Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is battling what appears to be Alzheimer’s disease, Signal reports.
The development, which has greatly
impaired the President’s ability to remember serious matters of
governance, has strengthened the takeover of the Aso Rock Presidential
Villa by a cabal under the reins of Mamman Daura.
According to a top-level source who
disclosed the details to SIGNAL, a recent meeting with President Buhari
at the Aso Rock Villa showed how much the illness may have worsened in
the last few months with the president needing a reminder over and over
again to keep up with the details of an ongoing conversation.
The development is said to have created a
situation where the president is technically no longer in control of
serious governance decisions.
According to the source who did not want
to be named, Mamman Daura, a close confidant of the president has now
assumed control of the Buhari administration taking advantage of the
president’s ailment.
“It is a really serious situation. It is
looking like the president has now been caged and hijacked. He is not
in control. Daura is the one handling most of the key issues. He is the
one who manages the entire decision-making process from who is listed
and presented to the president for appointments, interpretation of key
policy decisions and their implications to the president, and even who
is targeted or penciled down for arrests or prosecution. It’s
unbelievably shocking”, the source said.
The unfolding development corroborates an earlier report in
June 2016 which revealed details about how wife of the president, Mrs.
Aisha Buhari was being sidelined by the Daura cabal which had hijacked
President Buhari’s government.
Buhari’s Alzheimer’s symptoms and a history of memory gaffes
According to medical experts, in the
early stages of Alzheimer’s, a person may function independently. He or
she may still drive, work and be part of social activities. Despite
this, the person may feel as if he or she is having memory lapses, such
as forgetting familiar words or the location of everyday objects.
Friends, family or neighbors begin to
notice difficulties. During a detailed medical interview, doctors may be
able to detect problems in memory or concentration. Common difficulties
include:
- Problems coming up with the right word or name
- Trouble remembering names when introduced to new people
- Having greater difficulty performing tasks in social or work settings
- Forgetting material that one has just read
- Losing or misplacing a valuable object
- Increasing trouble with planning or organizing
In the run up to the 2015 presidential
election, Nigerians witnessed a bizarre occurrence in how President
Buhari then the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) became entangled in a series of memory, pronunciation and clear
message errors. In one striking instance, President Buhari forgot the name of his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo addressing him instead as Prof. Yemi Osinbade.
In another shocking development, President Buhari on a live television interview with Al Jazeera forgot the
full meaning of Nigeria’s electoral body the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), switching ‘Nigeria’ with ‘National’.
Similarly, in a meeting with President
Barack Obama at the White House, President Buhari forgot the full
meaning of APC, the acronym of his All Progressives Congress (APC)
ruling party. This time, Buhari omitted the word ‘progressives’, adding
‘Nigeria’ and ‘people’ into the mix and describing his party as the All
Nigeria Peoples Congress.
But President Buhari was not done yet as
the litany of his memory loss gaffes saw a fresh replay in Europe, this
time referring to the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, as “President Michelle” of “West Germany” during the G7 Summit in Germany.
A medical practitioner who spoke to
SIGNAL on condition of anonymity disclosed that these errors provoke
more than casual interest in claims that the President may actually be
battling Alzheimer’s disease. “We must continue to pray for the
well-being of Mr. President but I think it is in the public interest
that citizens begin to call for a proper medical assessment of the
fitness of the President for his own good and for the good of the
country. Some of the signs are troubling and Nigerians should be
concerned”, the medical practitioner said.
A series of foreign trips and medical vacations
Although much of the president’s health
challenges have been carefully shielded from the Nigerian public by
presidential handlers, several media reports indicate that President
Buhari’s frequent vacations and trips abroad since he assumed office in
May 2015 are beyond official engagements but actually health-related.
In June 2016, President Buhari proceeded
to London for 10 days for medical attention and what his handlers
described as a vacation. The development raised concerns and fears over
the President’s health. Presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina dismissed
concerns about Buhari’s worsening health condition stating that the
President was “fit as a fiddle.”
Recall that earlier in February 2016, Buhari also took a six-day vacation.
During the president’s trip to London in
June 2016, there were reports that aside from seeing an E.N.T.
specialist for a persistent ear infection, he was also placed on close
medical observation for possible cancer treatment.
In a closely related development,
informed sources who did not want to be named told Signal that President
Buhari has been reluctant to proceed on an extended medical leave that
could take at least eight weeks to undergo a combination of medical
procedures abroad.
“The extended medical leave would enable
the president undergo an extensive procedure that will take at least
eight weeks. His doctors abroad have advised he needs to undertake the
procedure but the president has been reluctant because that would amount
to his absence from office for at least two months. His close advisers
think that would be too risky and they are trying to avoid a repeat of
the ‘Yar’Adua situation’,” the source said. “So for now the doctors in
Nigeria are administering treatments and whenever they observe an
emerging complication, he is scheduled for a foreign visit where he goes
on another round of medical check-ups abroad.”
A statement on Wednesday from the Nigerian Presidency announced that Buhari would be leaving for Germany on Thursday for
a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Nigerian presidency
said Buhari would discuss with Merkel, matters relating to Boko Haram
and the Nigerian economy.
Since his inauguration on May 29, 2015
Buhari has earned the record of Nigeria’s most traveled president within
a time span of twelve months.
Mamman Daura cabal takes over Aso Rock, Aisha Buhari kicks
In the midst of growing concerns over
President Buhari’s health, his inability to function effectively has
paved way for the emergence of a new power bloc within the Villa. The
cabal headed by Mamman Daura, a close relative and confidant of the
President has maintained firm grip over the inner workings of the Buhari
administration.
Mamman Daura is said to have usurped
more powers than he should be wielding over the President, forcing the
wife of the President Aisha Buhari to raise her voice in dissent.
In June 2016, SIGNAL first broke the
story of Aisha Buhari’s fears over how her husband the President was
losing his hold on power due to his poor health condition and the rise
of the Daura cabal within in the corridors of power at the Aso Rock
Villa.
In what appears to be her first courageous attempt to draw public attention to what is happening in the Villa, Mrs. Buhari told the Hausa Service of the BBC that people who did nothing to secure the election of her husband, the President have taken over the government.
Although Mrs. Buhari hid under the cover
of the ongoing crisis in the ruling APC to air her grievances known,
inside sources informed about the real power crisis at the Villa told Signal Mrs. Buhari may have just taken the first step towards sending a message across to the Daura cabal in Aso Rock.
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