Muslim groups, ACF, Balarabe, others ask for support for Buhari

AS anxiety continues to grow over the poor health of President Muhammadu Buhari which has kept him from a direct engagement with the public for some time now, some Muslim groups, organisations and Nigerians of note have risen in defence of the president.

This is coming just as the president, on Friday, joined other Muslims to observe the Jum’at prayer at the Presidential Villa Mosque, in Abuja.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO) as well as the Arewa Consultative Forum, a former governor of the old Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa and a don at the University of Ibadan, Professor Afis Oladosu urged Nigerians to exercise restraint in their agitations over the president’s state of health.

They argued that the president is still considered to be of sound mind and therefore is capable of making his own decisions, particularly as they have to do with his health and the execution of his status as the number one citizen.

Dressed in his trademark white flowing gown with a cap to match, Buhari was joined at the Jum’at prayer by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami; National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno; Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, among others.

The president came into the mosque at about 1.30 p.m. and was reported to have asked after his personal photographer, Bayo Omoboriowo, when he came out of the mosque after the prayer.

The president was unable to observe the prayer at the mosque Friday last week, raising concerns about his actual state of health.

Before then, he was also unable to attend the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), just like last Wednesday.

Amidst mounting anxiety about his state of health, the Presidency, penultimate Thursday, explained that President Buhari was not able to work full time because his doctors insisted he should rest.

A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, however, assured Nigerians that there was nothing to be apprehensive about concerning the president’s ill health.

The president had drastically scaled down his activities since returning from a nearly two months of medical leave in the United Kingdom in March.

Let’s exercise caution –ACF

But a political and cultural association of leaders in the North, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), urged those calling on the president to resign or to proceed on medical leave to be cautious about making futile statements.

In a statement, on Friday, signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, the ACF expressed concern that some individuals were making unnecessary remarks pertaining to the health of President Buhari.

“What Nigerians need to do now is to pray for his good health and not to speculate or draw conclusions which will do no one any good. ACF advises Nigerians to please pray for the improvement of Mr President’s health so that he can serve the nation with more vigour,” the organisation said.

Calling for Buhari’s resignation is wicked –Balarabe Musa

Speaking in the same vein, a former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, described advocates of the resignation of the president as being unkind and lacking in sympathy.

In an interview with Saturday Tribune, on Friday, Musa said the call for Buhari’s resignation was uncharitable, unkind and lacking sympathy for an individual that is sick.

According to him, what the president needs is to get well and continue to steer the ship of state.

Musa, who is also the National Chairman of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), queried the rationale behind a conclusion that the president “cannot rule the country any longer,” saying, “Do they have any proof or evidence to show to Nigerians?”

He stated that under the present circumstance, Nigerians could not rely on anybody to “tell us his health status, not even his aides or his party, but only the Senate.”

He said “the constitution has given the Senate the power to find out the true situation about the president’s health status if they want.”

To this end, he said the Senate had the power to constitute a medical board for the purpose of finding out whether the president is physically and mentally stable to carry out his duties.

“Until the Senate does that, I think it is utterly wrong to speculate on the president’s health and even call for his resignation,” the elder statesman added.

No big deal about the president being sick –MURIC

For the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), there is no big deal in the situation on ground.

The group said in a statement by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, that Nigerians seemed to be making a mountain out of a mole hill as it is natural to fall sick and that in the case of President Buhari, it is even more natural because of his advanced age.

“The president was sick. He travelled out for treatment. He was advised to rest for a while but back home his countrymen who love debates were at it again. They demanded to see the president. Somebody even said the president had died. There were so many diabolical insinuations. This was partly responsible for the early return of the president from London.

“Our position is that there is no cause for alarm. We believe that presently the president is recuperating and he still needs some rest. We are happy at the harmony within the presidency. Remember that he followed due process the first time he went abroad for treatment by writing Senate and by handing over power to his Vice. He will do the same thing this time if the need arises. 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.

