One of America’s most authoritative newspapers, The Washington Post, Monday, mocked Nigeria and its ailing President, Muhammadu Buhari, in an opinion article published on its online platform.
NEXT EDITION obtained the report from the newspaper’s online platform.
The article, which appeared in the paper’s “Monkey Cage” newsletter was written by a Professor of Government at Smiths College, North Hampton, Kim Yi Dionne.
The Washington Post’s article comes hours after Cable News Network (CNN) another United States-based media mocked the country for having an ailing president.
In one of its popular current affairs programme, Global Public Square (GPS), the anchor, Fareed Zakaria, included Mr. Buhari’s two-months absence from office in a trivia question to viewers.
“The head of state of which country has not set foot in his homeland in over two months,” Mr. Zakaria question had read.
Nigeria was listed as option C, while Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and Syria were on the list.
But in The Washington Post’s newsletter reserved for well-researched commentaries on global political issues, Mrs. Dionne, began by stating that Mr. Buhari has been out of Nigeria since May 7, seeking medical care in London.
“He has not disclosed the nature of his condition, and official updates about him have been rare. It was only last week that the government released a photo of Buhari, the first image of him since he left Nigeria,” she wrote.
“This is Buhari’s second medical leave to the United Kingdom this year; his previous trip as nearly two-months long.”
The author argued that Mr. Buhari’s poor health and his absence from office raised questions about who governs Nigeria when presidents are sick.
According to her, some of the researches she has done on presidential ill health in Africa and particularly in Nigeria showed the importance of the Constitution in dealing with the situation.
“Unfortunately, for Nigerians, Buhari’s condition is a bit of déjà vu,” she wrote. “Everyone gets sick – even presidents – but in 2010, an ill Nigerian president died in office.”
Déjà vu means “something that is very familiar.”
She recounted how late President Umaru Yar’Adua, suffered heart and kidney problems and his treatment in Saudi Arabia and how he died three months after returning to the country in May 2010.
Mrs. Dionne offered an analysis of the rules on presidential succession as outlined in Nigeria’s Constitution of 1999 and how Goodluck Jonathan, then vice president, became president of Nigeria.
She, however, agreed the rules on succession following presidential death were not uncommon in African constitutions.
She referred to an earlier article she wrote with Boniface Dulani, a political scientist from the University of Malawi, which examined what happened when African presidents die in office.
According to her, the study surveyed all presidential deaths in office since independence and closely examined successions following the deaths in office of Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia in 2008, Mr. Yar’Adua in 2010, and Mr. Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi in 2012.
Read also: Buhari on life-support for 20 days– Fayose
She said the death of Mr. Mutharika and the initial uncertainty about succession prompted the African case study.
“The timing was rather suspicious as 2012 was the year four African leaders died in office: Mutharika of Malawi, Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, John Attah Mills of Ghana and Malam Bacai Sanha of Guinea Bissau,” she wrote.
Mrs. Dionne said their research identified 11 deaths in office of African leaders between 2008 and 2012.
In nine of the cases, she said succession followed constitutional procedures where power was transferred to deputies while two went through coup d’etat in Guinea and a revolution in Libya.
In all, she agreed constitutional succession was more common in recent time than between 1960 – 1990 when she averred presidential deaths were often followed by coups.
While the study showed presidential deaths did not lead to uncertainty about succession in the continent, it, however, revealed that uncertainty and inaction were caused by poor presidential health.
“Like in the case of Yar’Adua in Nigeria, Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa had a prolonged absence from his country while still holding the office and responsibilities of being president,” she cited the study.
“He had a stroke in June 2008 and it is unclear whether he engaged in any governing after that stroke and before his death in a French hospital on Aug. 19, 2008.
“In Nigeria – like in Zambia and Malawi – there are provisions in the constitution for when a president is too ill to carry out official duties.
“For example, Nigeria’s Constitution (specifically, Section 144) stipulates that the president ‘shall cease to hold office’ if a two-thirds majority of the Federal Executive Council declares that he is ‘incapable of discharging the functions of his office;’ such a declaration would have to be verified by a panel of five medical experts.
“In our research, however, we did not come across many African examples when constitutional provisions for medical incapacity were invoked.
“One example emerged during Yar’Adua’s long absence: Nigeria’s Senate voted on February 9, 2010, to delegate presidential responsibilities to Jonathan and make him acting president.
“However, there was never a declaration by a panel of medical experts that Yar’Adua was unfit to govern, and he returned to Nigeria on Feb. 24, 2010, and resumed his office and duties.
