Femi Adesina, who used to be the media adviser to former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, said Buhari might not have survived his health problems if he had only used Nigerian hospitals.
He said this during an interview on Channels Television, ahead of the state funeral for the former president.
When asked about the criticism over Buhari’s many trips to the UK for medical treatment, Adesina defended the trips, saying they were necessary to keep him alive.
Adesina explained that Buhari had been getting medical care in London even before he became president, so continuing treatment there wasn’t new.
He said the UK doctors already knew Buhari’s medical history before he became president in 2015, so it made sense to keep using them rather than switch to a new team.
Adesina said Buhari’s decision to continue treatment abroad was based on the skill of the doctors and the lack of needed medical expertise in Nigeria at that time.
He added that Buhari had to stay alive first before he could fix problems in the country. If Buhari had insisted on getting treated in Nigeria to prove his patriotism, he might have died due to the lack of proper care.
Adesina said Buhari was able to lead the country because he got the care he needed abroad.He stressed that Buhari’s trips should not be seen as luxury or ignoring local healthcare, but as something necessary to keep him alive.
Adesina concluded that people who criticized the trips didn’t realize that staying alive was the first step to making any change in Nigeria.
