In an emotional statement
issued today, the founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress,
(APC) Chief Bisi Akande, urged Nigerians to pray fervently for President
Muhammadu Buhari's health, warning of the “ugly consequences” of letting the president’s
poor health throw Nigeria into confusion.
He also warned
those persons who wish to harvest political gains out of Buhari’s condition
that they are mistaken.
“This is not Nigeria of
1993,” he stressed. “We are in a new national and global era of
constitutionalism and order. We hope Nigerians have enough patience to learn
from history. My greatest fear, however, is that the country should not
be allowed to slide into anarchy and disorder of a "monumental
proportion."
A
text of
the statement:
AKANDE
URGED NIGERIANS TO PRAY FOR PRESIDENT BUHARI's HEALTH
May
1, 2017
The
founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Chief Bisi
Akande has urged Nigerians to pray fervently for President Muhammadu Buhari's
health. The health of the leader is intricately intertwine with the health of the
Nation. It is more so in a delicately fragile Union of Nations called Nigeria.
I did not see President Buhari at the wedding of his grandson in Kaduna last Saturday. I
was sad, and I wept.
When
last we met at the wedding of his daughter in Abuja last December, I complained
to him that I was not happy about his stressful looks. His reply connoted some
allusions to circumstances where an honest man fighting corruption is
surrounded mostly by unpatriotic, greedy ruling class. He felt painfully
frustrated. He assured me he would soon be going on vacation. I then knew that
corruption has effectively been fighting back. And I prayed for Nigeria. That
was why Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu and I rushed to meet him in London in February
this year when he was sick and could not return as scheduled from his vacation.
The rest is history, but we must appreciate that his poor health is already
taking a toll on the health of Nigeria as a polity.
There
are two challenges facing the country today. The first and most critical is the
health of the President which, unfortunately, is a development beyond his
control and for which we did not prepare. The second is the disorder and lack
of cohesion between the National Assembly and the Presidency. These are two
great red flag dangers that have the potential of plunging the country into
unprecedented chaos and of destabilising the gains of democracy since
1999," The greatest danger, however is
for political interests at the corridor of power attempting to feast on the
health of Mr. President
in a dangerous manner that may aggravate the problems between the Executive and
the National Assembly without realizing if, in the end, it could drag the
entire country into avoidable doom.
As
delicately fragile the Union of Nations making up Nigeria, so delicately
fragile the democracy and the rule of laws governing the polity of the Union called
Nigerian Federation. Certain Nigerian leaders, having been blindfolded by
corruption, assume the possibility of using money in manipulating the national
security agencies to intimidate, suppress and hold down certain ethnic
nationalities or playing one ethnic nationality against the other with a view
to undermining the constitution and perversely upturning the rule of law. To avoid
the ugly consequences of letting President Buhari's ailments throw Nigeria into
confusion, I am urging all Nigerians to begin to pray for his divine healing
and perfect recovery.
Let
me warn today that those who wish to harvest political gains out of the health
of the President are mistaken. This is not Nigeria of 1993. We are in a new
national and global era of constitutionalism and order. We hope Nigerians have
enough patience to learn from history.
My
greatest fear, however, is that the country should not be allowed to slide into
anarchy and disorder of a "monumental proportion."
Chief
Bisi Akande
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