January 31, 2010
Last week, the spin doctors of President Yar’Adua made Nigerians believe that he has substantially recovered and in good and stable condition to return to the country. But this turned out to be another hoax. Rather, there are fresh speculations and another spin that he will return this week. And this again has raised the question of the actual where about and state of health of the President.
If to be alive means to be living, breathing, active, lively and energetic, then it is not out of place for concerned Nigerians to ask: Is President Yar’adua actually alive?
When a highly respected national newspaper authouritatively reported that President Yar’Adua has become an invalid as a result of a catastrophic chemically-induced brain damage he suffered from treatments he received at the Saudi hospital and that he continually goes in and out of coma, the President’s handlers merely described the report as an expression of the opposition mindset.
However, the newspaper report coupled with the Abuja protest march, and the Abuja High Court 14-day ultimatum forced the President’s handlers to stage the acting of that Saudiwood “Umooru Are Dead Part II” produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
And ever since, who else, maybe apart from his wife Turai Yar’adua, has spoken to the President? Not even his deputy, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. Is it not curious that the President has refused to talk with anybody even his close aides? How can the President’s handlers explain this awkward situation? It has been said that if the President is actually alive and still breathing, he may likely be in a state where he cannot talk, eat and interact not to talk of coming back to govern the country. And we have to believe it since there is no alternative explanation.
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Let’s look at an extract of the comments on the internet by a Nigerian US-based medical expert who actually is well informed on the gravity of the President’s ailment: “Yar’adua is now probably a shadow of himself and if by a miracle, he is able to make any decision, such decision cannot be trusted because it would be from a drug induced mind as he is most likely under chemically induced coma.
“Under chemically induced coma, he is sedated. As a result, he is not capable of making any decision. With heavy sedation, he will not be alert, oriented to time, place or person. Even if the sedation is stopped, it will take sometime for him to speak. His decision should be questioned because he will be making them under the influence of mind-altering drugs.”
So it is laughable for the Eminent Elders Group, the leadership of the National Assembly, and the wide spectrum of aggrieved opposition to continue to insist that “the only way to solve the problem of the current power vacuum at the Presidency is for the President to make his vacation formal and for the National Assembly to insist that there is a penalty for refusal to submit a letter. Which President is going to make his vacation formal- Umaru Yar’adua or who?
From unfolding events and the accounts provided by medical experts, the President himself is definitely not even in a position to write any letter or ask somebody else to do so for him. So, that option is a dead end except someone from the cabal that have manipulated the situation would forge a letter in the name and signature of the President because our President cannot articulate any thought now according to what expert say is the gravity of his ailment.
If the President is actually alive and conscious of himself and his environment so why hide him from his deputy, the Vice President and other members of his cabinet?
It was reported last Sunday that the President in addition to his continual relapse into coma has equally developed skin cancer. It is really pathetic that all these are happening to one person: liver failure; heart failure: lung failure; brain damage; and now skin cancer.
Notwithstanding, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had, on Wednesday January 27th told the nation that President Yar’Adua was fit to continue to rule Nigeria, thus implying that all efforts towards making him hand over to his deputy, in acting capacity, were needless. Could it be that cabinet members were manipulated by a few of them who may have privileged information and are pushing self-serving agenda?
And from obvious indications, the propaganda that the President will soon appear has become a tactics by his handlers to weaken the resolve of the increasing opposition by dragging the issue of the President’s incapability to as long as it can take to ensure they wear out whosoever is opposing the refusal to transmit power to the Vice President.
The cabinet members seem to be using the unpredictability of the President ailment and relying on legalities to hang on to power themselves in the name of the incapacitated president. And this is where the real problem lies. Agreed that the cabinet members may not be disposed to declare their master unfit to continue in office as that would also mean throwing themselves out of the privileged position they currently occupy, hanging on unproductive legalities is nothing but an outright mortgage of their conscience and sincerity of purpose as it concerns the other over 150 million Nigerians.
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The National Assembly on its part seems to be docile in this matter. When the Senate on Monday February 1 was reported as saying that it was not morally right to institute an impeachment against the President just because he is sick, the upper house only made a mockery of itself. Look at our National Assembly members talking of morality- who is deceiving who? Since FEC members have vowed not to do anything that would make them vacate the cabinet, the only option now is the National Assembly which until now had remained very evasive in this matter.
If the National Assembly refuses to perform its duties, then the Supreme Court should rescue this nation from this dangerous slide into crisis. In most Constitutions, the Supreme uses its discretion in line with prevailing facts rather than unnecessary and unproductive legality to resolve constitutional crisis such as we have today in this country. And we the generality of Nigerians trust the Supreme Court to do the right thing.
However, let it be known to whoever is manipulating the system that if eventually the President agrees that he is incapable of continuing in office, or if eventually the nation is told that the President has died, the protest won’t just end there. The people currently manipulating the matter will definitely explain to us why they opted for the path of self-service and deceit rather than openness and patriotism. Thank God that America and the EU had already spoken on this evil manipulation.
When that time comes, the good people of this country will test the sincerity of the United States and EU countries in addressing the fraud and corruption problems of this country as perpetrated by government officials because the manipulation of the issues of the President’s capability to continue in office is strictly for personal financial gains of those concerned.
