March 18, 2010
The events following the disappearance of President Umaru Yar’Adua since November 23rd, 2009 have exposed how ethnically divided and disunited we are under “One Nigeria”. What should have been a simple and temporary transfer of presidential power from an ailing President to his Vice President has been turned into a display of shame, irresponsibility, recklessness and placement of personal and regional interests ahead of national interest.
The events following the disappearance of President Umaru Yar’Adua since November 23rd, 2009 have exposed how ethnically divided and disunited we are under “One Nigeria”. What should have been a simple and temporary transfer of presidential power from an ailing President to his Vice President has been turned into a display of shame, irresponsibility, recklessness and placement of personal and regional interests ahead of national interest.
This ugly scenario should not have been so, considering the fact that the President and the Vice President are members of the same team PDP, the ruling party. During their electioneering campaign Mr. Goodluck Jonathan was the “Running Mate” of then presidential candidate Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. For those who some how missed or are ignorant and doubtful of the meaning of running mate, am going to try to be very elementary to explain it; it simply means somebody who is an equal to the main candidate and he/she brings a certain quality to complement and complete the ticket of that main candidate running for an elective office that demands for such a running mate. Most candidates choose those they are compatible with, and whom they can trust to hold on to power in their absence. Whether it is a candidate running for the office of the president of the Federal Government of Nigeria or governorship of any of the states, the constitution demands for a running mate.
A running mate is usually appointed by the presidential candidate from a list of potential candidates of his choice, and after his vetting committee must have thoroughly vetted all the candidates and make their recommendations, the presidential candidate then makes his final decision. We were all witnesses to the process the then US presidential candidate Barack Obama used to select Joe Biden as his running mate. This person, the running mate, is the person constitutionally designated and mandated to finish or continue the “race” in a situation the principal or main candidate cannot as is the case with President Yar’Adua. The question that now begs for an answer is whether the presidential candidate Umaru Yar’Adua picked Goodluck Jonathan as his running mate? Did President Yar’Adua trust his running mate coming into the presidential race? If not, why did both men continue on the same ticket without addressing the implications of a joint ticket?
President Yar’Adua’s disappearance since November 23rd, 2009 has helped to expose the illegality and impracticability of PDP zoning of the presidency. Why didn’t the PDP anticipate a situation like Yar’Adua having to transfer power to Jonathan in case of incapacitation before deciding on zoning the presidency to a particular geographical zone of the country? I guess the PDP forgot that humans do get sick and also can die before finishing a particular term in office. When this happens, the deputy who is from a different zone is expected to take over and finish the term as stipulated by Nigerian constitution, thereby denying the original zone the opportunity to enjoy its turn in the office of the presidency.
The running of the business of a nation is a serious and continuous race of which the baton which is the symbol of the race (government) must be held by or handed over to an active runner at all times with no dropping of the baton occurring or vacuum being created at anytime. Unfortunately, for over eighty days that Nigerians could not account for the where about of their President, the baton was dropped, vacuum was created and Nigeria was exposed to damages of immeasurable heights like the poor handling of the Faruk Abdulmutallab’s airliner bombing attempt which has caused Nigeria to be listed among terrorist nations, the poor handling of the initial Jos crisis, increased insecurity of lives and properties, and the massive looting of nation’s purse by criminal elements in government who saw President Yar’Adua’s disappearance as a free for all sign to steal.
Why did it take the Nigerian National Assembly over eighty days to pass a resolution to declare Mr. Goodluck Jonathan Acting President? Is it because of the flaws in our constitution? Or could it be that the legislators were compromised by bribe from the pro-Yar’Adua group as has been alleged? Why should there even be pro-Yar’Adua and pro-Jonathan groups when they are all supposed to be members of the same team, the ruling party? All these questions arose because selfish and personal interests have been placed ahead of our national interest by the people elected or appointed to occupy our national offices.
It is so shameful and disgraceful to hear PDP members and Northerners say that former President Obasanjo imposed Yar’Adua and Jonathan on them knowing that Yar’Adua would not be able to complete the hectic election campaigns let alone complete a term in office. As much as this accusation on OBJ could be true, it is more troubling to know that a group of PDP leaders, their members, northern elites within and outside PDP and leaders of thought of both PDP and northern Nigeria knew about OBJ’s plans and yet did nothing to stop him.
How stupid do these folks now sound to even mention these obvious OBJ’s evil plans? How could one man who is no longer in a military dictatorship but in a democratic setting, single handedly impose candidates unchallenged for selfish reasons? Could it be that those and means put in place to democratically checkmate, check balance and make it almost impossible for such an imposition of candidates were compromised by bribery or other selfish interests? Why would northern Nigeria allow OBJ to use Yar’Adua to execute his plan, when there were other candidates from the north, like Buhari, a more credible candidate from the same state as Yar’Adua?
