Nigeria is Not a Cemetery
Nigeria is Not a Cemetery
Indeed, Nigeria is not a cemetery for the living, and certainly not a place to die.
London: A Place to Die.
Nigeria: A Cemetery for the Living
Former Nigerian President, Late Muhammadu Buhari, reportedly died in London. In a city that has become the final refuge for many Nigerian leaders when illness or death approaches.
His passing is not merely a solemn event; it is a painful symbol of decades of failed governance and eroded public trust.
General Abdulsalami Abubakar, another former Head of State, is also said to be critically ill in the same city.
Once again, the cycle repeats itself:
They never built hospitals for the people.
But they escape abroad to die in peace.
Why is London their preferred place to die?
Why do those who governed us for decades refuse to entrust their lives to the very systems they were elected to build?
The answer is damning:
They never trusted the healthcare they managed.
They never intended to share in the suffering they permitted.
They saw healthcare not as a public right, but as a private entitlement.
They flee to countries where leaders invested in clean hospitals, competent professionals, and advanced equipment, because those nations respected their people enough to value life.
And Nigeria? To them, it is a cemetery. A land where the masses perish:
• In underfunded hospitals with no power.
• On crumbling roads, victims of accidents and neglect.
• In labour wards without oxygen or skilled hands.
• In silence, with no justice, no attention.
Nigeria has become a haven for the poor, while London serves as a refuge for the elite.
They ruled over us, but never lived among us.
They buried the people at home, but ensured their deaths occurred in comfort, abroad — often on the back of stolen national wealth.
A Legacy of Escape, Not Leadership
From Yar’Adua to Buhari, and others approaching the twilight of life, the narrative is consistent:
• Govern Nigeria.
• Deplete its wealth.
• Abandon its hospitals.
• And retreat abroad when death knocks.
They trusted foreign systems with their last breath, not the nation they led.
If the hospitals they refused to build could not serve them in life or death, then what, truly, is the legacy they leave behind?
What If…
What if just one leader had the vision to build a world-class hospital in each region?
What if, instead of private jets and offshore properties, they invested in accessible healthcare?
Thousands might still be alive.
Families wouldn’t need to sell land to seek care abroad.
Even our leaders wouldn’t need to flee.
One excellent hospital per region could have changed everything.
Instead, they left a nation bleeding and ran when it was their turn to suffer.
The Real Tragedy
We export our dying leaders.
We import our medical solutions.
We bury our poor in silence.
And we continue to eulogise those who never trusted the nation they governed.
Is this leadership or betrayal?
Enough is Enough
Nigeria does not need leaders who flee to die.
It needs those who live and, if it must be, die with dignity among their people.
We need:
• Vision, not evasion.
• Public hospitals, not private jets.
• Leadership that builds life-saving institutions, not legacies of shame.
Until then, London will remain the chosen destination to die.
And Nigeria will remain a land where the poor are buried, and the powerful never truly belong.
God Bless Our Nation.
