Illness in London: Buhari was unaware of his whereabouts at one point —Femi Adesina

Yesterday, Mr. Femi Adesina, the former Special Advisor on Media and Publicity to former President Muhammadu Buhari, revealed that throughout his period of acute illness, his principal had informed him that he was unaware of his whereabouts.

In his book “Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media, and Publicity (2015–2023),” Adesina describes meeting the former president in London in 2017 and hearing him confess that, at one time, he didn’t know where he was because of his illness.

Adesina disclosed that he was being pressured to declare the president incapable of serving in his capacity as president.

The former first lady, Aisha Buhari, arranged the visit with the intention of bringing clarity and firsthand knowledge of Buhari’s condition.

Adesina stated: “I was expecting the media, in particular, to declare the President dead or incapacitated, and I was subjected to a lot of pressure.” Oh my.

“There was this noteworthy event on August 12, 2017, when we visited the President in London. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, myself, Garba Shehu, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission, and Lauretta Onochie, the President’s Personal Assistant for Social Media, were all on the team.

The First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, was the driving force behind the visit. We didn’t talk much, but on the day we were organizing the trip, my phone rang and it was her. Following a polite conversation, she stated, “My husband is not terminally ill.” He is simply overburdened and under stress. Since last year, I have issued warnings about it.

He just wants to sleep. I was with him for nine days before going back to work on some projects involving ladies. He is accompanied by the kids. You should go see him too, in my opinion. Without seeing him, you are unable to speak for him. And that’s exactly how the First Lady wanted the visit to be set up.

“Let me add that, through the Chief of Staff’s office, Garba Shehu and I had previously requested a visit.”However, it made sense that it was not feasible, especially given that the President was fighting for his life at the moment. He admitted to me that “there was a moment I didn’t even know where I was” during the encounter in London.

“Serious.” extremely grave. Those who are complaining that the media assistants were excluded—were we really needed at this particular time? For what purpose? To write prescriptions and do diagnostics using our pens? It’s easy, easy to do.