By Dipo Olowookere
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured Nigerians that he “would be with them soon,” saying “there is tremendous improvement in his health.”
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, the President said he wishes to return home, “but I’ve learnt to obey my doctor’s orders, rather than be the one issuing the orders. Here, the doctor is absolutely in charge.”
Mr Buhari left Nigeria on May 7, 2017 to London and is yet to return because his doctors have not yet given him the clearance to do so.
In the statement today, Mr Adesina said the President, at his Abuja House in London, received members of his media team and others, where he assured them of his desire to return home to resume work.
On how he felt hearing different conjectures about his health, an amused President Buhari said he followed events at home closely, lauding Nigerian television stations, and the media generally, for keeping him informed.
When told that prayers were going on fervently for him, not only in Nigeria, but all over Africa, and round the world, Mr Buhari said “what we did in The Gambia early this year fetched us a lot of goodwill on the African continent. It gave us a lot of latitude. I thank all those who are praying. May God reward them.”
At the visit on Saturday were Mr Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture; Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity; Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity; Lauretta Onochie, Personal Assistant on Digital/Online Media; and Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Matters.