Still on Buhari’s medical trips
It was in aversion for such disgusting antics of the power elite that the Nigerian electorate sought a change: a break with the past. And they thought that the then presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, personified this desired change. They thought he embodied the essential qualities for that desperately needed break with the past: the indomitable […]
It was in aversion for such disgusting antics of the power elite that the Nigerian electorate sought a change: a break with the past. And they thought that the then presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, personified this desired change. They thought he embodied the essential qualities for that desperately needed break with the past: the indomitable will of a military commander, incorruptible uprightness of a moral crusader and the honor of a devout Muslim. However, after two years in power, the Buhari’s government is yet to bring about any meaningful change to the lives of the generality of Nigerians. Even, its supposedly determined drive against official corruption has not proven very effective. As such, official corruption remains as rife, and waste in all arms of government continues unimpeded. Not surprisingly, the Nigerian healthcare delivery system remains as moribund and in disarray as ever. And medical tourism continues unhindered.
Paradoxically, medical tourism is receiving a matchless boost from the Buhari administration. President Buhari, more than any other Nigerian president, is glamorizing it. His earlier trip to England to treat an ear infection seemed unnecessary. By any stretch of the imagination, an ear infection is not a life threatening or an exceptionally grievous illness. So, that trip was disturbingly redolent of earlier Nigerian administrations and their dramatized disregard for prevailing national sentiments. It reeked of over indulgence and a refusal to join the rest of Nigerians in the necessary belt-tightening in an economic recession. It eroded his credibility as a leader that is leading by example, and thus, willing to join in the collective sacrifice that his administration is demanding from the rest of Nigerians.
The Buhari administration has been responsible for the national health care policies and their implementation for a period of two years. It can reasonably be argued that two years is not enough time for even the most well intended health policies and their implementation to have transformed the Nigerian health care delivery system. And, as such, due to the remaining limitations on our health system, some ailments may still demand traveling overseas for medical attention. It is possible that the president’s present illness demands such.
However, the president is not the average Nigerian. He is the leader, the premier role model of the country and Nigerians are invariably swayed by his personal examples. He is the personification of the country’s hope, the embodiment of her resolve and the repository of the powers of her government. He essentially sets the moral tone, defines the national mood and forges the national purpose. Therefore, his public image and conduct and their possible implications are of momentous significance, and should be handled with exquisite discretion. As earlier administrations detached themselves from the people, he, as our president of change, should have meticulously projected the image of a willingness to share in the concerns and problems of the people. And as medical tourism evinces corruption, arrogance and insensitivity of the Nigerian power elite, he needed to painstakingly avoid it. So, irrespective of the gravity of his illness, he should have refused to leave Nigeria for medical care. The experts from England should have been brought into the country with their facilities (even if it is at a higher cost), to treat him here in Nigeria.
His medical tourism is symbolically bad for his presidency. It cast his administration in the same light as earlier discredited administrations. It undermines the people’s trust in his promised change. It would be harder for his administration to convince Nigerians that he is a selfless public servant, and (as he promised us) that his presidency will be one of the most unselfish pages of Nigerian history. His refusal to go overseas for treatment would have been symbolically wonderful and a propaganda master stroke for his presidency. In statecraft symbols and propaganda are extremely important; symbols are sometimes more important than reality and propaganda more important than facts.
Tochukwu Ezukanma, Lagos.