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Matters of the Moment

Disquiet over Yar’Adua’s Health Mushrooms

Hank Eso

hankeso@aol.com

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

Of all the warped legacies Obasanjo bequeathed to Nigeria,

foisting a sick president on the sick nation

will rank as the most mindless and cruel.

Until now, politeness, respect for privacy and political discretion compelled concerns and issues relating to President Umaru Yar’Adua’s health to be discussed in muted tones. This unfortunately, can no longer be the case. After all, the president’s wellbeing is a matter of great national interest.

It is not and has never been a secret that President Yar‘Adua does not enjoy the best of health. This was well known and public before he assumed the presidency in 2007. Somehow, the nation hoped that whatever it was that ailed the president would be resolved, or would diminish sufficiently to enable him run the country. This, clearly, has not happened.

As things stand, with his recent hospitalization in Saudi Arabia, and the rumor mills buzzing with his demise, those who stand to benefit from it are clearly politicizing the president’s health problems. God forbid, but were something untoward to happen, we will only have the president and his handlers to blame for not coming clean to Nigerians about his true state of health.

This much is clear. President Yar‘Adua‘s health is a matter of national concern. Unquestionably, the number of times he has been abroad for medical attention over the past thirteen months is evidently indicative of the grievousness of his ill health. Consequentially, those concerned that his health problem is affecting his governance abilities stand on solid ground.

Much as one empathizes with the president, we also need to ask some hardheaded questions. Ordinarily, Nigeria is far too complex and tasking for any leader in perfectly good health, talk less for one who is ailing. Another question we need to ask must be directed at former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Why in the name of goodness did he foist and infirm leader on a country like Nigeria, which at the best of times demand a robust and energetic leader?

It is not debatable that the Nigerian state is at a standstill. How much of that is a result of President Yar‘Adua‘s deliberate style of governance and how much is a result of his infirmity is now debatable. What is however not in debate, is that the nation is ill served by the president’s poor state of health and that his ill disposition is negatively affecting the nation. Hardly a matter of debate also, is the fact, that those who see it as a means to their political objectives and economic ends are exploiting his ill health. If not, why is there resounding silence as well as misinformation from within government quarters about the president and his health.

The sorry spectacle of Nigerian presidents and other leaders jetting off to receive medical attention abroad is a matter for a full-fledged and dedicated piece of analysis. What is worrisome and doubly damaging, is that the president or those around him would contrive to cover up his travel abroad for medical attention under a different guise. This is a bad form of governance. It is also suspect, coming as it were, from a president that prides himself on upholding the rule of law and being a servant leader. Such lack of transparency in little matters also erodes the hard-earned confidence that the national population is still developing for President Yar’Adua.

There is nothing to be ashamed of in being sick. As far as we are aware, Yar’Adua is not suffering from something contagious that he may have personally contracted. Were anything to happen to the president, it would be both a personal and national tragedy. Why then the pretext? Specifically, why would anyone create a ruse by suggesting that the president was going for Ummrah or lesser Hajj, when that was not exactly the case? Such governmental legerdemain and the accompanying doublespeak amount to lack of transparency. It also raises a question of trust, between the ruler and the ruled.

Far beyond the disquiet about the president’s health, are more compelling and troubling concerns. The story has been making the rounds and gaining impetus, that whenever the president goes aboard for his medical procedures, the government grounds to a halt. More disconcerting, however, is the story being bandied around that rarely does he ever relinquish power to the Vice President Jonathan during such travels. Elder statesman Tunji Braithwaite in addressing such concerns remarked recently “dishonesty, lies and deceits have been elevated into an act of governance in this country from 1999”.

Furthermore, several well-meaning Nigerians have chastised the president for not handling his health situation properly, vis-à-vis his constitutional responsibilities, especially when it comes to devolving presidential powers. In decrying the sense that the nation is drifting, they also worry that such a drift could be politically exploited to destabilize the nation. However, it is such concerns that probably compel Yar’Adua and the people around him to play their plans close to their chest. Some, however, see this as duplicitous. As Tunji Braithwaite observed “that is part of the dishonesty we are talking about and also imagining that Nigeria is their personal estate.”

Clearly, Nigerians are discomfited by the evolving developments. Similarly, they are deeply troubled that unseen hands and unknown faces may be running the country in the absence of the president. This would explain why Dr. Junaidu Mohammed, the former House of Assembly member from Kano State, would urge Yar'Adua to relinquish his office because he is disposed to conditions that render a national “leader incompetent, incapable of performing his duties”. This is a sentiment that is being widely echoed in the Nigerian political circle as national concerns mushroom.

In fairness, however, the president could very well elect to quit his job on grounds of disability. That would be understandable. However, can he do so, fully aware that some within his party are already scheming to implement a succession plot that is not in tandem with the constitution?

Still, the mishandling to the president’s health dossier was felt to be sufficiently egregious and in violation of the constitution that a legal and political activist, Mr. Femi Falana, who is also President, West African Bar Association (WABA), recently wrote Senate President David Mark, noting, “In the light of the grand official deception on the medical condition of the President our client is compelled to request you to set up a Medical Panel pursuant to Section 144(4) of the Constitution, to determine whether the President’s infirmity of body has rendered him permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office.” He was firmly of the view that those hoarding information on President Yar’Adua‘s health and “those who are mismanaging the information of his health are violating the constitution.”

It is worth recalling here that several years ago, President Obasanjo called Nigeria “a nation of anything goes”. Interestingly, of all the warped legacies Obasanjo bequeathed to Nigeria, foisting a sick president on the sick nation will rank as the most mindless and cruel. Well before Yar’Adua became president, Nigerians encountered a similar situation when he was rushed off to a hospital in Mainz, Germany in March 2007. It was from there that he had the now famous telephone conversation that started with Obasanjo asking: “Umaru, are you dead?” to which Yar'Adua replied, “I am alive”. Then Obasanjo asked, “What are you doing?” to which Yar'Adua responded, “I am laughing.” Obasanjo then capped the brief conversation by looking directly at the crowd and saying, “He is laughing ha! ha! ha!” Such are the political realities in Nigeria; always comical and tragic in equal proportions.

It is therefore hardly surprising that the jockeying has commenced as people – including those very close the Yar’Adua - position themselves to become beneficiaries of his possible demise, should it come to pass. However, as the President Yar’Adua reminded his allies and detractors, no one is God. Yet, being still uncertain as to how MKO Abiola and Sani Abacha died, we need to know and if possible, hear directly from the president about his health, seeing that we have become rightly cynical, untrusting and out rightly suspicious of political usurpers that continue take Nigeria for a ride.

We call on President Yar’Adua to end the disquiet about his illness by speaking directly to Nigerians.

With neither anger nor partiality, until next time, keep the law, stay impartial, and observe closely.

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Hank Eso is a columnist for Kwenu.com. His commentaries on Nigerian politics and global issues have appeared in The New Times (Lagos), African Profile International (New York), The Nigerian And Africa Abroad, (New York), African Market News (New Jersey) and in Gamji.com and Nigeriavillagesquare.com

Email: hankeso@aol.com