Buhari, My Friend Has Not Been The Same Since His 2018 Illness – Unongo

Elder-statesman, Paul Unongo has given two reasons for his belief that the 2018 illness that took President Muhammadu Buhari out of the country for months affected his capacity for good judgment.

Unongo who claims to be a very good friend and associate of the president in an interview further revealed how he spent between three and four weeks as part of a team of respected Nigerians to lobby foreign powers to make way for Buhari to return to power in 2015.

Unongo who spoke to Sunday Punch said:

“I have two relationships with President Muhammadu Buhari. One, I knew him personally during the first time he came to power with (Tunde) Idiagbon as military head of state in 1983. I used to advise (him) also.

“I think that it was difficult for him to return to power but God decided (and I believe I am right in saying ‘God’ because he had opposition from even outside Nigeria). Some of us were called to quell the fire and I had an opportunity to be part of the process. I had so much faith that I stuck out my neck and ensured that many powerful countries that were not happy with his coming back to power in 2015 were interacted with. We spent over three to four weeks in foreign countries.

“If I was not convinced about something, I would not do such a stupid thing because I was not very healthy. But I was so confident and I told people that there was a so much hope, so we should not miss the opportunity of bringing President Buhari to power. The man was not looking for aggrandisement; he just wanted to correct certain things.”

However, noting that the president’s capacity and decisions were out of sync with what he knew of him, he said:

“I don’t understand what is happening now, from my knowledge of this man, except this gentleman really was very ill (when he was taken abroad for medical attention). You know he left this country for almost seven months and people kept on postulating that he died and that another president should be chosen. But his supporters were firm and the government was firm. The Vice President was firm too.

“I think since the time he was ill, the capacity of the President for independent thoughts and decision-making and the capacity of the President I love and sacrificed my life for, diminished somewhat. And may God help me if I am wrong.

“The signals coming out now indicate that the illness had a very destructive side effect on his concentration and somebody who is helping him is not doing a very good job.

“If that is not true, then we will tell him that he is confusing us with some of the things that are happening. They don’t make sense. There ought to be clear decisions and they should come on time. The security situation is serious and the challenging aspect of security comes with intelligence gathering and I know that the intelligence gathering of this country is good. I know that the men and the women who work in this system work very hard.

“When you bring intelligence to your principal, all you can do is say, ‘If you don’t work on it and act on this, this is going to happen.’ The leader doesn’t have to delay their action, but when they do, it becomes a reaction. I can’t understand how a precise military commander like Buhari who came to power with Idiagbon and whose actions we saw the first time he was in power (is the same one now). You cannot compare that with what is happening today; it is not normal.”

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