President Muhammadu Buhari has incurred the ire of some Nigerians on social media after he said they could not continue seeking medical treatment abroad.
He spoke during the inauguration and handover of completed projects to the management of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on Friday.
Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said, “Nigerians have suffered so much going abroad for medical treatment. This is not good for us and it must stop because we can’t afford it again.”
The Punch broke the news, which has since been generating reactions, on Saturday.
The president himself has sought medical attention abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, multiple times since coming to power in 2015.
In November 2019, Buhari named the poor attitude of health workers across Nigeria as a major reason for the growing culture of Nigerians seeking medical care outside the country.
However, many Nigerians who took to social media on Saturday described the president’s latest comment as hypocritical.
Read comments monitored on Twitter below:
Look who's talking! Ask him what He has done about it since 2015…all you will hear is 16 yrs of PDP yen, yen, yen.
At the slightest sign of illness same man jets out of the country for treatment. Hypocrisy has a face!
— ehi okupa (@ehiokupa) January 4, 2020
After he has finished his own treatment. Just like someone removing the ladder after climbing up. Nigeria! Why?
— Nura Muhammad Nasan (@nasan4me) January 4, 2020
Is it your money?
Didn't you go for treatment abroad for months?
Except you want to build world class hospitals for #Nigerians, you have no moral rights on this matter your Excellency!
— 𝕄𝕒'𝕣𝕦𝕗 𝕃𝕂𝕁 (@elmorphy) January 4, 2020
What is good for buhari ,his friends and family is not good for Nigerians. UnOfficial policy of buhari's government.
— ponder (@realanifon) January 4, 2020
What are you talking about, you said that some years a go before you became a president of the country, but after become a president you were the one going for treatment every month than any Nigerian so don’t say what you can’t do okay.
— Saba (@sabajum) January 4, 2020
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