Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president, has flown to London for a new round of treatment for a mysterious illness, continuing a health saga that has sapped his presidency of strength and direction.
Mr Buhari, 74, returned to Nigeria only in March after seven weeks’ treatment in the UK, but has since skipped several cabinet meetings and rarely left his official residence in Abuja, the capital. This will be his fourth stay for medical treatment in the UK since he was elected in 2015.
When he returned to Abuja from London in March this year, the fragile-looking president told the nation he had never felt “so sick”, but was gradually recovering. On Sunday, he said in a brief message that there was “no cause for worry” and that the country was safely in the hands of Yemi Osinbajo, his vice-president.
Some civil groups have expressed concern over the president’s lengthy illness, suggesting he take medical leave until he is fully recovered and hand over power to Mr Osinbajo, who is judged by most to have done a good job in Mr Buhari’s absence.
Although discussion of the illness of a leader is a delicate matter in Nigeria, there has been growing pressure for Mr Buhari to put national interest first by revealing the nature of his condition. Mr Osinbajo, a southern Christian, may not be in a good position to take over permanently from Mr Buhari, a northern Muslim, given an unstated agreement that power should revolve between the two groups.
Assuming Mr Buhari is unable to run for a second term — something that looks increasingly likely — there may be strong pressure from Nigerian elites to replace him with another northerner.
On Sunday, Mr Buhari delayed his flight to London for several hours to meet 82 Chibok girls, released after months of negotiations with Boko Haram, the militant Islamic group that kidnapped 270 schoolgirls in 2014. The return of the girls was a rare moment of triumph in a presidency that has struggled with the first economic recession in 25 years, a consequence of the low price of oil, on which government revenues remain dangerously dependent.
Mr Buhari has managed to reinvigorate the army’s fight against Boko Haram, regaining some control over security in the north-east, but his administration has also had to grapple with militants in the Delta region where oil installations have been attacked.
Eisili Eigbe, head of Africa for Exotix Partners, an investment company, said it was negative for investor sentiment to have a president who was out of action for such lengthy periods. He was sceptical of Mr Buhari’s assurances that economic policy would not be affected by his regular absences and returns.
“That may not be entirely true, especially given what I believe is the different ideology between the president and some of those in the cabinet,” Mr Eigbe said, referring to Mr Buhari’s perceived suspicion of business and free-market policies. “The momentum with which economic reforms should have been implemented has been relatively slow.”
The Financial Times