After extending a 10-day vacation in the UK for medical reasons, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has now been out of the country for more than a month.
Despite his administration’s best attempts to reassure the public, speculation about the health of the president, who has been in office since 2015, has dominated national discussions.
CBN reports that tens of thousands of Christians are on their knees praying for the swift recovery of the President.
“Thousands from The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have begun a seven-day fast to pray for his miraculous healing. Countless families are piling into several churches to intercede on President Buhari’s behalf.” The Christian broadcaster says.
Source also confirms that Nigerian Muslims also joined in on the fasting and prayer.
A new statement by the presidential spokesman, the latest attempt to explain Buhari’s prolonged absence, does little to dispel concerns.
Insisting “there is no cause for worry,” the statement says the president is “staying longer than originally planned” due to test results which showed he “needed a longer period of rest.” The statement, however, is scant on crucial details: a return date for the president and the nature of his ailment.
Authorities report that the country’s vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, is the acting head of state since Muhammadu Buhari took leave in the U.K. in January.
He has been quietly effective in addressing some of the crises affecting the country, media sources report.
Something you should note, Osinbajo is additionally a Christian pastor at a Lagos branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria.
His identity as a Christian southerner means that Osinbajo provides the ying to Buhari’s yang in Nigeria, a country that sometimes evidences sharp ethnic and religious divisions.
President Buhari recently responded to his country’s outpouring of prayer, saying he is “immensely grateful.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari thanks millions of Nigerians who have been sending good wishes and praying for his health and well-being in mosques and churches throughout the country,” a statement from Buhari’s top aids said.
“The president is immensely grateful for the prayers, show of love and concern,” it continued.
The nationwide prayer and fasting will end next Sunday.
aaron@ugchristiannews.com
