February 12, 2010
These are not happy times for Nigerians. The Nigerian atmosphere is gloomy and dreary. The political firmament is twitchy and overwrought. The populace is despondent and downhearted, wearing forlorn looks on their faces and having panic as their shadows. Issues are developing in the country at a rate so fast, it is becoming quite a problem to catch up. The most burning subject today is that of the state of health of President Umar Musa Yar’adua. The matter of the president’s health has become so topical that it is untenable for any Nigerian not to take a definite stand on it.
It still astounds me, the capacity of the Nigerian to forget. The propensity and tendency of the Nigerian to shift blames and point fingers is almost absolute. In taking a stand, we should all remember that Yar’adua did not become ill overnight. We should bear in mind that all the credible reports prior to him becoming president indicated that he did not seek to be president. We should recall that when he got elected, he said rather shockingly that the elections were flawed. And yes, there were. In fact some of the more credible election observers described it as the worst seen in any part of the world. We should all remember that when Buhari and Atiku mounted what was essentially a ‘two man’ campaign to retrieve what they as well as many Nigerians termed a stolen mandate, most of us looked the other way. Their parties abandoned them while the press gave them what could be called at the very best, a pat on the back. The judiciary dismissed them with a wave of the hand. The truth is that by our silence and half-heartedness, our reluctant criticism and spiritless opposition, we connived to allow the unjust imposition of Yar’adua. We did that because it was convenient to do so. We failed to heed to the words of William Ewart Gladstone, the British statesman who at a speech in plumstead, London said- ‘Injustice is the surest road to national downfall’.
The beauty of democracy is that we all can have our say. It does not matter how wise that say is or how irritating and galling. Of all those that have spoken on the state of the president’s health and its likely implications, the one that has struck me the most was that of Prof. Dora Akunyili. Most of the others do not surprise me and will therefore not dignify with a comment. Here is a woman who made hers a household name having had what many considered a brilliant outing at NAFDAC. Prof. Akunyili in a recent memo to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and by extension the public, asked for her boss to be compelled to hand over power formally to the Vice President. A position that is at variance with the official position of the FEC, a council she is a part of!
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Let me be clear about this. Her position is a right though belated one. I believe the president should have handed over power to his vice before stepping out of the country. Even, knowing how fragile his health is, he should have made contingency plans to hand over as in the case of an emergency.
However, a woman of the Prof’s intellectual standing ought to be familiar with the principle of collective responsibility. Nigeria’s is a cabinet government of which Prof. Dora is a willing part of. Having been on the president’s campaign trail during which the president reportedly collapsed and was flown abroad, she could even be called one of its peripheral architects. Two key doctrines of cabinet governments as stated in the United Kingdom statutes are collective responsibility and ministerial responsibility. Collective responsibility means that the cabinet acts unanimously, even when cabinet members do not all agree on a particular subject. If an important decision is unacceptable to a particular cabinet member, it is expected that he or she will resign to signify dissent. That Prof. Akunyili will deviate from the collective decision and still stay on leaves much to be desired.
It was William Tecumseh Sherman, a United States General and civil war hero who said of General Ulysses S. Grant, who he fought under at a difficult period during the civil war and who became the 18th president of the United States-‘Grant stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk’. Prof. Dora ought to know that going contrary to the collective decision of the FEC demonstrates a lack of respect for the President, his Vice and other cabinet members. President Yar’adua was known to obey this principle of collective responsibility. He was known to stand by his cabinet members. He never ridiculed or castigated them, at least in public, even when it was evident that the majority of them were under-performing. When almost the whole country took Prof. Dora apart on a rebranding project that was shallow in content and illogic in concept, Yar’adua stood by her. It seems to me that Yar’adua stood by his cabinet through their poor performance but they have not stood by him in his poor health.
This is not to say that government should be run on a consolatory or a quid pro quo basis. Far from that. My point is that we should never blend patriotism with opportunism, loyalty with deviousness and straight forwardness with verbiage. While democracy guarantees all the right to have a say, we should also exercise our right to reproach those who test us and think they deserve a pay for their say; those who capitalize on our collective helplessness, communal powerlessness and our easily exposed vulnerability to score cheap points.
Most of those asking the president to resign are themselves architects of our current problems. Those asking the president to toe the path of honor are themselves without honor. Those asking the president to hand over power are themselves guilty of hanging on to their portfolios. It exasperates me that these are the ones getting all the praise from a gullible public; one that often forgets that the man who deserves praise is not he or she that acts when there is trouble. Anybody can do that. It is he or she who acts when there is no trouble.
To all credible Nigerians, politicians, business men and women, activists, the media, students, the military, workers, professionals, artisans, market women; all credit worthy Nigerian from top to bottom, It is time to save Nigeria. Our constitution is too leaky, our elections too shabby, our leaders too shoddy and our union insecure. We need to come together to force a reversal of all these.
To President Yar’adua, I say this. The presidency is not your bequest. But neither is your state of health. Indeed I wish you a quick recovery. But in the event that you have the capacity to read this; Do not tarry. Hand over the reins of power to your deputy. The proper and legal way.
To the FEC, I ask. How long does it take to do the right thing? It is understandable that you try to protect the president and save him from ridicule. Indeed I salute your loyalty to the president. But at what and whose cost? I doubt if any of you can convince himself or herself that the right to do is not to officially and legally hand over power to the vice president. Nevertheless, I urge you to stick together and adopt a collective approach to your responsibility. I also expect those of you with honor who are not in agreement with the collective decision to resign as a sign of dissent and as a proof of patriotism.
Prof. Dora has had her say. It is the right say. It is a say that flies in the face of the majority say in the cabinet. That she still has a job speaks volumes of the dire situation that confronts us as a nation. That situation is this; There is no president to act.
