Gov. Ortom dumps APC

Have Nigerians lost anything in Buhari’s absence?

When will our president Muhammadu Buhari be back? This is a common question on the lips of every Nigerian. But is that really what should be the right question to ask right now?

Former Interim national chairman, APC and ex-Lagos state governor, Bola Tinubu during their visit to President Buhari in London

Nigerians seem to be tired with the absentee president Buhari, we all know Nigeria is in a recession and things are hard in the economy. A lot of people who do not understand how we get here as a country will not understand the reason Nigerians are this agitated.

The truth must be said, the Buhari led administration promised Nigerians too much than reality and Nigerians in their impatient state expect the “promised change” with the speed of light.

Activist Omoyele Sowore disclosed that he marched in Lagos protesting with their placards saying: “Unemployed people hungry and angry”. Prices of food and other daily necessities is skyrocketing, the value of naira is more epileptic than the supply of electricity. Things just seem not to work.

Buhari’s campaign to fight the looming corruption that seems to crush every form of growth in the economy has not yielded any meaningful result, we have not seen any highly profiled prosecutions lead to detention. Nigerians are fed up and need the president to do something about the situation of the country and above all deliver on his campaign promises.

In the heat of all these was when we saw our president Buhari took a two-week sick leave vacation, this was a worry for some. Taking it a step further; two weeks is over and we have not seen our president.

This led to unverified news circulating on the social media that the president - Muhammadu Buhari was dead, but a statement said that he was extending his absence to complete unspecified medical tests. This extension has left a mark in so many Nigerians that the 74-year-old president is not medically and mentally fit to govern and carry the burden of a country as Nigeria.

In a letter written to the National Assembly on Sunday 19th February, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his intention to extend his medical leave in the UK; this was announced in a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Adesina, the spokesperson of the president.

This statement is however silent on the exact date president Buhari will return from his trip. This is a major concern for so many Nigerians, but my question now is that: should that be our major worry as Nigerians?

Sunrise Daily on Channels Television on the 22nd of February hosted Femi Adeshina the Presidents’ spokesperson, and Maupe of Channels asked him this: “What is the nature of the president’s illness?”

The question as simple as it is got another very simple answer: Not as serious as thought Now, I think medical practitioners need to do a research on this new ailment called “not as serious as thought”.

Nigerians are asking the wrong question over the president's absence, the question should not be “when is he returning?” rather: “what is the nature of his ailment?”

Goodness sake, Nigerians deserve to know what is wrong with their president, we all deserve to know the health condition of our number-one-man.

We must begin to ask the right questions, if only we know what is wrong with him then we would have an answer to when he will probably return from his long trip.

Another question to ask ourselves is this: are we really seeking the right change?

I have no doubt and I will keep saying this that Nigeria and Africa cannot experience any political revolution, all we can ever have is an economic revolution, this explains to me the reason the 2Face proposed rally failed, why every other rallies have failed and also every subsequent ones.

No Nigerian wants to die despite the hardship, our differences in culture, spirituality and even politically is a strong reason why no political revolution will work. People will believe that any call to action is either politically motivated or religiously.

What unites us as a people is economic, hunger doesn’t know culture or religion, it doesn’t respect your political party. If we truly want any meaningful change in Nigeria, then we must take power away from politicians and put them on the streets – power should be controlled by market forces, by you and I.

The state of the country is the worry of Nigerians and not necessarily the president. We only need to ask ourselves the right questions.