The President's Health: Matters Arising

By Reuben Abati

That the President's health is the most important subject in Nigeria at the moment is not in doubt. For more than two weeks and a half, Nigerians had concluded due to the inability of the Federal Ministry of Information and the Presidency to manage information professionally, that their President had gone on a French leave. Explanations that the President was in Saudi Arabia on the lesser hajj, was roundly debunked as a cover up for a serious health crisis which the President was managing. Twice in less than 24 months, this Nigerian President has been declared dead in the public domain, only for him to return to life and office. Yesterday, he repeatedly sneaked into the country in the early hours of the day. Three newspapers got the story, all others missed the most important story of the day.

The negligent editors should get a pay cut, because indeed the reporting of the Yar'�dua story in the last two weeks, has revealed the good, the bad and the ugly in the Nigerian media, locally and on the internet. We must note however, that in better organised Presidencies, the President's information managers would have leaked the story of his return from the point when his aircraft took off from Saudi Arabia, to ensure that the following morning on his arrival, media houses which had pronounced him sick and dead would have been on standby, even at the airport. By making the President steal into the country under the cover of darkness, more space has just been created for speculations. Is the President's return meant to be a cameo appearance? Part of the game of deception of the past one week?

Forty-eight hours before his return, he was said to have been visited by the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party and some Governors. Was he advised to return to the country to lower tension and anxiety and then sneak back quietly for further medical treatment? If that is the strategy, it is a very bad one indeed. The major outcome of the last two weeks of a widespread public search for the President is that Nigerian would now henceforth monitor his movement closely. If he doesn't show up in public for two days for example, questions will be raised. If the Presidential aircraft leaves Abuja at any time, its destination will be traced. For health reasons, President Yaradua has become a hostage of the Nigerian people. As at the time of this writing, there are persons who do not believe that he is indeed back in the country. They would only believe like Simon in the Holy Book, if they can see and touch him.

It seems to me, therefore, that to end all speculations about his whereabouts, President Umaru Yar'�dua must make an immediate public appearance. It is possible to ask him to address the nation, and to reassure all doubting Thomases that he is alive and well. But that will not be enough. A Presidential address can be recorded from anywhere in the world and played on Nigerian television. Nigerians know that tricks can be played using technology. If the President is actually in the country, the ordinary man will actually need to see him in action, performing a Presidential or private function on Nigerian soil. The general consensus out there is that for more than two weeks, the Federal Government has been lying in the name of the Almighty Allah, insiting that the Presidnet is on lesser hajj, whereas he has been battling with a kidney-related ailment.

The Prophet Mohammed (SAW) has made it clear that Islam is a religion of peace. Islam is a religion of truth. The faithful are not expected to tell lies, not in the month of Ramadan or at any time. President Yar'�dua ( is he fasting by the way, since they say he is hale and hearty?) must lead Nigerians to the path of truth on the question of his own health by telling Nigerians the truth and nothing but the truth. He had once admiteed in a May 29 interview that he is suffering from an ailment but that it is not serious enough to render him incapable of discharging his functions as President. Has anything changed since then? The President should tell us. Has he suddenly found himself in a situation where he has to deal with the challenges of duty and honour? If so, will he be courageous enough to "shoot the elephant," if I may borrow a convenient but telling phrase from George Orwell?

But if the President insists on the line that has been fed to the public by his team in the past two weeks, then he would need to do two simple things. The public is concerned that he lacks the energy to continue as President. The word out there is that he is already incapacitated. The job of a President requires a lot of physical energy. The energy of presence. The cynicism about the President's health is so much that the only way some people can be reassured is for them to see the President in a gym working out, lifting weight, running the distance on a treadmill, riding the bicycle. Nigerians know that a man can be on a wheel chair and run a country. They know that a man can be in hospital for months and still run a country.

But Franklin Delano Roosevelt had great, quality support. And the moment Fidel Castro came out of hospital, he relinquished the Presidency and handed over to his brother. Ariel Sharon, 11th Prime Minister of Israel continued to serve as Prime Minister even while in coma. Burmese Prime Minister Soe Win died in office after a long illness. Neville Chmaberlain, British Prime Minister (1937-40) had to resign on the grounds of illness. Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, was also forced to retire by illnees. George Washington, American President, 1789 -1797, was struck by samllpox and influenza in 1792 and yet he won a second term in 1793, despite nationwide anxiety about his health. Boris Yeltsin, former Russian President (1991 - 1999) was a chronic alcoholic. But these other leaders did not have to play games with the public.

President Yar'�dua once said that he is strong enough to play a game of squash. May be now is the time to play that game of squash in the full view of Nigerians. Is President Yar'Adua hale and hearty enough to play squash? All he needs to do now is to return to the question of his health and state the truth. Even if a Saudi Arabian or German hospital is quickly relocated to an annexe of the Presidential Villa, that won't still be good enough.

