Mr President M. Buhari who was on medical vacation in London was rife on social media and other informal communication platforms early this week of purported death, he was on medical leave in London, not Daura so if anything had happened to him under the nose of the ever-vigilant BBC and Sky News reporters, it would have been world news.
Also Mr President is a Muslim and by the Islamic ordinance, a dead body is not supposed to be kept beyond 24 hours without burial and so if he were dead as rumored his body would have been brought home immediately for burial. However, as much as the purported death of our president was a rumour, we must not lose sight of the lesson to be learnt from it. The attitude and reactions of the general public to the death rumour are something to be analyzed and put in proper perspectives.
Nigerians, that speak ill of the President and are dancing and jubilating at the news of the demise of their president is a clear indication that the regime of the president has not met their expectations and this is something the presidential aides should communicate to him in clear unmistakable terms. I was appalled when I read in one of the national dailies about a threat from the presidency to punish those behind the death rumours. This is not the first time the premature obituary of somebody in authority has been spread. In fact, it happens regularly and it provides a useful gauge of the popularity or otherwise of the personality involved.
Evidently, the job of the President is daunting and taxing physically and mentally; it is neither for the sickly nor the physically incapacitated, so it is imperative that they be informed appropriately about the condition of the President. Nigerians deserve the right to know the true state of the health of the man they have elected to govern them. The continued silence of the Presidency on the matter is what is fuelling the debilitating rumour. Nigeria has a large population of gullible citizens who not only believe rumours but luxuriate in spreading them.
Evidently, the job of the President is daunting and taxing physically and mentally; it is neither for the sickly nor the physically incapacitated, so it is imperative that they be informed appropriately about the condition of the President. Nigerians deserve the right to know the true state of the health of the man they have elected to govern them. The continued silence of the Presidency on the matter is what is fuelling the debilitating rumour. Nigeria has a large population of gullible citizens who not only believe rumours but luxuriate in spreading them.
Nothing short of hearing from the president himself is enough to douse the palpable tension generated by the rumour. So therefore Nigerians have every right to know the condition of the man they have entrusted with the responsibility of taking decisions that affect their lives and destinies. Most times, Leaders fail not because they are not willing or able to perform but because of the overzealousness of their personal aides who fail to advise them accordingly. For parochial reasons, some sycophants indulge in eye-service and praise singing instead of rendering the needed advice.