Late on Sunday Night, February 5, 2017, Nigerians awaiting news on the whereabouts of their President were treated to a predictable but very intriguing update on his return date. The President who had supposedly embarked upon a vacation to the UK some fortnight ago has postponed his return to the country 'indefinitely". The Presidency had set tongues wagging when in its statement released last month on the President's itinerary stated that he would take advantage of the trip to undergo some medical checks. In fairness to the President, he duly transmitted a letter to the National Assembly as required by the constitution appointing the Vice President, Acting President. This way, he succeeded in whittling down the potpourri of public anxiety and uncertainty that attended the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President following the demise of his predecessor, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
In similar fashion, President Yar'Adua was brazenly smuggled into a Saudi Hospital where he eventually died only to be bundled into the country by wily kitchen cabinet members who were afraid to relinquish their strangle hold on power. Buhari, on the other hand had to use the convenient pretext of 'vacation' to embark upon his medical tour. While this article is by no means criticizing the President's decision to seek medical solution abroad, the citizens' right to information must be respected.
Prior to the inevitable announcement on Sunday, the Presidency had been very upbeat on the health status of the President. Pictures of the President first in a sitting room watching television and subsequently with his wife and the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun flooded the internet. This was in the wake of the rumours that were making the rounds that the President had kicked the bucket while some other section of the rumours stated that he was in the intensive care. As much as the pictures tried to hide the obvious, they only succeeded in fanning the embers of grave doubt lurking in the minds of worried citizens that all was not well with the nation's number one citizen. Statements alleging that the President was hale and hearty were bandied by his handlers as if angling for a debating score. His Media Assistant, Femi Adesina even queried why anybody should question the President's health. Just a few moments before the contents of the President's letter to the National Assembly seeking an extension of his vacation surfaced, his dependable Information Minister had alleged that the President could not come back as scheduled due to a faulty engine of the Presidential jet only for the letter to the National Assembly seeking extension of vacation to state that the President would be extending his leave on health grounds. The statement credited to Lai Mohammed was just as hurried as it was thoughtless. Assuming the President shelved his return due to a faulty jet, certainly he needs a maximum of of 24 hours to get another Presidential jet from the Presidential fleet to dash down to UK and make a detour back to the country. The ten aircrafts in the Presidential fleet would even ensure the President has up to three to four aircrafts on stand by if need be. That piece of information demands specificity on the President's new return date. Apparently, the Honourable Minister under estimated and trivialized the extent of Mr. President's predicament like the rest of his handlers or is the Honourable Minister in the dark also as to the President's health condition?
While the two letters written to the National Assembly by the President on this issue have been very unequivocal on the President's health status and his decision to go to the UK to seek treatment, his media handlers have been singing discordant tunes reminiscent of the Nichodemic undercurrents that attended death and eventual smuggling of the corpse of Late President Yar'Adua. Femi Adesina has suddenly assumed the position of Squealer in the George Orwell's famous novel, "Animal farm". While the latter employed tact, stealth and moral suasion to execute his duties, the former has assumed an abrasive and uncouth posture devoid of tact and logic. Indeed, Femi Adesina and other members of Buhari's kitchen cabinet seem to have more to lose if the President leaves office by whatever means. Already, concerned Nigerians in the UK have besieged the Nigerian High Commission in the UK asking the President to address them. Suddenly, what looked like an outlandish rumour regarding a terminal illness afflicting the President and possible death few days ago is burgeoning into a burning reality. In an environment where transparency and candour are sacrificed on the altar of political allegiance, outlandish claims and stories feed on avoidable information gaps like these. Even if the President returns home tomorrow, Nigerians would feel betrayed by this deliberate misinformation that has characterized the President's "vacation'.
At a time where the nation faces a bleak economic future, would the Acting President be bold enough to initiate policies that can tackle the biting recession and inflation without fear of upsetting the apple cart and especially, his boss who has embarked on an indefinite leave? The indeterminacy of his vacation raises more posers than answers. On paper, we have an Acting President who would constantly be looking over his shoulders in initiating policies that might run counter to that of Baba's principles. The President is known to be very strident and doctrinaire in his approach to governance and might not take kindly to policies that challenge his authority. One can easily swathe this challenge away by suggesting constant communication between the Acting President and President but this flies in the face of available empirical evidence of possible incapacity on the part of the President at the moment. Are we then going to run the risk of having the Acting President initiate a policy that would be vetoed by the President on his return? Given the wily antecedents of the members of his kitchen cabinet, we can expect a very bumpy ride for the Acting President. This is again reminiscent of the Yar'Adua era where Good luck Jonathan faced stiff resistance from the President's kitchen cabinet led by the wife of the late President Yar'Adua even as Acting President.
Which ever way it goes, Nigeria would remain the biggest loser of this incendiary power play in the Villa.
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