Nigeria is in dire straits. If there is any country that is in dire need of help, it is this country of unlimited but wasted potential. Her national currency is being drubbed by the dollar; the price of her biggest singular source of revenue, oil, is in a free fall; and armed robbers, after a lull during the Yuletide, are back in business.
Yet at this time when only quality leadership could stem this country's slide, President Umar Yar'Adua is about embarking on another round of medical tourism. On Friday, the Federal Government issued a terse statement announcing the President's imminent absence from duty and describing it as a 'two-week leave'. But I do not expect any informed Nigerian, even the minimally aware, to believe this tall tale. In the last week, the media have been awash with reports that the President will soon embark on an eight-week medical trip; that ministers and heads of government agencies are m a k i n g s t r e n u o u s efforts to get his approval for projects before he leaves; and that the length of the P r e s i d e n t ' s stay abroad is going to be determined by his foreign doctors.
My two cents is that t h e President's imminent 'leave' is a smokescreen for the widely reported medical trip. The antecedent of this administration and the body language of its leading men say so. In the thick of the 2007 presidential campaign, then Candidate Yar'Adua s u d d e n l y disappeared and his whereabouts became a matter of speculations. When asked to explain, the PDP dillydallied.
Eventually, when it deemed it fit to open up, we were told that its candidate was in Germany to treat a 'severe dose of catarrh'. Also in 2008, rumours suddenly became rife that the president had sneaked out of the country for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.
Initially, the Presidency denied these reports, explaining that he was in the Arab country for the lesser Hajj. But a lie was put to this lie (no pun intended) when Saharareporters and the Saudi Foreign Ministry confirmed that the President was indeed in that country for treatment. Government?s announcement?s announcement of the president?s imminent leave is a break from this past. But rather than reassures, it only confirms that there is more to the president's trip than meets the eye. For example, it was silent on his destination.
Silence and secrecy are two attributes that we are going to remember the Yar'Adua administration for. But while there are situations when they could be valued as strengths, their adoption and deployment as instruments of policy by this administration have only compounded its woes. Whether as exemplified by the President's persistent refusal to discuss the particulars of his illness or in his administration's laughable decision to plug leakages in the presidency with oaths of secrecy, neither silence nor secrecy has proven useful in burnishing his administration's ugly image.
And that image isn't likely to be helped by the fact that Yar'Adua's new trip will compound the chronic leadership crisis that this nation has had to endure since he came into power in 2007.
This crisis is as occasioned by Mr Yar'Adua's dour demeanour as it is by his frail health.
Stating this is stating the obvious. It isn't an attempt to make the President's ill health the butt of cruel jokes.
I feel for Yar'Adua and I wish him luck in his search for a medical solution. But I feel more for Nigeria, and its future. I am worried by the toll that the President's ill health and recurrent medical trips abroad is exerting on this country's growth, governance and development. Such trips were a luxury that Katsina, one of Nigeria's smallest and remotest states, could afford while Mr Yar'Adua, who was said to have embarked on several medical trips, was a two-term governor of the state. But it is a luxury that a nation of 140 million people that has to tackle its own share of a global economic crisis, and much more, can ill afford.
Even at the best of times, and believe me such times have been far and between, this administration has shown little propensity for action or initiative. This was the reason why Nigerians changed the president's initial nickname from Baba Go-Slow to Baba Standstill. Now, that he is going to be away for an indeterminate period there isn't much hope that government business wouldn't grind to a standstill. The Federal Government has announced that Vice President Goodluck Jonathan will be in charge while Yar'Adua is away; but that Goodluck isn't an important member of the quartet that makes up the Yar'Adua co-presidency is Abuja's worst kept secrets. As it is widely known in the Villa, outside it and within the diplomatic community, matters of state that truly matter would either be handled by Yar'Adua's wife or wait till he returns.
Other than its effect on government business, another serious consequence of the President's recurring lengthy absences is the intense jockeying that is bound to follow each trip.
Already, the widespread perception that the president's illness has taken a turn for the worse has set off a flurry of jockeying that is capable of heating up the system. A similar jockeying once grounded the Presidential Villa and eventually cost the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Baba Gana Kingibe, his job.
The closing of ranks by two former arch enemies, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Abubakar Atiku, is one such jockeying. It is also the reason why the Obasanjo-Atiku rapprochement, which a former governor described as a meeting of two witches, is being touted as the country's much needed gamechanger. I am under no such illusion; I don't believe that anything good could come out of a meeting of two witches. Witches kill, they don't give life. Rather, I see the meeting as an attempt by two out-of-favour power peddlers to regain lost ground. But while he may cut the picture of a sitting duck, Yar'Adua is not weak. His inner circle is populated by hawks, who earned their stripes in the battle to 'liberalise' the anti-corruption war, among others. They are not likely to take kindly to the whittling of their powers.
But this is no battle that I am excited to witness.
Bruising political battles are not what we need now.
Nigerians need good roads, electricity, food, security and quality leadership. If we can't get these from our leaders, we, at least, deserve our peace. It is bad enough that Nigeria will be on life support while Yar'Adua is away from Aso Villa. Let no politician compound this country's problems with another round of meaningless political battles.