P.S: This piece was written before the senate’s resolution that allowed Dr Goodluck Jonathan act as president.
Dr. Wole Ameyan Jr. is a medical doctor based in Abuja and can be reached on 08063991479 and [email protected]
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It still astounds me, the capacity of the Nigerian to forget. The propensity and tendency of the Nigerian to shift blames and point fingers is almost absolute. In taking a stand, we should all remember that Yar’adua did not become ill overnight. We should bear in mind that all the credible reports prior to him becoming president indicated that he did not seek to be president. We should recall that when he got elected, he said rather shockingly that the elections were flawed. And yes, there were. In fact some of the more credible election observers described it as the worst seen in any part of the world. We should all remember that when Buhari and Atiku mounted what was essentially a ‘two man’ campaign to retrieve what they as well as many Nigerians termed a stolen mandate, most of us looked the other way. Their parties abandoned them while the press gave them what could be called at the very best, a pat on the back. The judiciary dismissed them with a wave of the hand. The truth is that by our silence and half-heartedness, our reluctant criticism and spiritless opposition, we connived to allow the unjust imposition of Yar’adua. We did that because it was convenient to do so. We failed to heed to the words of William Ewart Gladstone, the British statesman who at a speech in plumstead, London said- ‘Injustice is the surest road to national downfall’.
The beauty of democracy is that we all can have our say. It does not matter how wise that say is or how irritating and galling. Of all those that have spoken on the state of the president’s health and its likely implications, the one that has struck me the most was that of Prof. Dora Akunyili. Most of the others do not surprise me and will therefore not dignify with a comment. Here is a woman who made hers a household name having had what many considered a brilliant outing at NAFDAC. Prof. Akunyili in a recent memo to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and by extension the public, asked for her boss to be compelled to hand over power formally to the Vice President. A position that is at variance with the official position of the FEC, a council she is a part of!
articleadslinks
Let me be clear about this. Her position is a right though belated one. I believe the president should have handed over power to his vice before stepping out of the country. Even, knowing how fragile his health is, he should have made contingency plans to hand over as in the case of an emergency.
However, a woman of the Prof’s intellectual standing ought to be familiar with the principle of collective responsibility. Nigeria’s is a cabinet government of which Prof. Dora is a willing part of. Having been on the president’s campaign trail during which the president reportedly collapsed and was flown abroad, she could even be called one of its peripheral architects. Two key doctrines of cabinet governments as stated in the United Kingdom statutes are collective responsibility and ministerial responsibility. Collective responsibility means that the cabinet acts unanimously, even when cabinet members do not all agree on a particular subject. If an important decision is unacceptable to a particular cabinet member, it is expected that he or she will resign to signify dissent. That Prof. Akunyili will deviate from the collective decision and still stay on leaves much to be desired.
It was William Tecumseh Sherman, a United States General and civil war hero who said of General Ulysses S. Grant, who he fought under at a difficult period during the civil war and who became the 18th president of the United States-‘Grant stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk’. Prof. Dora ought to know that going contrary to the collective decision of the FEC demonstrates a lack of respect for the President, his Vice and other cabinet members. President Yar’adua was known to obey this principle of collective responsibility. He was known to stand by his cabinet members. He never ridiculed or castigated them, at least in public, even when it was evident that the majority of them were under-performing. When almost the whole country took Prof. Dora apart on a rebranding project that was shallow in content and illogic in concept, Yar’adua stood by her. It seems to me that Yar’adua stood by his cabinet through their poor performance but they have not stood by him in his poor health.
This is not to say that government should be run on a consolatory or a quid pro quo basis. Far from that. My point is that we should never blend patriotism with opportunism, loyalty with deviousness and straight forwardness with verbiage. While democracy guarantees all the right to have a say, we should also exercise our right to reproach those who test us and think they deserve a pay for their say; those who capitalize on our collective helplessness, communal powerlessness and our easily exposed vulnerability to score cheap points.
Most of those asking the president to resign are themselves architects of our current problems. Those asking the president to toe the path of honor are themselves without honor. Those asking the president to hand over power are themselves guilty of hanging on to their portfolios. It exasperates me that these are the ones getting all the praise from a gullible public; one that often forgets that the man who deserves praise is not he or she that acts when there is trouble. Anybody can do that. It is he or she who acts when there is no trouble.
To all credible Nigerians, politicians, business men and women, activists, the media, students, the military, workers, professionals, artisans, market women; all credit worthy Nigerian from top to bottom, It is time to save Nigeria. Our constitution is too leaky, our elections too shabby, our leaders too shoddy and our union insecure. We need to come together to force a reversal of all these.
To President Yar’adua, I say this. The presidency is not your bequest. But neither is your state of health. Indeed I wish you a quick recovery. But in the event that you have the capacity to read this; Do not tarry. Hand over the reins of power to your deputy. The proper and legal way.
To the FEC, I ask. How long does it take to do the right thing? It is understandable that you try to protect the president and save him from ridicule. Indeed I salute your loyalty to the president. But at what and whose cost? I doubt if any of you can convince himself or herself that the right to do is not to officially and legally hand over power to the vice president. Nevertheless, I urge you to stick together and adopt a collective approach to your responsibility. I also expect those of you with honor who are not in agreement with the collective decision to resign as a sign of dissent and as a proof of patriotism.
Prof. Dora has had her say. It is the right say. It is a say that flies in the face of the majority say in the cabinet. That she still has a job speaks volumes of the dire situation that confronts us as a nation. That situation is this; There is no president to act.
P.S: This piece was written before the senate’s resolution that allowed Dr Goodluck Jonathan act as president.
Dr. Wole Ameyan Jr. is a medical doctor based in Abuja and can be reached on 08063991479 and [email protected]
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