Still on Buhari’s health

Abdullahi M. Gulloma

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said, Tuesday, that he had a conversation with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday and that the President was hale and hearty.
Speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja, Osinbajo said his discussion with the President centred on the 2017 budget, meeting with the private sector at the consultative forum on Economic Recovery Growth Plan and the protest by some Nigerians.

He said: ”The President is hale and hearty, I spoke to the President just this afternoon and we had a warm conversation. He was interested in knowing about the budget process and how far we have gone and the meeting today with the private sector and the economic recovery growth plan and I informed him about the protest march and feedback about what people are saying about the economy.

“He is in good shape. Just like he said in his letter to the National Assembly, he needs to go for a cycle of test and once he sees the test results and gets medical advice, we expect him very soon. I think that the health status of Mr President is an issue that only Mr.  President would discuss at the appropriate time. Again he is running tests and all of that, before you will be able to determine your health status you must be able to say this is my health status. Do the test my doctors have advised me to do and will wait for the outcome of the test and know my status.”

Osinbajo also dismissed reports that he was under pressure to resign, saying: “I am not under any pressure to resign. I was voted for by the people of this nation, me and Mr. President, and so the people of this nation have not asked us to resign. I am absolutely not under any pressure whatsoever. The truth is that there have been no pressures from any source asking me to resign.”
And, that sounds true, reasonable and acceptable, for where could the pressures on Osinbajo to resign have come from? Certainly, pressures could not come from his immediate constituency or from any reasonable quarters, thereby leaving only never-do-well wishers of the President and Nigeria as suspects.

Yet, for people in this group, the main issue for them is the state of the President’s health, which they will, at least for now, not stop questioning and spreading rumours about. When they could not get the President to reveal to them the nature or type of illness that took him twice to the UK, they spread rumours of his death.
But is it mandatory for him to disclose their state of health? The truth of the matter is that even in advanced democracies like the United States of America, procedure for making known state of health of the President or candidates has not been standardised. Yet, revealing health records of politicians remains at the discretion of individuals.

An obvious example was Bill Clinton who refused to disclose his medical records in 1992, leading the New York Times’ doctor-reporter, Lawrence K. Altman, to declare that the Democrats had been “less forthcoming about his health than any presidential nominee in the last 20 years.” Clinton also declined to make public his medical record in 1996, which led Republicans to repeatedly raise questions about whether he was hiding a secret health issue.
The lesson, however, is that President Buhari, like his colleagues, are human beings and can suffer same ailments that can afflict common people. In fact, leaders are no strangers to challenging illnesses.

In this light, therefore, the President deserves our understanding and compassion, not hysteria, spurious conjectures and unfounded rumours. After all, he respected the Constitution and, ideally, transmitted reins of power to the Vice President to enable him have adequate time to attend to his health problem. Other Presidents can be said to have neglected the ideal situation.
Now that the President has written to the Senate to ask for an extension of his leave, based on medical advice, we should show respect for the man and his decision to respect the Nigerian public and Presidency. We should also wish the President a quick recovery and more strength to undertake his presidential tasks.