“Nigerians should be grateful to this president for fighting for them. Therefore they should be prayerful. This is the man rescuing the country from the abyss of corruption, waste and economic irrelevance. Buhari has the political will to fight corruption to a standstill and this is what many of his predecessors lack.

“Leave Buhari alone. Let him recover completely. Pray for him. We need him to finish this fight. It is still halfway and corruption is already fighting back. We have the worst set of lawmakers in the history of this country. They are shielding corrupt politicians. They are weakening anti-corruption agencies. They are sitting on anti-corruption bills. They are making it impossible to put recovered funds into use. They are punishing Nigerians by doing all these and many more.

“We are not surprised that Nigerians are asking questions anyway. Nigerians like arguments. We have a culture of waste. That is why we can spend the whole day in the beer parlour debating. That is why our civil servants get to work at 10.00 a.m,, start gossiping from 12 noon, read newspapers from 2 to 3 p.m. and watch television from 3 to 4.

“It is not strange to have a president who is sick or recovering from sickness. What matters is the handling. The Federal Government must not allow mischief-makers and corruption-friendly opposition parties to capitalise on the situation. The government will be giving them the chance to do that if it lets down the guard and fails to manage information properly.

“MURIC does not subscribe to the school of thought that insists on disclosing the president’s type of sickness. The Federal Government 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,” MURIC said in its statement.

We shouldn’t politicise the president’s health issue –NACOMYO

Similarly, the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO) described the president’s decision to disclose his indisposition, manage his ill health and continue attending to the nation’s affairs as an indication of his patriotism and dedication to the country.

In a statement by its president, Kamaldeen Akintunde, NACOMYO, which is the apex body of all Muslim youth organisations, said: “Anybody could become illness at anytime. And for President Muhammadu Buhari to have developed ill health midway into his administration is not strange or unnatural.

“The call by Nigerians that he should travel abroad to attend to his failing health is also an expression of concern and affection. But the fact is that President Buhari himself will take appropriate action concerning his state of health, as he may be medically advised. And he did say on his return from his first medical trip that he was due back for check-up.

“However, the issue needs not be politicised or be made a public debate otherwise it is a distraction from governance. President Buhari’s action or inaction concerning his health will not adversely affect governance as he has an able lieutenant who proved his mettle during the first medical vacation.

“Our advice to Nigerians is to be patient and do away with anxiety over the president’s health and to be prayerful for the ailing president of the federation. We also advise all arms of government to remain focused on the business of governance and on making the country move past its present economic and security challenges.”

No handing over required  –Prof. Oladosu

A professor of Middle Eastern, North African and Cultural Studies, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan, Afis Oladosu, said he does not subscribe to the call on President Buhari to hand over power to Vice President Yemi Osibajo as a result of his poor health condition.

He, however, said except for people who read politics into everything, it is arguable to say that majority of Nigerians are genuinely concerned about the health status of the president.

Professor Oladosu told Saturday Tribune on Friday, that “Nigerians, who desire that this nation emerge from this abyss so that it can join other nations which appear to have left this country behind decades ago, are praying on a daily basis that the Almighty grant our president quick and full recovery from whatever ailment he might be suffering from.

“That said, I do not, however, subscribe to the call on Mr President to hand over power to Vice President Yemi Osibajo as a result of his poor health condition. I disagree with that call for two reasons. One, the call appears to be based on the assumption that Mr President has lost that critical power of discernment such that he is no more capable of knowing either what is good for him or for this great country. You will recall that when he went on the last medical trip to the United Kingdom, the decision to hand over power to Mr Vice-President was freely taken by him to the admiration of all. It was probably the first time such had occurred in the annals of the Nigerian nation.

“Thus, it is my candid opinion that Nigerians should dissipate less energy on assuming the position of ‘advisers extraordinaire” to Mr President. Let us all instead continue to pray for him and for this nation. This nation is indeed poor not only of bread, water and light, it is equally in huge deficit of divine ministrations.”