If this is any consolation, President Yar'�dua should know that in the past two weeks, ordinary Nigerians have not spoken ill of him. It is only the politicians who have been making dangerous permutations about his life. The politicians who want power. The politicians who have been busy sharing power in Nigeria. Their permutations have been so dangerous they have even succeeded in compromising the integrity of the Supreme Court before the fact.

If anytime tomorrow, the Supreme Court rules, in the matter before it, that the 2007 Presidential election is null and void, the general, reasonable conclusion would be that their Lordships have ruled according to certain political expectations and on the question of the President's health, a matter that is not before the court. Ordinary Nigerians, not the politicians have been sympathetic. Churches, mosques and religious leaders, even ordinary people have been praying for his survival. I get the impression that they like this President. If some other past Presidents had been the ones in the present situation, there would have been serious pleadings for a tragedy to occur. Ordinary Nigerians do not want Yar'�dua dead, they are just not happy that they have been given a sickly President.Why a sick man, for God's sake?, they ask.

But the man they blame is former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who practically imposed President Yar'Adua on Nigerians. Long before the 2007 elections, Obasanjo had told Nigerians that Yar'�dua will succeed him and he had used every machinery at his disposal to make his candidate king. He started by using the EFCC to scare other aspirants within the PDP off the contest. Obasanjo's excuse was that the others were "thieves", and that Yar'�dua was the only man of integrity he could find. During the campaigns, Obasanjo took the front seat, he didn't allow the candidate to speak to Nigerians. As President, Obasanjo must have known that Governor Umaru Yar'�dua, as he then was, had a life-threatening health condition.

All the aspirants after all were subjected to security screening. Still, he insisted on Yar'Adua. There have been many suggestions about Obasanjo's intentions. He wanted a sick President as protege so he could continue to exercise power and authority from his position as Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustess. He wanted a sick President and a healthy Niger Delta Vice President, with the assumption that this is the only way to get the Niger Delta to the main office at the centre. Or three, he wanted a yes man in that office. On all counts, what has been proven is that Obasanjo's political judgement is very poor indeed. Recent events have also shown him to be a poor judge of human character and circumstances, and a poor student of power politics. We may worry about Yar'Adua's health but also about Obasanjo's conspiracy against the Nigerian people and some would add, the North.

But this is also a comment on the Nigerian political system. Where were the opposition political parties during the campaigns in 2007. None of them made Yar' adua's health an issue. Go to the United States where biography is so important, it could determine the correctness of a candidate's choice. Sarah Palin, John McCain's Vice Presidential choice has had to respond to questions about her pregnant 17-year old daughter. McCain himself has had to parade his seven children, wife, mother and grandchildren and answer questions about the number of houses owned by him and his wife. In Nigeria, we do not ask enough questions about the biography of those who seek public positions. The leadership recruitment process must make allowance for this. If a man has a serious health condition, why put him in an office which requires the skills and stamina of a seasoned golfer?

II:

Ojo Maduekwe's Right Of Reply

Last week, in this column, I had drawn attention to a report in The Nation of Kenya indicating that a story in The Herald of Zimbabwe had stated matter-of-factly that Nigeria, and other African countries had apologised to President Robert Mugabe for condemning the June 27 re-run elections through which Mugabe imposed himself on the people of Zimbabwe for another term of five years in office. On Monday, I got a phone call from the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Maduekwe. One of his aides asked me to hold on to speak with the Minister, and there he was.

According to Chief Ojo Maduekwe, he was just coming out of a press confernce where he addressed the Zimbabwe question raised in my column of the previous day. He wanted to re-assure me and other Nigerians that Nigeria's position on Zimbabwe has not changed. He accussed The Herald. Zimbabwe's pro-government newspaper, of "propaganda". He drew attention to the fact that the story in The Herald and The Nation did not identify the Nigerian official who apologised to Mugabe. � would like to know the Nigerian official who apologised", he said. "There is no truth in that report", he added.

He noted that he had in fact met with Morgan Tsivangirai and his team and he had assured them that Nigeria is committed to democratic rule based on the principles of transparency and accountability, and the integrity of the ballot. And that position has not changed. The story of the Minister's press conference has since appeared in a number of newspapers.

BusinessDay newspaper (Wed., Sept. 3) reported as follows: "On Zimbabwe, Maduekwe said there was no basis to apologize to Zimbabwe and none whatsoever was proferred to Mugabe, adding that the only exchange between him and the embatteled leader were pleasantries during the recently concluded SADEC summit. "I want to use this opportunity to reaffirm that what we said at the AU summit still remains our position namely we don't consider the presidential run-off of June as a basis for moving forward. If that exchange of greetings between me and President Mugabe is interpreted by government-owned newspaper in Zimbabwe as a form of apology I think that would be stretching that word too far." , the minister said. It is really nice to see the Nigerian government standing up for democracy, but charity should begin at home.

Robot  Villager

# 1 President Yar'Adua once said that he is strong enough to play a game of squash. May be now is the time to play that game of squash in the full view of Nigerians. ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 21.09.2008 17:52