Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has recounted the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the civil war, detention and the electoral losses he experienced.
According to ThisDay, Mrs Buhari revealed these details on Tuesday, while speaking as a special guest of honour at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Armed Forces Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Centre, a project of the Mrs Lucky Irabor-led Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association.
She said, “I want to thank DEPOWA for this foresighted vision of establishing a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Centre for our soldiers. Indeed, PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by terrifying events.
“It is a reality that soldiers and military families have to live with, despite its negative consequences. Being a soldier’s wife or a retired soldier’s wife and a wellness expert, I understand the challenges associated with PTSD and its impact on military families and the nation.
“My husband served the Nigerian Army for 27 years before he was overthrown in a coup d’état. He fought 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.
“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.
“So, at the age of 19, I had to figure out how to tell somebody of his calibre that he was wrong or right and that was the beginning of my offence in his house, and contesting elections in 2003 and failed, 2007, failed and 2011, the same thing – all without rehabilitation – I became a physiotherapist.
“Finally, the whole nation rose against the misuse of power and bad governance. He only succeeded when it became a movement and here we are today. He ruled Nigeria before and he is ruling Nigeria now and this is the last time and final.”
