointedly whether I
saw him or not , yes I did and that is
the only thing that I can say . And of
course you can see he is very well , he
is okay . So I don ’ t know what else you
want me to say .
“ I am not one of the spokespersons of
Mr. President; so it will be out of place
for me to talk on that (his health
status ). But then, they are doing their
job and you’ ve listened to all that they
have said . ”
Some experts have , however , likened
Amosun’ s recount to the accounts of
pilgrims after visits to holy lands.
Interestingly, it is what London seems
to have become to politicians because
soon after the governor ’s return , more
pictures of the President on vacation
surfaced online ; this time, they were
pictures of President Buhari with a
national leader of the APC , Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu , and its former national
chairman , Chief Bisi Akande.
According to a message on the official
Twitter account of the Presidency,
explaining the pictures, Tinubu and
Akande were with Buhari at Abuja
House in London.
One of the critical experts, a lawyer,
Mr. Tunde Esan, blamed the situation
on a lack of a proper democratic
structure, which puts so much power
in individuals rather than institutions .
“ What drama is going on really ? The
President has said , ‘I am not well , I
need time to attend to my health so
my vice- president is the acting
President. So what is this pilgrimage
about? What is this waste of resources
about? They are going to see a man
who has said he needs to take care of
his health ,” Esan said .
“ What this has shown is that what we
have as governance is a cult of
personality; there is no structure.
Power resides in one man instead of
in a system , so what people are doing
now is paying homage to let the
President know that they remain loyal
to him .
“ The system says that if the President,
for certain reasons , is unable to
perform the functions of his office, the
vice- president should have all the
power of the President vested in him,
but that is not enough because we
know for a fact that he is not the
President.
“ We have the executive , the legislature
and the judiciary, but the truth is that
all of the power is contained in one
man who is the President, so every
sycophant and bootlicker will let the
man know that they are still loyal to
him.”
A hilarious aspect of the issue later
emerged online in the form of an
image of popular musician , Innocent
Idibia aka Tuface , photoshopped on
the picture. This was soon followed by
another picture in which a media aide
to Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State ,
was seated with the President and the
APC chieftains .
Much like Amosun , Tinubu also gave
an account of what he saw on his visit
to the new ‘ Holy Land’, though, it was
while dismissing an online report in
which he had allegedly disclaimed his
visit to President Buhari.
In a statement signed by Tinubu ’s
media aide , Tunde Rahman, the
former governor debunked the report ,
saying “ the so - called denial of the visit
is the handiwork of online mischief -
makers” .
“ Asiwaju Tinubu and Baba Akande
were in London . The reason they
travelled to the UK was to see
President Buhari. And they visited him
last Thursday and held discussions
with him at the Abuja House in
London. After the visit , the President,
as a mark of respect , saw off his guests
to the door.
“ Pictures were taken during and after
the visit and released to the media by
the Presidency. These pictures were
international headlines . How can
anybody in his or her right senses be
saying there was no such visit ? It ’s
simply crazy! I can ’t just get it, ” he had
said .
But the pilgrimage did not stop there
as it was the turn of the Senate
President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; Speaker ,
House of Representatives , Yakubu
Dogara; and Senate Leader , Ahmed
Lawan , to observe their own
‘pilgrimage’ and they did not
disappoint as their pictures were soon
online like proper ‘ tourists ’.
Confirming the Wednesday , February
15 visit to London , Saraki , in a
statement via his official Facebook
page, said he was delighted to see that
Buhari was fine .
“ Myself, Rt . Honorable Speaker ,
Yakubu Dogara and leader of Senate,
Senator Ahmed Lawan , paid a visit to
President Buhari in Abuja House in
London, ” he said .
“ We were delighted to see that
President Buhari is doing well , was
cheerful and in good spirits .
“ The President I saw today is healthy,
witty and himself.
“ The president’ s absence and
imminent return shows that there is
no vacuum in government and our
system of democracy is working with
all organs of government fulfilling
their mandate. And let me use the
time- tested cliché , there is no cause for
alarm!”
A social commentator and legal
practitioner, Liborous Oshoma,
however, described the trend as a
clear indication that politicians would
never let an opportunity to spend
taxpayers’ money pass them by.
According to him, it will not be
surprising to see other governors
travel to London to also see the
President.
He said , “ And you know our
politicians, every opportunity to spend
taxpayers’ money is a welcome
development . Don’ t be surprised that
the trip made by the federal
lawmakers was taken care of by
taxpayers’ money . For me, such trips
are private and not official . Even
though the constitution states that they
(federal lawmakers ) shall find out the
health status of the President to know
if he is incapacitated to carry out his
functions of office, it is not for them to
do that (engage on such trips
officially ).
“ It is the medical board that should do
so . So it was a private visit and funds
for such visits ought to have come
from the pockets of the public officials.
I learnt that the President has said that
nobody should visit him but don ’t be
surprised that other governors will
soon follow suit and collect ‘ estacode ’
of office, out of station allowance, and
so on. The expenses will be put on the
pockets of state governments,
ministries or departments in
questions.
“ That is why we need to also invest in
our infrastructure because if the right
infrastructure had been in place , this
slogan of ‘ patronise Nigeria ’ would
have been a reality and this attitude of
going to cure headache in London
would not have come up. And if that
was not there , this opportunity to visit
somebody who is ill and recuperating
in London would not have come up .”
However , a Lagos - based lawyer, Mr.
Monday Ubani , said there was nothing
wrong in “ politicians visiting their
President to see how he is faring and
wish him quick recovery” .
“ Many Nigerians are actually
expressing some level of concern about
the health of the President,” he said .
“ He initially asked for 10 days ’
vacation and after that expired , he
wrote to the leadership of the National
Assembly to notify them that he was
not ready to resume and he didn’t give
a date . Even if not for anything else,
people should care for their leader .
Won’ t you be a bit worried to know
the state of health of the leader ? I
would not blame National Assembly
and the APC leaders who went to
London to find out the state of health
of the President.”
Ubani , who highly commended acting
President Osinbajo for holding down
the fort on behalf of the President in a
way that shows that he is very
competent to run Nigeria , however,
called on Buhari to make this the last
time he would go abroad for medical
treatment.
He said , “ From now onwards , I want
the President to have his medical
treatment here in Nigeria , so he should
take care of the health sector . I see no
reason why leaders should be going
abroad for medical treatment . It
doesn’t make sense to me. I see no
reason why our hospitals should not be
standard so that our leaders and the
people can be treated there.
“ This is what he should endeavour to
do so that next time, I won ’ t hear that
my President has gone to the UK,
United States or Germany , it does not
speak well of us or Nigeria ’s
leadership. But I am interested in him
coming back hale and hearty . So he
should take care of his health because
if he returns and does not survive, are
we going to be happy for putting
pressure on him and killing him
before his time ?”
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