At last, Aisha Buhari opens up on medical disorder president suffered for many years

The wife of the President of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari battled a health disorder for so many years before becoming president, ThisDay reported.

Aisha Buhari made this revelation at Armed Forces Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Centre (AFPTSDC) initiated by the Mrs Lucky Irabor-led Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA).

The president's wife said her husband suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of the civil war.

She said the president was engrossed with the disorder as a result of the event that led to his ouster as the military head of state, his 40 months of detention without charge as well as his three consecutive losses in the general elections.

She said: “My husband served the Nigerian Army for 27 years before he was overthrown in a coup d’état. He fought civil war for 30 months without rehabilitation; he ruled Nigeria for 20 months and was detained for 40 months without disclosing the nature of his offence."

She further revealed that whilst performing her duties as his wife in the early stages of their union as man and wife, she suffered the consequences that came with her husband's disorder.

The First Lady said: "I suffered the consequences of PTSD because having gone through all these, and at the age of 19, to handle somebody who was a former Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria’s Armed Forces, to tell him that he is wrong is the first mistake you will make.

“So, at the age of 19, I had to figure out how to tell somebody of his calibre that he was wrong or right and that was the beginning of my offence in his house, and contesting elections in 2003 and failed, 2007, failed and 2011, the same thing – all without rehabilitation – I became a physiotherapist.

“You can imagine me at 19 years, handling somebody that went to war, suffered coup d’état, then lost several elections, and, finally, getting to the Villa in the 2015. Also, for a woman to tell them that this is wrong or right in Nigeria and Africa is a problem.”