African Searchlight

Untainted News.....

Copyrights © 2008 www.africansearchlight.com.
P.O. Box 1566 Landover, MD 20785 U.S.A
e-mail editor@africansearchlight.com
All rights reserved. check mail

Google Ads

Total Price! Huge Summer Discounts.
Sale Ends Aug 15. Live Agents Help.
www.ASAPtickets.com

Fly to South Africa
Book Non Stop Flights to South
Africa today. See Specials.
www.FlySAA.com

Cheap Tickets To Africa
Find cheap flight deals.
Compare airfares & save big.
www.Cheapflights.com

Cheap Airline Tickets
Get 75% Off with Consolidator Fares
Compare at Smartfares® & Save Now!
Smartfares.com/Cheap_Tickets

Tickets For Cheap
Bing ™ 30-Day Airfare Comparison
Charts Help You Find the Best Deals
www.Bing.com/Travel

Find Cheap Tickets
Looking for Lowest Possible Tickets
Compare Tickets from 4000+ Sites
www.Kayak.com

Cheap Air Tickets Online
Compare Prices Side-by-Side
Search for the Best Price Online!
www.LowFares.com

Home | Contact Us | About Us | Policy | Archives

focal point
By Tunde Ali
location: USA
Tundeali1@sbcglobal.net
President Umar Yar’Adua: Matters Arising

Posted Saturday 12 December, 2009

Politics apart, President Umar Yar’Adua deserves our empathy and prayer at this crucial time of his life in
the spirit of brotherhood and nation building. My prayer to God is to touch his infirmity, and quicken that
which is failing or dead in his body with the power of resurrection – in Jesus name, (Amen).

The president, regardless of the circumstances of his ascendance to office, has submitted himself to serve
his fatherland amidst the alternating imbroglio of chaos and confusion. He is the number one public officer,
legally elected to office to execute and direct governmental functions. He therefore deserves our support in
all ramifications. While we all enjoy our lives and privacy (and we have right to it anyway), Mr. President
continues to think and brainstorm( at least expectedly) with his cabinets and advisers on how to move the
nation forward by resolving the nation’s socio-political and economic problems. In this regard, it is not only
rational to prevent political and ideological differences from maligning our sense of decency and humanity;
it should not prevent us from being our brothers keeper.

While the president and his cohorts has unwittingly trivialized the genuine concerns of the public about his
health, the populace should not descend to the level of sounding lackadaisical. As the President of Nigeria,
his interests, his life and death must be pertinent in our heart. Since his wellbeing, welfare and security are
funded with the tax payers money; the totality of his life, as a matter of fact should be made a matter for
public consumption except that part which deals with sexuality and faith.

It need be said that this write-up is not an attempt to underscore the need for the president’s privacy,
instead, it is an attempt to assert the right of Nigerians to know the physical, the mental and the emotional
well being of their president.

The life of any public officer can broadly be divided into three phrases; (1) Public life which encompasses
whatever the individual does in the course of performing his/her duties as determined by the constitution or
the statutory instrument that create such office. (2) Private life: this covers the areas of life around
individual’s faith and sexuality. It is usually not a matter for public consumption unless the person concerned
(public officer) approve of it; and (3) the Undisclosed; this is the mixture of part of the public and the private
life styles that the public officer choose not to disclose to the public. This jurisdiction often implies values
and ethics. It is usually respected and kept sacred by the public until the public office holder brake or
violate the associated societal values or the implicit ethics.

It is with the third version that I would discuss the President Yar’Adua’s ailment and the concerns which it
has generated among Nigerians within and outside the country. As the number one citizen, the totality of his
life is the concern of the nation. His life and death could therefore not be taken away from the public glare.
The president’s popularity might be restricted to his political zone and others who either benefits from his
administration or those who take advantage of his regime’s naivety. Yet, as the president, he represents
Nigeria not a section thereof or a tribe within. He is not the Sadauna of the Islamic Republic of Arewa,
neither is he the Olu-aye of the Oduduwa kingdom nor the Eze of Biafra nation.

If Mr. President who lives in public house (Aso-rock), eat the food that were procured with tax payers
money, chauffeurs in official cars and jet that were bought with public tax, enjoyed the services of specially
trained security personnels that are paid from the nation’s treasury, and whose health and wellness are
been maintained with the public funds will decide to make “private” what should be in the public coffer, then
his judgment is not only illogical it is counter intuitive.

Disclosing the state of health of Mr. President does not equal ridicule neither is it a violation of his right to
medical / health information privacy. The rationale is to afford Nigerians the opportunity to know what is
going on with their president and to determine the level and the nature of support that they could offer, be it
spiritual or otherwise. President’s sickness is not a news, after all, he is a human being, but the fact that he
was secretive about the nature and severity of his physical and medical conditions paved way for
suspicions that led to several innuendo; even among his political associates who all of a sudden took
advantage of the president’s sickness and unveiled their political ambition. As the citizen of Nigeria, our
president owe it a duty to disclose his health baggage to the nation. It is ludicrous to spend the tax payers
money for medical treatment in different foreign countries for an ailments that he had to be forced to
disclose at the last minute. This to say the least, amount to betrayal of trust and negation of the principle of
transparency.

