After 104 days in London on health grounds, President
Muhammadu Buhari, saturday, with an evidently better health condition,
returned to the country, to continue to tackle the challenges of
governance and nation-building. Olawale Olaleye writes
President Muhammadu Buhari’s return to
the country yesterday was instructive in many ways than one. The second
in a row, the president, during his first medical vacation to London,
the United Kingdom, spent approximately 51 days and yesterday again,
after spending another 104 days in London, returned from his second
trip, also on health grounds.
Before he was compelled to make the second trip, the president had
almost confined himself to the presidential villa, challenged by a
somewhat deteriorating health. At a point, he was neither attending the
Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings nor joining other Muslim
faithful to observe the Friday Ju’mat service at the villa.
Thus, generally, his absence from the
public space had fuelled insinuations as to the degree of his health
crisis, such that some had begun to make ridiculous insinuations.
Different pictures of what the physiognomy of the president might have
become was daily being painted, especially from members of the
opposition.
But finally, on May 7, he embarked on a
follow up medical trip, which he had also announced the moment he
returned from his trip the first time. As expected of him, he
transmitted power to his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, through a
letter to the Senate, where he said the professor of law would
“coordinate the activities of government” while he was away.
Unlike the first time, when attention
shifted away from Buhari to Osinbajo, who in turn was believed to have
held the forte and lived up to billings, Buhari was not as lucky the
second time as attention practically focused on him, both locally and
internationally.
First, the question of the nature of his
ailment became more pronounced. The poser on who was responsible for
the medical bills, including the ones incurred from the parking of the
presidential jet, Air Force One, became a public debate, naturally. In
another breath, there was general lackluster in the polity, which was
believed not to be unconnected with the long absence of the president.
Curiously, these multi-faceted
developments heightened tension, with both the pro and the anti-Buhari
agitations dotting the polity. This soon necessitated and expectedly so,
the need for frequent visits by some prominent leaders to the
president.
The first was the visit by the All
Progress Congress (APC) members, led by its National Chairman, Chief
John Oyegun to the president in London. On that trip were the Minister
of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Governors Rochas Okorocha (Imo),
Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna) and Yahaya Bello
(Kogi).
But rather than douse tension, this
raised suspicion about the possibility of a stage-managed visit as the
opposition questioned the disposition of the president in the pictures
released from the visit. Immediately, another trip comprising two
governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and four others from the
APC was also arranged for them to see the President firsthand so as to
dispel the misinformation from the PDP camp, often promulgated by the
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose.
Those on this trip were Governors Udom
Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo),
Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Kashim Shettima (Borno) and Abdullahi Ganduje
(Kano).
From here, the floor was opened to many
others as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, paid a second
visit to the president. He had visited him the first time Buhari was in
London for his medical checkup. Not long after, the media team of the
president, led by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and four
others visited too and came back with the familiar feedback of a ‘fit as
fiddle’ president.
To follow this, was the visit by Senate
President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara. Some close friends of
the president also visited him. The visits to Buhari were later ‘sealed
up’ by a last one from the leader of the Redeemed Christian Church of
God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, who pronounced the president
healed and whose visit the presidency considered a show of goodwill that
Buhari enjoys.
Indeed, it was Saraki, who made more
lucid, the possibility of Buhari’s returning home sooner than anyone
could have imagined and as it turned out, the president came back
yesterday – better, hale and fit – at least, to personally drive to a
safe harbour, the remaining days of his current mandate.
Importantly, the period Buhari was away
should have provided for him, a rare opportunity to assess the state of
the nation, feel the pulse of the people, experience the unwavering love
of the people for him, a majority of who continued to pray for his
recovery, re-assess the state of the politics of the country, its
snarling governance and then come up with an idea that would help
enliven the system and give the much needed spark for a more productive
administration.
The beauty of his long absence is that
he had an uncommon opportunity to read and assess situations in the land
by himself, with little or no colouration of any sort. And this is what
Buhari must exhibit in his refreshing disposition, even as his improved
health condition is deserving of a toast.
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