Garba Shehu: Buhari’s foreign medical trips not a snub to Nigerian healthcare

Garba Shehu, media aide to the late Muhammadu Buhari, says the former president’s frequent medical trips abroad should not be interpreted as a rejection of Nigeria’s healthcare system.

This is coming a few weeks after Femi Adesina, former presidential spokesperson, said Buhari could have died a long time ago if he had relied on Nigerian hospitals.

Adesina said Nigeria lacks “expertise” needed to handle Buhari’s health.

Speaking on Inside Sources, a Channels TV programme, Shehu said Buhari remained under the care of Nigerian doctors throughout his presidency.

“I think it is wrong to assume that he fenced himself off from the Nigerian medical system,” Shehu said.

“He had a Nigerian doctor — a chief personal physician and a state house clinic, also led by a medical consultant, a distinguished doctor of many years of practice.”

Shehu said the medical team was always on hand to attend to the president’s needs.

“In terms of the immediacy of his own medical needs, they were always present to administer to his own needs,” the former presidential aide added.

He acknowledged Buhari’s consistent visits abroad for treatment but described them as a matter of personal preference.

“As for his attachment to his past practice abroad for his medicals, he had an attachment to that,” Shehu said.

“It was not that he was disrespectful of Nigeria’s medical practice or that he didn’t believe.”

The former presidential aide also said many Nigerian-trained doctors are found working in foreign countries.

“For most people who also travel abroad and they need to see doctors — I have experienced this in America — you go into the office of the doctor and you find that it’s a Nigerian surgeon, it’s a Nigerian doctor,” he said.

Buhari died on July 13 in a clinic in London, following a prolonged illness. He was buried at his residence in Daura, Katsina state, on July 15.