Now that it is obvious that President Yar’Adua’s sickness has significantly weakened and impaired his ability
to continue his constitutional functions, for instance, the president’s ailment has taken him away from been
able to chair the meetings of the National Council of States, delayed his ability to work on and present the
2010 fiscal budget to the National assembly, deprived him of the mental alacrity needed to check and
control the excess of some members of his cabinet especially the Attorney General and the Chairman of
EFCC who had been on each others throat on the issues relating to policy interpretations, inability to follow
through and implement his 7 Points Political Agenda, etc. He therefore need to take a giant stride and
delegate the power to his assistant – The Vice president (Dr. Jonathan Goodluck). There should be no “if”,
“em” or “but” about this. The Chapter 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very explicit
on the issues of succession. If any person or group of persons articulate anything different or advice the
president to do anything contrary to the stipulation of the constitution, Mr. President should ignore such
ignoble and counter progressive advice.

The President who has been severally described as a democrat should guide and defend this legacy even
to death. The insinuations of Alhaji Abubakir Olusola Saraki (first Republic Senate Leader) and Dr. Godwin
Dabo Adzua (Former PDP National Auditor & Current Director General of Solid Minerals Association of
Nigeria) who disparagingly said that “the North was not ready to relinquish power till 2015”, should be
considered as loud mouthy and preposterous. The reason for their disingenuous assertion stems from intra
PDP agreement on presidency zoning. In as much as I do not have anything against the PDP zoning policy,
my contention is that the prevailing circumstances should be addressed pro-actively. The way to do this is
to follow the dictates of the constitution, which in any case is supreme and superceed any intra party
agreement. If Mr President is still able to talk; he should use his strength ( if need be, his last breath) to
educate these enemies of democracy and their likes about the supremacy of the constitution and the Rule
of Law in a democratic state. Situation where the intra party agreement is prioritized over the constitution is
dangerously inimical to the growth of democracy and the nation. Nigeria’s interest superceed any myopic
political or individual agenda.

President Yar’Adua should refrain from the track of “sit tight”, “never-quit”, and “die in office” syndrome that
is synonymous with African political leaders. Being indisposed, he should hand over the business of
government to his able assistant, and therefore write his name among few African leaders who truly love
their nations and seek its progress and stability. His delegation of power to the Vice President will attract a
pass mark to this democratic litmus test and mark the beginning of a conscious effort at sustaining a
formidable democratic institution as opposed to building a strong personality.

As for those political ignorants who have been vociferous and championing the call for President Yar’Adua’s
misadventure, and especially Dr Godwin Dabo Adzua who was reported to have said “... even if Yar’Adua
resigns or cannot continue in the office, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan cannot be President because
we shall not relinquish power until 2015. The Northern caucus of the PDP will meet and another northerner
will be chosen in a special PDP convention...” Let it be clear that Adzua’s loose talk and threat would not be
allowed to cause crisis in Nigeria. Whoever and whatever interests he represents, it is evident that they are
anarchists and self centered; interested only in what they can reap from the system. They are bunch of
political profiteers who few months ago pretentiously clamored that 10th year anniversary of uninterrupted
democracy in Nigeria was worth celebrating. Now at the challenge of the prevailing circumstances, they sing
a new song of democratic dissonance. The outcome of the democracy anniversary confirmed that they do
not have the interest of the nation at heart. Their pocket is their interest. Post anniversary audit revealed
wanton embezzlement, mismanagement and siphoning of the money voted for the “show” (Democracy
Anniversary).

In the final analysis, while Nigerians look toward a crisis free transition of power from Shehu to Jonathan,
The prospective president (if actually destined) should caution his gut and refrain from flammable
statements; such as was credited to him and published in Vanguard Newspaper of Friday December 11,
2009 at the 49th National Executive Council meeting of the PDP that “...if angels were called from heaven to
conduct elections in the country, PDP will win...” The V.P and his PDP should not be desperate to rule,
especially if the voters indicate otherwise. If Vice President Goodluck is a good student of history, he will
recall that during 1983 general election, the NPN made similar pronouncement (moon-slide victory), and the
aftermath was Buhari/Idiagbon’s intervention. While I am not insinuating or advocating for a military
intervention in case of any foul electoral practice, I want to make it clear that the lord who delivered
Nigerians from the yoke of late General Sanni Abacha is still in the business of answering prayer; and
whoever attempt to appeal Shango with Kolanut will not live to tell the tales. Nigerians had for so long been
deprived of good government and good lives. This is the time to change the status quo of oppression and
suppression. It is a clarion call and no one should feel unconcerned. God bless Nigeria.

Tunde Ali is the President of Citizens for Good Government & Accountability – (CIGGAC).