Pan - Yoruba organisation, Afenifere, has berated governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State for his comment on Buhari ’s health.
Afenifere and the Coalition of Northern Youths lampooned Ortom over his statement that Buhari’s illhealth had made the nation sick.
Afenifere’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, described the comment as “the height of sycophancy by Ortom.”
He said if the governor’s comment was true , it meant the President surrounded himself with incompetent officials who could not steer the country along the right path without him.
“The President is the number one citizen, but if he is sick, that did not mean the nation is sick; he is not Nigeria . If he is sick and the country is sick, it means he surrounded himself with incompetents who cannot steer the ship of the nation without him. I think the comment by Ortom is the height of sycophancy,” Odumakin said.
The President of the Coalition of Northern Youths, Yerima Shettima, said Ortom’s statement was sad and unfortunate, noting that the nation was greater than an individual.
He said it was wrong for anyone to say Nigeria was sick because of Buhari’s illness, noting that the nation must forge ahead with or without the President.
Shettima argued that the country must build strong institutions, stressing that an individual alone could not make a country.
He said, “As much as we love him (Buhari), and we are worried about his health, we cannot say because he is sick, the entire country should fall apart. We pray for his quick recovery, but Nigeria must forge ahead.
“Nigeria must forge ahead , but we pray for him to come back in good health and discharge his duties and fulfil his obligation to the electorate. But for anybody to say without Buhari, there is no Nigeria or because he sick, the country is sick ; it is not right.
“I am sure Buhari will not want Nigeria to go down , or for the country to be sick because he is sick. We need to be mindful of our words ; the country is greater than any individual.”
Also, a civil- society organisation , Socio - Economic Rights and Accountability Project, said opinions of governors that visited President Muhammadu Buhari could not determine his stay in London, since they were not medical doctors.
SERAP Director, Adetokunbo Mumumi, said only the medical team with the President would determine his leaving.
He said, “When the President left for his first medical trip , he made it known that he would still go back for a checkup. The health of the president is very important, and he has a duty to take care of himself. The governors do not have to tell the President before he does that. They are not medical doctors.
“It is what the medical team in London tells him that will be done. Nigeria has existed before the President was born , and the country will continue to be whether he is well or not.”
A Second Republic lawmaker and northern elder statesman, Dr Junaid Mohammed, said the statement credited to Ortom was unfortunate , noting that the governor was trying to be “mischievous.”
Junaid said, “If that statement came out from Governor Ortom, then it is rather unfortunate. It further confirms the fears of Nigerians that there is no clear - cut definition on the president’s state of health. The statement is rather mischievous. It does not allay the worries of Nigerians.”
