Former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina, has said that the former leader might not have survived as long as he did had he depended solely on Nigeria’s healthcare system.

Adesina made the statement during an interview with Channels Television ahead of Buhari’s burial on Tuesday in Daura, Katsina State.

General Muhammadu Buhari, who served as Nigeria’s Head of State from 1983 to 1985 and as a democratically elected president from 2015 to 2023, died in a London clinic on Sunday, July 13, 2025, after a prolonged illness. His consistent medical treatment in the United Kingdom during his presidency was a subject of public controversy and criticism over the nation’s reliance on foreign medical care.

Adesina, however, defended Buhari’s decision to receive treatment abroad, insisting it was a matter of survival and not luxury or pride.

“Like I said, he always had his medicals in London, even when he was not in office. So it was not about the time he was president alone,” Adesina stated.

He added, “If he had said, ‘I will do my medicals in Nigeria just as a show-off or something,’ he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country.”

Adesina stressed that staying alive was a prerequisite for achieving reform. “You have to be alive first to get certain things changed or corrected in your country,” he said.

During his eight-year presidency, Buhari’s repeated medical trips drew sharp criticism from civil society groups and citizens concerned about the state of Nigeria’s healthcare system and the rising trend of medical tourism by public officials. One of the most controversial episodes occurred in 2017 when he spent 103 consecutive days in London for treatment, prompting widespread speculation about his health, including unverified reports of his death.

In total, Buhari is believed to have spent over 200 days in the UK for medical care while in office.

Reacting to these criticisms, Adesina said many failed to understand the human need for survival over optics. “Those who believably talk of going abroad, going abroad — they don’t know that a man needs to be alive first before he can effect a change,” he asserted.

Buhari was buried with full military honours in Daura on Tuesday, with President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and other regional and international dignitaries in attendance.