For a couple of weeks now, I have been out of circulation in terms of public commentary. This was not intentional, but due to the burden of the task of being part of a wonderful editing team of one of Nigeria’s fastest growing newspapers and also the fast paced nature of the capital city that reminds one everyday of Lagos, and how Abuja is gradually, becoming another Lagos.

I also had to be out of reading sight as a result of a self-imposed sabbatical, in which I have taken time to reflect on and look at the Nigerian macabre dance in another light. Only yesterday, Mr. President addressed the nation as part of activities celebrating the 9^th Democracy Day and the first for him since he was imposed on us.

As he chatted live on national television I listened and watched with rapt attention. After all said and done, I could not but shake my head in empathy for this nation, or rather country as argumentatively, we cannot say we are a nation.

Very quickly and before I go too far, I must state that the President was intelligent in his answers, and I use the word intelligent for  lack of a more appropriate word, because most of us could not have expected less. Like his spokesperson and our colleague Segun Adeniyi has tried in recent times to postulate, he is by nature a chemist and the essence of planning cannot be taken from the President’s style.

However, despite the intelligent effort, except in a nation like ours where we have learnt to lie truthfully, that Mr. President is unwell was obvious. That only the Almighty has power over life and death is a fact. But then Nigerians saw a sick President. Like Obasanjo before him, he coughed all the way through. And talked through obvious pain and I needed not to be by his side to tell that all is not well.

Before I am crucified for taking on the toga of a doctor or is it a soothsayer?  I am also of the belief that the president may survive the next three years, but what I can not understand is why the president with all the opportunity to have made a full disclosure on his health, still toed the same line as with the interview he granted a foreign newspaper, the Financial Times.

The bla, bla, bla about an allergy and a medical record dating back to 1986 is not good enough. The American public are privy to Republican candidate McCain’s medical record of over 200 pages or so, Obama is also being drilled about the effect of his smoking, which he quit as soon as he started the White House marathon.

Why is Nigeria different?  Why is Yar’Adua’s medical record in Germany, and not in Katsina, neither at the National Hospital Abuja?  Why can we not treat the allergies of our own President? Why can the money we spend in Germany not bring the equipment that they have, that makes us go there?

The President explained away, without any show of remorse that his case was beyond Nigeria, like in the power issue which he gleefully stated he was waiting, like Nigerians, for whatever it is he said before he could act, only smacks of trouble that looms tomorrow.

It was Abati that asked when exactly the state of emergency in the power sector would be declared, since it had not started, and the answer was the same the President gave to media chiefs in a chat sometime last week; the same answer he has given throughout the last one year.

It was in Segun Adeniyi’s response to critics of celebration of one year of his boss’ being in office that he tried to justify, the slow motion status of Yar’Adua. He stated that it was due to the need for pragmatic planning. Yar’Adua himself agreed to that assertion, but it is shocking that no one has explained to this President and his men that Nigerians are already suffering expectation fatigue, in fact, they are beginning to care less. And this is not just dangerous, but ‘dangerful’.

The entire power probe and the power situation has only moved from bad to worse and soon… You can only imagine. Mr. President said he was in possession of the power probe report and that he was looking at it, but that Obasanjo did well and will not be probed!

As a cub psychologist, when the question of a larger probe of Obasanjo’s eight years came up, I could see that Yar’Adua’s body ‘stammered’. He simply tried to justify the unjustifiable, was he playing Ostrich diplomacy? Just as he lied about his health regarding the primaries, I was quick to pick that out because he said his health started to fail as a result of the PDP Presidential Primaries, but I recall he was not part of the primaries, so like they say, in these parts ‘haba mallam, ka fada gaskiya’.

Even though the resemblance of a monkey to a chimpanzee, you cannot say they are the same. Mr. President has a grasp of the problem, but is there a picture of the solutions?  For a government that wants to hire militants to protect pipelines and fight bunkering is like giving the meat to the lion, which in theory is good thought, but not necessarily practical wisdom.

