By Tayo Ogunbiyi
In the estimation of self-styled doctors and soothsayers,
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ought to have died by now. They swore that he was
very sick. No sooner had the then-candidate Bola Tinubu won his party’s ticket
to run for the presidency than they came up with tales of his terrible health
condition.
What exactly was his health challenge?
Without giving any valid proof, the pseudo doctors quickly
went to town with accounts of how his kidneys have gone so bad. They also gave
stories of how he was moving with the aid of a machine kept inside of his left
heart.
Some claimed he was actually suffering from amnesia and
Parkinson disease. He would not survive the rigour of a tough political
campaign.
Another tale had it that his sickness was so bad that he had
started peeing on his body! So strong was this claim that it reverberated in a
viral video by one of his most trusted political allies.
With all these tales of woes, candidate Bola Tinubu was a
disaster waiting to happen! To really drive home the point that the man was a
walking corpse, a group of jesters also joined in the fray. They composed a
song titled, ‘Baba wey dey shake’ (literally translated as the sick Papa).
In the said virile song, they taunted him with his alleged
ill-health, contending that virtually all the organs of his body have packed
up. They chorused: ‘Hand dey shake, leg dey shake, he still dey say emilokan’
(with shaking hands and legs, he still says it is my turn to be President).
Surprisingly, candidate Bola Tinubu was unperturbed by all
the ill-health vibes. He surged on with the agility of an athlete poised to
break world/Olympic records. In-spite of his purported failing health, he ran a
most strenuous political campaign, combing the length and breadth of the
country with his ‘Renewed Hope’ mantra.
He was reported to be holding a series of political meetings
deep into the night. Even so, he would be the first to be on the road for yet
another political engagement the following day. He even went to places
considered quite dangerous. A particular case was a village in Kaduna State,
Birnin Gwari, noted for its protracted terrorists’ escapades. Against every
persuasion, then candidate Bola Tinubu insisted on visiting the village. He and
his team got there in the dead of the night. The Emir was so impressed that he
bequeathed him a traditional title.
Yet, the quasi doctors were not convinced. He remained a
sick man. The verdict? He was not fit for the throne. However, come Election
Day, the electorate had a different view as he defeated his closest rivals to
emerge the 16th President of the country.
About two weeks after he was pronounced winner, he left the
shores of the country for France. His handlers said he needed a moment of rest
and reflection, considering the enormous task ahead.
But his self-appointed wannabe doctors would have none of
that. He was going to France to seek urgent medical attention as some of the
gadgets fixed to his body were already malfunctioning and needed to be
reworked.
While in France, radiant pictures of the man and his family
together with political associates surfaced online. Still, his self-appointed
physicians insisted he was at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a French
hospital. They claimed the online pictures were merely carefully doctored by
his handlers to fool Nigerians.
At the appointed time, they claimed they were going to reveal
the name of the hospital where he was admitted and show the whole world how
life-threatening his health condition was. It was so bad that he could no
longer recognise anyone. So they alleged.
A few days to the inauguration, Bola Tinubu arrived in the country,
using his words, “after a refreshing and rewarding time in France”. He was seen
coming down from the aircraft with the liveliness of a bubbling youth, waving
enthusiastically at his supporters who had come in their numbers to welcome him
back home.
Yet, the quasi medics were not persuaded. Rather, they
called attention to a supposed machine allegedly fixed on one of his pockets as
an authentic proof that their ‘patient’s’ ailment was yet to be healed. Before
you could say Jack Robinson, pictures of the purported machine had gone virile.
“Yes, we said so. He is a sick man. We don’t want another
Yar’Adua”, the disciples of the phoney doctors chorused.
Since his inauguration, rather than die as they had
predicted, the President has continued to exhibit traits of a man whose
faculties are intact. He has made decisions that have been considered sound and
apt from far and near. Even his worst critics have agreed that the man has
begun his presidency on a sound footing.
In his first official overseas trip to France (what is it
with the President and France?) where he attended the maiden Summit on New
Global Financing Pact in Paris, he looked quite energetic, holding several
meetings with notable world monetary bodies and individuals.
Perhaps, the highlight of his outing in France was the
manner he galloped, like an Under-17 footballer, to hug French President
Emmanuel Macron on the last day of the Paris Summit. He was so lively and full
of energy that one would think he was the younger of the two.
Curiously, of late, the quasi doctors and their disciples
seem unconcerned about the President’s health. They seem to have been
disappointed that their skewed diagnosis has failed. Probably, they are now
convinced that they are wrong after all.
How can a sick President be almost everywhere bubbling with
life. After he left Paris, the President flew to London where he reportedly
paid his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, a private visit.
He left London for Lagos and was engaged in a flurry of
activities that were certainly not appropriate for a sick man. In one day, he
was in Ijebu-Ode and Abeokuta, both in Ogun State, on a private visit to the
monarchs of the respective ancient Yoruba towns. Same day, in the evening, he
was back in Lagos as a guest of the State government, which held a colourful
reception in his honour.
The following day, he attended to a visiting African Head of
State, while also making several private visits to notable individuals such as
the Oba of Lagos, Hajia Abba Folawiyo, Haji Binta Tinubu and a host of others.
Since the pseudo doctors and their adherents seem to have
mellowed about his health concern, the question they need to urgently answer now
is: Who healed the President?
Ogunbiyi is Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of
Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
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