Anxiety over Jonathan's health

A DAY after President Goodluck Jonathan’s birthday was lavishly celebrated by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the Presidency confirmed yesterday that he suddenly took ill and had to undergo a checkup in a hospital in the United Kingdom (UK).

 

 Goodluck Jonathan

Jonathan, who was not present at the celebration, left Nigeria on Wednesday morning for London as the head of the Federal Government’s delegation to a meeting of Honorary International Investors’ Council (HIIC) being co-ordinated by the one-time British Minister of Foreign Office, Baroness Lynda Chalker.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, yesterday said that the President became indisposed and could not be present at the opening of the meeting today.

“President Jonathan has since been examined by competent medical practitioners. He has been advised to rest for a few days,” the statement said, but did not specify the nature of the illness, neither did he identify the hospital where the medical examination allegedly took place.

“The Presidency wishes to assure all Nigerians that President Jonathan’s condition is nothing serious and that the medical attention he has sought is only precautionary,” it said.

Reacting to the development yesterday, elder statesman, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, who was outside the country, said: “I am very sorry to hear about the reported illness of President Goodluck Jonathan. He is a young man bristling with life and energy, therefore there should not be any cause for alarm.

“More so, it is our conviction that he is a man of destiny for the Nigerian nation state. He will fulfil his destiny. My family’s prayers and thoughts are with President Jonathan to recover quickly and back at his desk,” Braithwaite said.

President, Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin who was shocked, said although she wished Jonathan a quick recovery, he should try as much as possible to be back home because he was needed more in Nigeria than a foreign land at this ‘crucial’ time.

Okei-Odumakin urged the President to limit his foreign trips because his absence in the country had been stalling the passage of the budget. “The country needs him at this particular time because there are a lot of issues that need his attention. Issues like insecurity, unemployment and university shutdown need to be addressed,” Odumakin said.

Former Minister of Information and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tony Momoh, said Jonathan could be ill like every other normal person and that Nigerians should therefore stop making an issue out of it.

In the same vein, former Minister of Transportation, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, said the situation of the President was not as bad as the enemies of government were portraying it.

“I believe the President would return to Nigeria hale and hearty,” he said.

The National Publicity Secretary of Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said Nigerians should continue to pray for the recovery of the President now that the nation was at a crossroad.

According to him, “nobody is super human. Anybody could succumb to a biological process at any point in time; it is therefore our responsibilities to continue to pray for his quick recovery.”

Lately, the President has been embarking on a number of foreign trips. He was in Israel in October for pilgrimage. Later on November 8, he embarked on a two-day diplomatic shuttle to Guinea-Bissau and Gambia. He returned Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Nigeria with a two-day visit on September 5 and 6 after his previous visit in April when the latter was being inaugurated.

Jonathan later travelled to New York on September 25. He was in South Africa in May, he was in China in July and he was in Accra and Cameroun in January 2013.

Experts have identified reasons political office holders in the country are more susceptible to poor health than their counterparts in other climes.

They rarely sleep, they work from 8.00 a.m. into the early hours of the next day; they spend most of their time at Aso Rock; they always have to deal with election tribunals and several litigations; and most times winning an election is a-do-or-die affair.

Medical experts, including the Medical Director of Medical ART Centre (MART), Maryland, Ikeja, and adjunct professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, United States (U.S.), Prof. Oladapo Ashiru, who spoke with The Guardian, summed it up: “They all lead a very stressful life. They work at very high speed.”

Also, recent studies published in credible medical journals such as the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Nature, and The Lancet, have linked stress and sleep deprivation to headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety.

Ashiru said in a telephone interview yesterday: “The consequences of not having enough rest as is evident in most of our political office holders are very grievous. You see in this country unlike in other climes our President and political office holders are working on high speed and there should be no need for it. Most of them work from morning to very early hours of the next day. If you look at someone like George Bush, the former President of U.S., by afternoon time, they get to their houses and attend only to emergencies. I remember once when there was emergency and George Bush was woken up.

“But most of our political office holders are always awake. It has been known that stress creeps in when you don’t rest. The body needs at least six hours of sleep daily to function well. I discovered that many of our political leaders don’t have time to go for checkups.

“When they are at that level of stress, their immunity will decrease as well as the function of the adrenalin gland. So, most of the time, they don’t have time to rest; they only stay at Aso Rock. There is too much stress and that has a heavy toll on the body organs.

“Once there is stress, the immunity is lowered and the adrenalin gland function is reduced. When that happens, it goes to the heart and kidney and once the two organs are compromised, the person will break down with chronic diseases like heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and kidney failure. The brain is also not left out because it can lead to mental health problems.”

Ashiru described stress as the body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. “The body reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and emotional responses.

Stress is a normal part of life. Many events that happen to you and around you - and many things that you do yourself - put stress on your body. You can experience stress from your environment, your body, and your thoughts.

“The human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. Stress can be positive, keeping us alert and ready to avoid danger. Stress becomes negative when a person faces continuous challenges without relief or relaxation between challenges. As a result, the person becomes overworked and stress-related tension builds.

“Stress that continues without relief can lead to a condition called distress - a negative stress reaction. Distress can lead to physical symptoms, including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping”, he said.

Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases.

Stress also becomes harmful when people use alcohol, tobacco, or drugs to try and relieve their stress. Unfortunately, instead of relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances tend to keep the body in a stressed state and cause more problems.

Recent studies published in WebMD considered the following:

Forty-three per cent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress. Seventy-five per cent to 90 per cent of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared stress a hazard of the workplace. Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion yearly. The life-time prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50 per cent, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions.