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President Buhari's return and the divergent narratives

With the return of President Buhari after his extended medical vacation in London, Nigerians hope he should give his Vice more room to run the affairs.

'Always make those above you feel comfortably superior.  In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.

Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.'

This aptly describes the position of Vice President and recently Acting President, Yomi Osinbajo who completely stole the shine when his boss, President Muhammadu Buhari was away on an extended medical vacation.

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When President Buhari traveled out of the country to the United Kingdom on leave on January 19, 2017, it was supposed to be a 10-day annual leave. But little did Nigerians know it was going to be a long leave that turned into a medical vacation.

His media aides tried to douse the tensions that arose from the vacation without actually telling worried Nigerians why the President had to keep postponing his return. They were told Nigerians that there was nothing wrong with the President and were quick to castigate anyone who tried to pry into the absence of PMB.

There were also those who peddled damning rumours regarding the health status of the country's number one man, often calling such people haters and paid hawks of the Peoples Democratic Party.

But one thing the President did was adhering to the tenets of the constitution by handing over the reins of power to his Vice, Osinbajo who became the de facto president and in the 49 days the President was away, the Acting President was able to wow Nigerians with his actions and the role he played.

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Many believe that Osinbajo had performed better than the President and urged him to continue as he had restored the confidence Nigerians had in the present government.

But on March 10, the President made a triumphant return to the country to the joy of many who always prayed for him and wished him a speedy recovery.

The return of Buhari has, in a way, polarized the nation especially with his announcement that he would soon head out to continue with his treatment. His return has also brought with it divergent and mixed feelings with many believing he should have stayed back to treat himself and be very fit before coming.

Others, however, think he came back because there was a lot of pressure on him as there were rumours that a cabal in the Presidency was bent on forcing him to remain in London so that Osibanjo could continue the good work he has been doing.

Somewhat, miraculously, since he left the country for the medical vacation, things appeared to have turned the other way round, at least in some little ways. The economy gradually picked up while the Naira took firm steps against the Dollar and other foreign currencies.

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Owing to the kind of development brought about by the President absence, some citizens even prayed for him to tarry awhile and not return soon.

Those who held that view believed that once he returned, all the refurbishment and reforms seen under Osinbajo may be utterly disrupted by his presence within a twinkle of an eye.

But with the return of President Buhari, there has been different narratives on what his role will now be seeing that his deputy had done a great job irrespective of the fact that he was only carrying out the functions the president should have carried out.

many Nigerians expect him to continue where he stopped especially his determination to eliminate corruption, end insurgencies and bring the country out of recession as soon as possible.

Others are skeptical on the return, believing that his return would only place a question mark on his true health position seeing that he would soon go back for medical reasons. This school of thought are of the opinion that there was no sense in his coming back if he would have to be ferried back to London for medical reasons.

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But be that as it may, PMB's return has done a lot in dousing the tension about his health status, especially the wicked rumour that he was dead or incapacitated.

But a majority of Nigerians are happy that their president is back in the country and should leverage on the positive steps taken by his Vice in his absence and carry on with the onerous task of tackling the myriads of problems the country is facing ta the moment.

As it is, our President is back and has resumed full authority and should be very ready and willing to allow Osinbajo continue with the most tasking of the functions of governance and we dare say he should learn the art of diplomacy introduced by his Vice in tackling the problems of the country.

He should be able to take the back seat if need be and allow the law professor to take the lead if need be. Osinbajo practically outshone his master in just over a month but we hope that the transgressions of Law 1 in the 48 Laws of Power does not catch up with him.

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