Buhari’s first speech after three-month absence gets mixed reception from Nigerians
Abuja — Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari took to state TV on Monday in his first speech since returning from a long medical absence in Britain, in a bid to damp mounting separatist tension in the country. The 74-year-old, who received treatment for an undisclosed condition in London, appeared thinner than usual as he read slowly from a prepared statement in which he also vowed to redouble the fight against Boko Haram jihadists. He did not mention his more than three-month absence or the illness that caused him to seek treatment abroad. "I was distressed to notice that some of the comments (in my absence), especially in the social media, have crossed national red lines by daring to question our collective existence as a nation. This is a step too far," he said. "The national consensus is that it is better to live together than to live apart," said Buhari, who returned to Nigeria on Saturday after more than 100 days away from the west African nation of 190-million people. Nigeria i...
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