BUHARI’S ILLNESS: STOP WORRIES AND DISTRACTIONS

6^th May, 2017

PRESS RELEASE:

BUHARI’S ILLNESS: STOP WORRIES AND DISTRACTIONS

President Muhammadu Buhari was reportedly absent during Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings. He also missed two Jum’ah services although he attended the last one. Consequently, there is palpable apprehension in the land leading some stakeholders to call for his resignation while others asked him to take medical leave.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) urges Nigerians to stop worrying. Some of the interventions constitute a form of distraction. Nigerians seem to be making a mountain out of an ordinary mole hill. While genuinely concerned stakeholders are appreciated we warn that some unpatriotic elements are already leveraging on the president’s illness and the complex nature of politics to cause havoc.     

We affirm that there is nothing strange in having a president who is sick or recovering from sickness. What matters is the handling. We urge the Federal Government (FG) not to allow mischief makers and corruption-friendly opposition parties to capitalize on the situation. We therefore commend the Minister of Information for the professional manner with which he has handled the situation.

MURIC does not subscribe to the school of thought that insists on disclosing the president’s type of sickness. We believe that many of those agitating have ulterior motives. We should allow the president and his health managers to manage his period of recovery in a professional manner. The Presidency has a duty to keep the nature of the president’s ailment private otherwise opportunists and enemies of transparency will throw this country into pandemonium.

We should remember that a state governor in the opposition party once advertised death-wish for Buhari even before he won the election. Taking mockery to the height of Everest, the same governor even insisted that Buhari should talk to him on telephone to convince Nigerians that he is alive. Do you think such a person will stop at anything to actualize his diabolical wish once he knows the president’s real ailment? The Presidency must keep him and his co-travellers guessing.

We call on the presidency to ignore sadistic insinuations. It is clear that many of those agitating have ulterior motives. Instead of allowing the president and his health managers to manage his period of recovery in a professional manner, cynics insist on sighting the president while hypocrites and parasites shed crocodile tears in the day but plot and conspire in the night.

MURIC affirms that Buhari is fighting for the youth. While many younger politicians are stealing Nigeria dry, Buhari who is already 74 is seizing their loots and returning it to the treasury for today’s youth to enjoy it in future. We therefore charge Nigerian youths to pray for the president and rally behind him because they will be the real beneficiaries of a better Nigeria which he is trying to create through the war against corruption. This is because Buhari is already advanced in age and the youths of today are the ones who will enjoy the infrastructural facilities being put in place now.

The huge cash being recovered from many hideouts and the gargantuan loot being seized from corrupt politicians belong to the Nigerian youth. Buhari is trying to secure the future of their tomorrow by transforming them from a wasted generation to youths of a better tomorrow.

Those calling on Buhari to resign should borrow a leaf from the Americans. US citizens did not tear their country apart because their president was sick. At least five American presidents have been sick while in office and they did not resign.

These include Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) who suffered a severe stroke that left him incapacitated throughout his presidency. Yet He remained in office till the end of his term. Others are Franklin D Roosevelt (1933-1945), Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), John F Kennedy (1961 - 1963) and George Bush (1989 – 1993).

Cynics who insist they must see the president by paying him a visit or by arranging teams to visit him should hold on and allow the man to rest properly. Abuja will be jam-packed if all of us queue up to visit Buhari in Aso Rock. The real purpose will be defeated if the man receives too many visitors.

Before we round up, we reiterate that it is natural for homo sapiens to fall sick. It is only Allah who can never be sick (Qur’an 2:255). In the case of President Buhari it is even more natural because of his advanced age. But the problem here is what we make of the situation. Those who think the president should not be sick should ask God to come and rule them by Himself.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)