The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos Metropolitan See, Dr Alfred Martins, has commiserated with the family of former President Muhammadu Buhari as his remains was laid to rest yesterday in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State.

  Martins, in a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, said the death of the former president in a London hospital brings into focus, again, the need to develop healthcare delivery and facilities in the country to stem the tide of medical tourism.

  Corroborating the bishop, Femi Adesina, former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Buhari, said the former Nigerian leader might have not survived his health challenges if he had relied solely on Nigerian hospitals for treatment.

  This was as the Chancellor, Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership, Osita Chidoka, called for unity and higher standards of leadership in the country.

  According to the bishop, medical tourism does not only drain the purses of those who can afford it but more importantly, deepens the pain of those who cannot afford medical treatment overseas.

  He said: “They (less privileged) are left with the feeling that they are being left to die, even from the most easily treatable illnesses. If the former First Lady (Buhari’s wife, Aisha) could lament the poor state of the State House clinic during their tenure, one can only imagine the state of clinics and hospitals meant for the common man. It is indeed a shame that the death of Buhari makes it the second time that the President of our country has died in hospitals overseas.

  “The death and burial of Buhari should ginger our governments at all levels to wake up to the need for doing something strategic to improve the healthcare delivery and the facilities needed in our country.”

  Adesina, during an interview on Channels Television, yesterday, defended Buhari’s repeated medical trips to the United Kingdom while in office, saying it was a matter of survival.

  “Buhari always had his medicals in London, even when he was not in office. So, it was not about the time he was president alone; he had always had it there,” Adesina explained.

According to him, the UK doctors had been managing Buhari’s health before his election in 2015 and were well acquainted with his medical history, making it unwise to change the medical team mid-treatment.

  He argued that the decision to continue treatment abroad was based on professional expertise and the limitations of Nigeria’s healthcare system.

  “One has to be alive first to get certain things corrected or changed in the country. If Buhari had said he would do his medicals here as a show of patriotism or something, he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country,” he said.

  Adesina added that Buhari’s survival and ability to lead the country were directly linked to the quality of care he received abroad.

  He maintained that the former president’s choice of overseas treatment should be seen within the context of necessity rather than luxury or disregard for local healthcare.

  According to Chidoka, Buhari remains, notably, the only Nigerian Head of State he never met personally, yet the one he most consistently and publicly criticised.

  In a statement made available to The Guardian, yesterday, he added: “This was never out of bitterness, but a firm conviction that Nigeria’s vast potential demands the highest standards of leadership.

  “It is my considered view that, as a nation, we reflect on his chapter as a cautionary tale, in our collective journey and continue to build a Nigeria that learns from every season, striving always towards unity, justice and prosperity for all.”