*As hospital earns millions of Pounds
Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), has reportedly been discharged from a London hospital where he was admitted for treatment over an unknown ailment.
The elder statesman, who clocked 80 last week, had traveled out of the country to seek treatment.
The illness resulted in his cancelling events lined up to mark his 80th birthday celebrations and his missing the Peace Accord signed by Governorship candidates of the just concluded Ekiti election.
Alongside, Most Rev. Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Abubakar co-chairs the Peace Committee, which has been playing a pivotal role in reducing brigandage during elections since 2015.
However, on Monday news broke that Abdulsalami might have suffered stroke and flown abroad.
The report had created tension among the admirers of the retired General who returned Nigeria to Civil rule in 1999.
But in a post on Monday. Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, said he had visited the elder statesman in the hospital.
Shehu, who took his verified Facebook page, said he visited Abdulsalami in London and that he was not in any serious condition.
“Alhamdu Lillahi for Allah’s mercy. I just ended a visit to His Excellency Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Head of State.
“He is out of hospital in a London apartment and apparently in no serious condition.
“He was his jovial self, maintaining a keen interest in developments back at home in Nigeria. Please, no cause for alarm.”
Meanwhile investigations have revealed that the London hospital where Abdulsalami was treated earned £2m.
The amount, which is equivalent of N1.5billion at the current exchange rate, is capable of doing extensive work on constructing a world-class hospital in any part of the country.
But as has been a deliberate policy of our leaders, who would prefer to engage in medical tourism, probably being treated by Nigerian-trained doctors abroad, than uplift our medical system, analysts say our political leaders spand over N100 billion annually on medical tourism and feels happy they are doing so, fuelling inflation and hardships due to wasteful life style they engage in.