Could it be that selfish interests in the north made it possible for OBJ to execute his plan using Yar’Adua, at the expense of their so called northern agenda? Why would Yar’Adua, a northerner himself, allow himself to be used to execute this alleged OBJ’s plan, knowing that it is not interest of the north, since he’s aware of his health conditions, and the fact that if anything should happen to him the Vice President would take over as constitutionally stipulated? Did Yar’Adua accept to be used to execute OBJ’s plan just to serve his selfish interests and that of his cohorts?
Until we begin to place national interests ahead of personal and regional interests, Nigeria will not develop and forge ahead as rapid as it should. The idea of Northern agenda and southern agenda is killing Nigeria and would eventually cause the country to disintegrate if nothing is done so desperately to steer the country in one direction of one indivisible people in “One Nigeria”.
The PDP and the northern leaders of thought should collectively accept responsibility of the mess Nigeria is in today, and stop blaming it on OBJ. It was OBJ’s problem when he came up with the idea of having Yar’Adua as a candidate, but the moment the party accepted and presented him whether willingly or unwillingly, and nobody did nothing to stop him, it became a collective PDP and northern problem. That being the case, the north and the PDP should accept their faults and give peace a chance and let Acting President Jonathan to do his job.
To the wife of the ailing president, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua and members of the Yar’Adua family I sincerely sympathize with you on the state of health of the president; whatever it is that he is suffering from must be really serious to be shrouded in secrecy from the public, and it must be difficult for a family to see a loved one go through what the president is going through. What I don’t understand though is why madam Turai allowed this whole thing to play out in the public since it is important to her that the president’s true condition be guided in so much secrecy.
Why didn’t President Yar’Adua and madam Turai think it was necessary to transmit a vacation letter to the National Assembly so that the Vice President would assume full presidential power on an acting capacity pending when Yar’Adua comes back after traveling to anywhere of his choice to attend to his ill health? If Yar’Adua had simply transmitted this letter before traveling out of the country nobody would have doubted any propaganda that is fed to the public about the president’s health; whether he is recovering, drinking tea or being the one that granted interview on BBC radio. Moreover Nigerians would continue to pray for quick recovery of President Yar’Adua and sympathy would have continued to come to the family from around the world instead of the complete ridicule the Yar’Adua family has been reduced to due to the poor manner in which madam Turai and pro-Yar’Adua people handled the situation. The Yar’Adua family is now regarded as a power hungry family.
To those who feel that Nigerians who were and are asking question, calling for power to be transferred to the Vice President are insensitive to our sick president, you are dead wrong because the president is not just any citizen and Nigerians deserve to know his where about at all times. By transmission of the letter of vacation to the legislators Yar’Adua would have temporarily been free of public debate and scrutiny while he takes care of his ill health. One cannot hold on to the people’s power while AWOL and expect not to be questioned.
Written by: Ugochukwu Nwaokoro, a political scientist writing from New Jersey, USA
Email: [email protected]
This ugly scenario should not have been so, considering the fact that the President and the Vice President are members of the same team PDP, the ruling party. During their electioneering campaign Mr. Goodluck Jonathan was the “Running Mate” of then presidential candidate Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. For those who some how missed or are ignorant and doubtful of the meaning of running mate, am going to try to be very elementary to explain it; it simply means somebody who is an equal to the main candidate and he/she brings a certain quality to complement and complete the ticket of that main candidate running for an elective office that demands for such a running mate. Most candidates choose those they are compatible with, and whom they can trust to hold on to power in their absence. Whether it is a candidate running for the office of the president of the Federal Government of Nigeria or governorship of any of the states, the constitution demands for a running mate.
A running mate is usually appointed by the presidential candidate from a list of potential candidates of his choice, and after his vetting committee must have thoroughly vetted all the candidates and make their recommendations, the presidential candidate then makes his final decision. We were all witnesses to the process the then US presidential candidate Barack Obama used to select Joe Biden as his running mate. This person, the running mate, is the person constitutionally designated and mandated to finish or continue the “race” in a situation the principal or main candidate cannot as is the case with President Yar’Adua. The question that now begs for an answer is whether the presidential candidate Umaru Yar’Adua picked Goodluck Jonathan as his running mate? Did President Yar’Adua trust his running mate coming into the presidential race? If not, why did both men continue on the same ticket without addressing the implications of a joint ticket?
President Yar’Adua’s disappearance since November 23rd, 2009 has helped to expose the illegality and impracticability of PDP zoning of the presidency. Why didn’t the PDP anticipate a situation like Yar’Adua having to transfer power to Jonathan in case of incapacitation before deciding on zoning the presidency to a particular geographical zone of the country? I guess the PDP forgot that humans do get sick and also can die before finishing a particular term in office. When this happens, the deputy who is from a different zone is expected to take over and finish the term as stipulated by Nigerian constitution, thereby denying the original zone the opportunity to enjoy its turn in the office of the presidency.
