by Ahanonu Kingsley

In recent times, there has been growing concern and anxiety over the state of health of President Muhammadu Buhari. The president’s failure to chair the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting which he’s statutorily meant to chair, for the fourth time running, has pushed further the apprehension and enlarging the frightful speculation.

There is worry in the land; to say the least, every mind is set on edge, especially of those who had looked up to the President Muhammadu Buhari as the right hand for the Nigerian job, with the news of his debilitating health situation. It is indeed very pathetic if indications emanating are anything to go by.

To the summary that Mr Buhari is critically sick and fast dying.

It is pathetic on the part of the president, his family and the good conscionable Nigerian people, whose president could well be described as invalid, incapacitated and dying and whose hope of a redirected nation fledges. But it is something of grave worry, also, of how the current situation of the president is being handled by those who, taking the advantage of the closeness to him, have formed a cabal.

This cabal by their desire to feed the public with false information that strike far from the reality of the situation, seeks to hold the president by the jugulars and holding the nation at ransom. The cabal, by holding the nation in one heavy streak of sedation, seeks to become de facto head of government and running the country in behalf of an ailing, weak president.

By this, the present cabal under Buhari brings a reminiscence of that very volatile and tensive period of the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua tenure in 2010, when in a similar vein, a cabal headed by the then first lady, Turai, played with the sensibility of the most populous black nation and maneuvered the affairs of government until their fill.

At least, at that era when it was becoming obvious of how Nigerians were taken for a ride to the extent that the cabal saw to manipulation of the budget which is a crucial element of governance, feeding their bids and made us believe that an incapacitated president had signed the 2010 appropriations in far away Saudi Arabia, there was a voice that sounded conscience to the house.

Late Dora Akunyili (may her soul find repose) challenged her colleagues in the federal cabinet to do the needful in telling Nigerians the truth and transmitting a letter to the Senate. It was a dissenting voice which was expectedly shut down, but it spoke and brought us to consciousness of what was inherent. It is pathetic that in the replay of the episode of principal’s incapacitation, we do not have as yet a replay of what a cabinet member with conscience should do.

Instead we have lies been fed, in what is seen as desperate attempt by the cabal to feed on relevance and fortune while the game last. We’ve seen Lai Mohammad, the minister of Information repeatedly speaking mendacity that turns to be unsubstantiable in his attempt to be functional.

We’ve seen Malami telling us how he had a fairy-tale session with the president even when the same can’t chair the mandatory FEC meetings. We’ve seen how Rotimi Amechi keeps telling us the president is recuperating and gaining weight even when foreign doctors are coming in to attend to his widely reported failing health.

Also, we seen Abba Kyari carrying and moving relevant documents out of the presidential villa for whatever sinister motive. We’ve seen Babachir Lawal living in false deceit, pretending all is well and already campaigning for a 2019 Buhari’s when he’s still struggling with completing the first term. We’ve seen the Mamman Dauras blocking all conscionable avenues to get the president to leave power and treat himself first.

These are the members of the cabal, and though the know the reality, they cannot be courageous enough to tell their principal the begging truth. They instead, would prefer to leach on, even unto his death. They are obviously the enemies of Mr Buhari. They are the enemies of the state; and they are evil.

Their continual spew of lies that make us wander if it is not really the Yar’adua period we are revisiting. But, it is to much knowledge that Buhari in stating his view about the Yar’adua situation, called for the needful to be done in the transmission of letter of incapacitation to the National Assembly. He couldn’t have been more right with such allusion.

Indeed it wouldn’t be more apt for Mr Buhari, at this moment that he is the very person, to resign now that he can before he becomes helpless and leaves us at the whims and caprices of the cabal surrounding him-as was with Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

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Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

Ahanonu Kingsley writes from Owerri and he tweets @kings_emz