ARMY DIDN’T REHABILITATE BUHARI, I ENDURED HIS MENTAL ISSUES FOR YEARS, SAYS PRESIDENT’S WIFE AISHA

Aisha Buhari, Nigeria’s first lady, says she endured several years living with President Muhammadu Buhari, who battled post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his civil war experience, detention and several electoral failures to become the country’s democratic ruler.

“One year after he came out from detention, we were married. I clocked 19 years in his house as his wife, legitimately. 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,” Mrs Buhari disclosed.

The Nigerian first lady stated this on Tuesday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Armed Forces Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Centre (AFPTSDC).

“This centre is timely, as PTSD is a problem that really deserves a solution of this nature, and providing facilities for treatment and rehabilitation of patients is key,” she noted. “Therefore, fundraising is not the solution. The solution is for the federal government that sent them to the war front to take responsibility for taking care of the mental health of returnees from the war front. PTSD cuts across all ages.”

“My husband served the Nigerian Army for 27 years before he was overthrown in a coup d’état. He fought the 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,” Mrs Buhari stressed. “You can imagine myself at 19 years, handling somebody that went to war, suffered (a) coup d’état, then lost several elections, and, finally, getting to the Villa in 2015.”

She revealed that Mr Buhari was not rehabilitated after his exit from the military but was left alone to bear the mental and physical trauma.