Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has all but told Nigerians and the world that during his eight years in power, he failed to provide his country with basic dental care infrastructures and personnel.
The Nigerian President made this unspoken statement when he decided to prolong his stay in London by one week for dental treatment.
The president of Africa’s most populous nation initially traveled to the British capital, London, last week to witness King Charles III’s coronation, but instead of returning to Nigeria, he has stayed on to receive the medical care that he cannot provide for himself and his citizens.
Buhari was supposed to return to Nigeria this week but has decided to stay “at the behest of his dentist, who has started attending to him,” a statement confirmed.
“The specialist requires to see the president in another five days for a procedure already commenced,” presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said in the statement released Tuesday evening.
Many Nigerians at home and abroad have taken to social media to criticise the president’s extended stay, arguing that he should prioritise the many domestic issues, including security challenges, that are plaguing Nigeria.
Others have made links to the case of Senator Ike Ekweremadu who despite being in a position of power for many years, could not find a suitable facility in Nigeria for a kidney transplant for his daughter. The senator and his wife were recently sentenced in the UK on the grounds of human trafficking, which was in violation of the UK Modern Slavery Act, 2015.
Since assuming office in 2015, President Buhari has traveled to the United Kingdom multiple times for unknown medical reasons.
On May 29, he will give over power to President-elect Bola Tinubu, whose election is still being contested in a Nigerian Elections Tribunal.