N igeria is in dire straits. If there is any country that is in dire need of help, it is this country of unlimited but wasted potential. Her national currency is being drubbed by the dollar; the price of her biggest singular source of revenue, oil, is in a free fall; and armed robbers, after a lull during the Yuletide, are back in business. Yet at this time when only quality leadership could stem this country's slide, President Umar Yar'Adua is about embarking on another round of medical tourism. On Friday, the Federal Government issued a terse statement announcing the President's imminent absence from duty and describing it as a 'two-week leave'. But I do not expect any informed Nigerian, even the minimally aware, to believe this tall tale. In the last week, the media have been awash with reports that the President will soon embark on an eight-week medical trip; that ministers and heads of government agencies are m a k i n g s t r e n u o u s efforts to get his approval for projects before he leaves; and that the length of the P r e s i d e n t ' s stay abroad is going to be determined by his foreign doctors. My two cents is that t h e President's imminent 'leave' is a smokescreen for the widely reported medical trip. The antecedent of this administration and the body language of its leading men say so. In the thick of the 2007 presidential campaign, then Candidate Yar'Adua s u d d e n l y disappeared and his whereabouts became a matter of speculations. When asked to explain, the PDP dillydallied. Eventually, when it deemed it fit to open up, we were told that its candidate was in Germany to treat a 'severe dose of catarrh'. Also in 2008, rumours suddenly became rife that the president had sneaked out of the country for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Initially, the Presidency denied these reports, explaining that he was in the Arab country for the lesser Hajj. But a lie was put to this lie (no pun intended) when Saharareporters and the Saudi Foreign Ministry confirmed that the President was indeed in that country for treatment. Government?s announcement?s announcement of the president?s imminent leave is a break from this past. But rather than reassures, it only confirms that there is more to the president's trip than meets the eye. For example, it was silent on his destination. Silence and secrecy are two attributes that we are going to remember the Yar'Adua administration for. But while there are situations when they could be valued as strengths, their adoption and deployment as instruments of policy by this administration have only compounded its woes. Whether as exemplified by the President's persistent refusal to discuss the particulars of his illness or in his administration's laughable decision to plug leakages in the presidency with oaths of secrecy, neither silence nor secrecy has proven useful in burnishing his administration's ugly image. And that image isn't likely to be helped by the fact that Yar'Adua's new trip will compound the chronic leadership crisis that this nation has had to endure since he came into power in 2007. This crisis is as occasioned by Mr Yar'Adua's dour demeanour as it is by his frail health. Stating this is stating the obvious. It isn't an attempt to make the President's ill health the butt of cruel jokes. I feel for Yar'Adua and I wish him luck in his search for a medical solution. But I feel more for Nigeria, and its future. I am worried by the toll that the President's ill health and recurrent medical trips abroad is exerting on this country's growth, governance and development. Such trips were a luxury that Katsina, one of Nigeria's smallest and remotest states, could afford while Mr Yar'Adua, who was said to have embarked on several medical trips, was a two-term governor of the state. But it is a luxury that a nation of 140 million people that has to tackle its own share of a global economic crisis, and much more, can ill afford. Even at the best of times, and believe me such times have been far and between, this administration has shown little propensity for action or initiative. This was the reason why Nigerians changed the president's initial nickname from Baba Go-Slow to Baba Standstill. Now, that he is going to be away for an indeterminate period there isn't much hope that government business wouldn't grind to a standstill. The Federal Government has announced that Vice President Goodluck Jonathan will be in charge while Yar'Adua is away; but that Goodluck isn't an important member of the quartet that makes up the Yar'Adua co-presidency is Abuja's worst kept secrets. As it is widely known in the Villa, outside it and within the diplomatic community, matters of state that truly matter would either be handled by Yar'Adua's wife or wait till he returns. Other than its effect on government business, another serious consequence of the President's recurring lengthy absences is the intense jockeying that is bound to follow each trip. Already, the widespread perception that the president's illness has taken a turn for the worse has set off a flurry of jockeying that is capable of heating up the system. A similar jockeying once grounded the Presidential Villa and eventually cost the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Baba Gana Kingibe, his job. The closing of ranks by two former arch enemies, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Abubakar Atiku, is one such jockeying. It is also the reason why the Obasanjo-Atiku rapprochement, which a former governor described as a meeting of two witches, is being touted as the country's much needed game- changer. I am under no such illusion; I don't believe that anything good could come out of a meeting of two witches. Witches kill, they don't give life. Rather, I see the meeting as an attempt by two out-of-favour power peddlers to regain lost ground. But while he may cut the picture of a sitting duck, Yar'Adua is not weak. His inner circle is populated by hawks, who earned their stripes in the battle to 'liberalise' the anti-corruption war, among others. They are not likely to take kindly to the whittling of their powers. But this is no battle that I am excited to witness. Bruising political battles are not what we need now. Nigerians need good roads, electricity, food, security and quality leadership. If we can't get these from our leaders, we, at least, deserve our peace. It is bad enough that Nigeria will be on life support while Yar'Adua is away from Aso Villa. Let no politician compound this country's problems with another round of meaningless political battles. / e ?