Nigeria has been blessed with all sorts- the short, tall, bald, goggle-eyed, kola nut chewing…we had the handsome Gowon, the disastrously ugly Sege; what we have not had is good, focused leader. As much as in practice and theory, the servant leadership concept is good, my argument remains that until we evolve our own style, our own leadership spectrum, we are only crawling to nowhere.

A lot of changes in government personnel will occur in the forthcoming weeks. One question I ask, is what is the difference between May 29, 2000 and May 29 2008? If you prod me for an answer, I would say very little; almost the same style.

Often I have said that an endless hope is better than a hopeless end, for Nigerians are gradually losing it. Every state has its own. If it is not a 7-point agenda, it is an 8, 9 or 21-point agenda, pages of newspapers and television channels full of advertorials and pictorials of achievements of governors. The laughable thing is that we are celebrating what is normal for them to do, but hence we did not elect them, they are free, to do and undo.

Our own taxpayers’ money is used to build bad roads and then they rub it in, telling us they have achieved what Moses could not achieve, turning the Red Sea to a dual carriage express road.

I maintain that, and it should be noted I do not seek any political post the truth is the post I seek. Mr. President is sick. Treating himself in Germany as the number one citizen is wrong. The man spoke well, but he has not so far done well, and Nigerians are not getting any value for who they are.

We are tired of the excuses of the past, I end with this take:  Asked why we are still a country till date, a friend of mine said it was only because we are deceitful people. We know the issues, but we have refused to face them, we talk the talk, but are not ready to ‘do the do’.

Robot  Villager

# 1 For a couple of weeks now, I have been out of circulation in terms of public commentary. This wa...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 29.05.2008 21:43

princedelta  JJC

# 2 You read my mind. I watched the live telecast as I can see a president seriously in need of further medication. I only hope he will be treated at home this time around Posted by princedelta| 29.05.2008 23:17

LAN  Villager

# 3 Four coughs in a minute! Posted by LAN| 30.05.2008 04:23

SILOJE  Villager

# 4 I watched the live telecast for the simple reason that Mr. President would say something that would make me change my mind about him. But he did not. Whatever he said was largely in the realm of rhetorics. I think he had two major opportunities to score some cheap political points in the course of that interview. And it was with the only two 'standard' questions (in my humble opinion) he was asked in the close to 60 minutes the interview lasted. One was the question asked by the BBC correspondent. He asked something like: "If the ordinary Nigerian stops you on the street today and ask you what you have added to his life in the last one year, what would you tell him?" I cannot remember what Mr. President said, but as far as I know, he did not say anything. In rounding off, Mr. John Momoh asked him: "What would you asked Nigerians to look forward to in the next 365 days?" Our President's answer was: "Exciting times." But there was nothing he said in that interview that would make anyone look forward to exciting times. Not when he was emphatic that there would be no regular power supply till 2011. Not when he could not say for sure when our bad roads will be fixed. In my opinion, Mr. President had no business addressing the nation last night because he really did not have anything to tell anybody. And to think Nigerians finally had the opportunity of confirming that their President is indeed not well. Too bad! Posted by SILOJE| 30.05.2008 05:12

ikechukwu  Villager

# 5 Haba, what do you people expect? A man is sick yet you expect him to spend normal hours attending to state functions instead of his health. People are wicked O!. I went to a function in Abuja around February and the President was there, did I need someone to tell me he was sick then? No. It was so obvious. Yet people want him to declare emmergency on power problems instead of his own health problems. Na wa o. This country sef, You people want to kill him? The man is very sick do you need a super doctor to tell you? He has to use at least 5 hours of his working hours to 'declare state of emergency' on his health issues daily while using 3 hours to deal with our wahala in Nigeria. Lets be reasonable to a sick man and show compassion in his case, because I know a lot of people shouting 'baba go slow' would recoil into their bedrooms for a whole week for mere malaria symtoms. I really want us to thank God for still keeping him alive for us so that he would have the chance for all maner of 'state of emergencies'. UMYA dont mind them joo, but be careful of some coughs o! they may not be due to allergy atleast Gani told us that they could mean more as his own case showed. The problem I have is that Gani should not have made his own public thereby putting unnecessary strain on UMYA to declare his own health history. My people, please allow a sick man to have his peace, Abi segun(Adeniyi) what do you think? Posted by ikechukwu| 30.05.2008 06:48

