Buhari Not First President Going Abroad for Treatment – Lai Mohammed

 

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has justified President Muhammadu Buhari's marathon medical travels.

 

According to him, seeking of medical care abroad by Buhari is not an indication that the nation’s medical sector has collapsed.

 

He said Buhari is not the first president to travel abroad for medical tourism.

 

The minister stated this in Washington DC during his engagements with international media organisations, including BBC Radio and Television, Bloomberg and Politico.

 

Speaking with NAN after a separate interview with the three media organisations, Mohammed said the President had the right to choose his physician and “he is not the first head of state going abroad for treatment.’’

 

The minister is in the U.S. to meet with international media organisations and think tanks on the achievements of President Buhari’s administration and efforts made so far in tackling insurgency, banditry and all forms of criminality.

 

“It will not be right to say that because of what people are going to say, he has to stay in Nigeria to seek treatment,’’ he said.

 

The minister berated those who were criticising the President’s action of seeking medical attention abroad, stressing that it was an inconsequential attempt to de-market him.

 

He said in spite of challenges, the nation’s health sector is not in comatose to warrant a vote of no confidence on the sector.

 

Mohammed disclosed that in spite of criticism of the sector, the World Health Organisation had rated Nigeria fourth in terms of the national response to COVID-19.

 

He said the country attained the feat, notwithstanding the two pronged challenges of vaccine nationalism and hesitancy.

 

The minister explained that vaccine nationalism was the situation where countries like Nigeria were denied access to procure vaccines to administer to its teeming population.