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| Muhammadu Buhari, dying Nigerian President |
Nigerians remember 2010, when former President Umar Musa Yar'adua was indisposed and the country was in the dark as to the state of his health, which those with him as at that time refused to reveal to Nigerians even to the then vice president. Today, Buhari's health issue is also taking same dimension.
People are beginning to ask question and making comparison between Buhari and Yar'adua? Below are things common between them:
1. They were both born in Katsina state. Muhammadu Buhari was born on December 17, 1942, in Daura, Katsina state, to Adamu and Zulaihat Buhari. Umar Musa Yar'Adua was also born in Katsina on August 16, 1951 to a former Minister for Lagos during the First republic.
2. They were both supported by Obasanjo for president. Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, publicly expressed support for the electioneering campaign of Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) while he also highhandedly picked Umar Yar'Adua for the position of the President.
3. They were both sick in office. President Yar'Adua left Nigeria on November 23, 2009, and was reported to be receiving treatment for pericarditis at a clinic in Saudi Arabia. He returned February 24, 2010 under the cover of darkness. His state of health was unclear, but there was speculation that he was still on a life support machine. On May 5, 2010, his death was announced.
In May 2016, Buhari cancelled a two-day visit to Lagos to inaugurate projects in the state but he was represented by the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo after citing an "ear infection" suspected to be Ménière's disease.
On June 6, 2016, Buhari also traveled to the United Kingdom to seek medical attention. Again in January 2017, Buhari traveled to the UK, he was expected back on February 6, but he asked parliament to extend his vacation trip to allow him get medical test results.
4. They both made their Vice presidents, Acting Presidents. On February 9, 2010, Goodluck Jonathan who was Yar'adua's vice was made acting President of the Federation because President Yar'Adua went to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment.
President Muhammadu Buhari did the same thing as he made vice President, Yemi Osinbajo acting President for the third time within two years of the APC-led federal government administration, after he left on January 19, 2017.
5. They both put the country in tension. Yar'Adua's health was shrouded in uncertainty, no one was really sure what was happening. The same is happening with President Muhammadu Buhari's medical vacation which has been extended without a specific date of return. A group known as Save Nigeria Group has given the presidency 74 hours to reveal the full status of the president.
6. They both preferred to be treated abroad. Both presidents preferred to be treated outside Nigeria for various ailments.
On June 6, Buhari also travelled to the United Kingdom to seek medical attention. This happened days after the Presidential Spokesman Femi Adesina was quoted as saying Buhari was "as fit as fiddle" and "hale and hearty", to much discontent and criticism from political analysts and followers.
President Yar'Adua left Nigeria on November 23, 2009, and was reported to be receiving treatment for pericarditis at a clinic in Saudi Arabia.
The question now is will Buhari return the way of Yar'Adua?
Source: Naij
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