ozion ozumba  Villager

# 6 Question: ' Mr President, if the average Nigerian approach you and ask, how have you affected my life in the last one year. What would you answer?' El Presidente'Answered: ' I will tell him about the projects I met on ground that we are executing. I will tell him that we have a number of projects that we are going to execute to affect his life...." Of all the wrongs OBJ may have commited against Nigerians, bequeathing UMYA on us argueably against our wish, is the unkindest cut. Posted by ozion ozumba| 30.05.2008 07:38

FoxCatcher  Villager

# 7 =Robot;4295047805>For a couple of weeks now, I have been out of circulation in terms of public commentary. This wa... I maintain that, and it should be noted I do not seek any political post the truth is the post I seek. Mr. President is sick. Treating himself in Germany as the number one citizen is wrong. The man spoke well, but he has not so far done well, and Nigerians are not getting any value for who they are. We are tired of the excuses of the past, I end with this take: Asked why we are still a country till date, a friend of mine said it was only because we are deceitful people. We know the issues, but we have refused to face them, we talk the talk, but are not ready to ‘do the do’. Read the full article. ....or walk the walk. Well said. Posted by FoxCatcher| 30.05.2008 07:39

omo naija  Villager

# 8 Again fellow villagers, Yar Adua owes us nothing, just like the power snatchers before him, we did not vote him in, he was imposed on us, how in this world do you think the man has any idea on how to move Naija forward, he will be cussing OBJ for imposing this upon him, this Yar Adua has no plans at all, he just bidding his time, and praying for the supreme court to annulled the election so that he can run back to Katsina, and leave Naija politics for those crooks waiting in the wings. I am one of Yar Adua supporters, but he need to wake up and smell the coffee, i truly fear for Nigeria, imagine if Atiku become president? imagine if Buhari become president, he will spend the first four years pursuing his enemies both perceived and real, like OBJ before him, so my fellow villagers we are stucked with YAR ADUA for the next three years, at least by the time he's out of power, if we have not all starved to death, due to inaction, we will all have respect for rule of law, SO WHO SAY YAR ADUA HAS NOT PERFORMED. MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS NIGERIA AND AFRICA, AND HAVE MERCY ON THE TROUBLED CONTINENT, AMEN. Posted by omo naija| 30.05.2008 09:04

dapxin  Villager

# 9 Holy Jeez, I am listening to an interview on www.nigerianwebradio.com right now, and tbh, the amount of sneezing & coughing going on there is a pain in the ear.... gosh, how could this guy bring this much evil onto himself - yaradua ? It all sounds like you struggling with flu in those London style winter colds - cattarh, sneezing and freezing simultenaously. The fellow' d rather listen to his docs advise and go get those "games of squash" while he doesn't have to burden his brains with the desperate control of a nose diving plane - Nigeria! I am gutted, he chose to attend an interview in this shape....and to think, he's the best, my so-called -country can push forward ? Again, Obasanjo - the root cause of this disaster of a president, YOU should be SHOT! arrgh. Posted by dapxin| 30.05.2008 10:54

ikechukwu  Villager

# 10 =ozion ozumba;4295047960>Question: ' Mr President, if the average Nigerian approach you and ask, how have you affected my life in the last one year. What would you answer?' El Presidente'Answered: ' I will tell him about the projects I met on ground that we are executing. I will tell him that we have a number of projects that we are going to execute to affect his life...." Of all the wrongs OBJ may have commited against Nigerians, bequeathing UMYA on us argueably against our wish, is the unkindest cut. Nice one Ozion. cheers Posted by ikechukwu| 30.05.2008 11:27

---

The conversation continues in our forum. Click here to read all comments

---