The running of the business of a nation is a serious and continuous race of which the baton which is the symbol of the race (government) must be held by or handed over to an active runner at all times with no dropping of the baton occurring or vacuum being created at anytime. Unfortunately, for over eighty days that Nigerians could not account for the where about of their President, the baton was dropped, vacuum was created and Nigeria was exposed to damages of immeasurable heights like the poor handling of the Faruk Abdulmutallab’s airliner bombing attempt which has caused Nigeria to be listed among terrorist nations, the poor handling of the initial Jos crisis, increased insecurity of lives and properties, and the massive looting of nation’s purse by criminal elements in government who saw President Yar’Adua’s disappearance as a free for all sign to steal.
Why did it take the Nigerian National Assembly over eighty days to pass a resolution to declare Mr. Goodluck Jonathan Acting President? Is it because of the flaws in our constitution? Or could it be that the legislators were compromised by bribe from the pro-Yar’Adua group as has been alleged? Why should there even be pro-Yar’Adua and pro-Jonathan groups when they are all supposed to be members of the same team, the ruling party? All these questions arose because selfish and personal interests have been placed ahead of our national interest by the people elected or appointed to occupy our national offices.
It is so shameful and disgraceful to hear PDP members and Northerners say that former President Obasanjo imposed Yar’Adua and Jonathan on them knowing that Yar’Adua would not be able to complete the hectic election campaigns let alone complete a term in office. As much as this accusation on OBJ could be true, it is more troubling to know that a group of PDP leaders, their members, northern elites within and outside PDP and leaders of thought of both PDP and northern Nigeria knew about OBJ’s plans and yet did nothing to stop him.
How stupid do these folks now sound to even mention these obvious OBJ’s evil plans? How could one man who is no longer in a military dictatorship but in a democratic setting, single handedly impose candidates unchallenged for selfish reasons? Could it be that those and means put in place to democratically checkmate, check balance and make it almost impossible for such an imposition of candidates were compromised by bribery or other selfish interests? Why would northern Nigeria allow OBJ to use Yar’Adua to execute his plan, when there were other candidates from the north, like Buhari, a more credible candidate from the same state as Yar’Adua?
Could it be that selfish interests in the north made it possible for OBJ to execute his plan using Yar’Adua, at the expense of their so called northern agenda? Why would Yar’Adua, a northerner himself, allow himself to be used to execute this alleged OBJ’s plan, knowing that it is not interest of the north, since he’s aware of his health conditions, and the fact that if anything should happen to him the Vice President would take over as constitutionally stipulated? Did Yar’Adua accept to be used to execute OBJ’s plan just to serve his selfish interests and that of his cohorts?
Until we begin to place national interests ahead of personal and regional interests, Nigeria will not develop and forge ahead as rapid as it should. The idea of Northern agenda and southern agenda is killing Nigeria and would eventually cause the country to disintegrate if nothing is done so desperately to steer the country in one direction of one indivisible people in “One Nigeria”.
The PDP and the northern leaders of thought should collectively accept responsibility of the mess Nigeria is in today, and stop blaming it on OBJ. It was OBJ’s problem when he came up with the idea of having Yar’Adua as a candidate, but the moment the party accepted and presented him whether willingly or unwillingly, and nobody did nothing to stop him, it became a collective PDP and northern problem. That being the case, the north and the PDP should accept their faults and give peace a chance and let Acting President Jonathan to do his job.
To the wife of the ailing president, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua and members of the Yar’Adua family I sincerely sympathize with you on the state of health of the president; whatever it is that he is suffering from must be really serious to be shrouded in secrecy from the public, and it must be difficult for a family to see a loved one go through what the president is going through. What I don’t understand though is why madam Turai allowed this whole thing to play out in the public since it is important to her that the president’s true condition be guided in so much secrecy.
Why didn’t President Yar’Adua and madam Turai think it was necessary to transmit a vacation letter to the National Assembly so that the Vice President would assume full presidential power on an acting capacity pending when Yar’Adua comes back after traveling to anywhere of his choice to attend to his ill health? If Yar’Adua had simply transmitted this letter before traveling out of the country nobody would have doubted any propaganda that is fed to the public about the president’s health; whether he is recovering, drinking tea or being the one that granted interview on BBC radio. Moreover Nigerians would continue to pray for quick recovery of President Yar’Adua and sympathy would have continued to come to the family from around the world instead of the complete ridicule the Yar’Adua family has been reduced to due to the poor manner in which madam Turai and pro-Yar’Adua people handled the situation. The Yar’Adua family is now regarded as a power hungry family.
To those who feel that Nigerians who were and are asking question, calling for power to be transferred to the Vice President are insensitive to our sick president, you are dead wrong because the president is not just any citizen and Nigerians deserve to know his where about at all times. By transmission of the letter of vacation to the legislators Yar’Adua would have temporarily been free of public debate and scrutiny while he takes care of his ill health. One cannot hold on to the people’s power while AWOL and expect not to be questioned.
Written by: Ugochukwu Nwaokoro, a political scientist writing from New Jersey, USA
Email: [email protected]
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