IFEANYI IZEZE, ABUJA ([email protected])
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If to be alive means to be living, breathing, active, lively and energetic, then it is not out of place for concerned Nigerians to ask: Is President Yar’adua actually alive?
When a highly respected national newspaper authouritatively reported that President Yar’Adua has become an invalid as a result of a catastrophic chemically-induced brain damage he suffered from treatments he received at the Saudi hospital and that he continually goes in and out of coma, the President’s handlers merely described the report as an expression of the opposition mindset.
However, the newspaper report coupled with the Abuja protest march, and the Abuja High Court 14-day ultimatum forced the President’s handlers to stage the acting of that Saudiwood “Umooru Are Dead Part II” produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
And ever since, who else, maybe apart from his wife Turai Yar’adua, has spoken to the President? Not even his deputy, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. Is it not curious that the President has refused to talk with anybody even his close aides? How can the President’s handlers explain this awkward situation? It has been said that if the President is actually alive and still breathing, he may likely be in a state where he cannot talk, eat and interact not to talk of coming back to govern the country. And we have to believe it since there is no alternative explanation.
articleadslinks
Let’s look at an extract of the comments on the internet by a Nigerian US-based medical expert who actually is well informed on the gravity of the President’s ailment: “Yar’adua is now probably a shadow of himself and if by a miracle, he is able to make any decision, such decision cannot be trusted because it would be from a drug induced mind as he is most likely under chemically induced coma.
“Under chemically induced coma, he is sedated. As a result, he is not capable of making any decision. With heavy sedation, he will not be alert, oriented to time, place or person. Even if the sedation is stopped, it will take sometime for him to speak. His decision should be questioned because he will be making them under the influence of mind-altering drugs.”
So it is laughable for the Eminent Elders Group, the leadership of the National Assembly, and the wide spectrum of aggrieved opposition to continue to insist that “the only way to solve the problem of the current power vacuum at the Presidency is for the President to make his vacation formal and for the National Assembly to insist that there is a penalty for refusal to submit a letter. Which President is going to make his vacation formal- Umaru Yar’adua or who?
From unfolding events and the accounts provided by medical experts, the President himself is definitely not even in a position to write any letter or ask somebody else to do so for him. So, that option is a dead end except someone from the cabal that have manipulated the situation would forge a letter in the name and signature of the President because our President cannot articulate any thought now according to what expert say is the gravity of his ailment.
If the President is actually alive and conscious of himself and his environment so why hide him from his deputy, the Vice President and other members of his cabinet?
It was reported last Sunday that the President in addition to his continual relapse into coma has equally developed skin cancer. It is really pathetic that all these are happening to one person: liver failure; heart failure: lung failure; brain damage; and now skin cancer.
Notwithstanding, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had, on Wednesday January 27th told the nation that President Yar’Adua was fit to continue to rule Nigeria, thus implying that all efforts towards making him hand over to his deputy, in acting capacity, were needless. Could it be that cabinet members were manipulated by a few of them who may have privileged information and are pushing self-serving agenda?
And from obvious indications, the propaganda that the President will soon appear has become a tactics by his handlers to weaken the resolve of the increasing opposition by dragging the issue of the President’s incapability to as long as it can take to ensure they wear out whosoever is opposing the refusal to transmit power to the Vice President.
The cabinet members seem to be using the unpredictability of the President ailment and relying on legalities to hang on to power themselves in the name of the incapacitated president. And this is where the real problem lies. Agreed that the cabinet members may not be disposed to declare their master unfit to continue in office as that would also mean throwing themselves out of the privileged position they currently occupy, hanging on unproductive legalities is nothing but an outright mortgage of their conscience and sincerity of purpose as it concerns the other over 150 million Nigerians.
articleadsbanner
The National Assembly on its part seems to be docile in this matter. When the Senate on Monday February 1 was reported as saying that it was not morally right to institute an impeachment against the President just because he is sick, the upper house only made a mockery of itself. Look at our National Assembly members talking of morality- who is deceiving who? Since FEC members have vowed not to do anything that would make them vacate the cabinet, the only option now is the National Assembly which until now had remained very evasive in this matter.
If the National Assembly refuses to perform its duties, then the Supreme Court should rescue this nation from this dangerous slide into crisis. In most Constitutions, the Supreme uses its discretion in line with prevailing facts rather than unnecessary and unproductive legality to resolve constitutional crisis such as we have today in this country. And we the generality of Nigerians trust the Supreme Court to do the right thing.
However, let it be known to whoever is manipulating the system that if eventually the President agrees that he is incapable of continuing in office, or if eventually the nation is told that the President has died, the protest won’t just end there. The people currently manipulating the matter will definitely explain to us why they opted for the path of self-service and deceit rather than openness and patriotism. Thank God that America and the EU had already spoken on this evil manipulation.
When that time comes, the good people of this country will test the sincerity of the United States and EU countries in addressing the fraud and corruption problems of this country as perpetrated by government officials because the manipulation of the issues of the President’s capability to continue in office is strictly for personal financial gains of those concerned.
IFEANYI IZEZE, ABUJA ([email protected])
articleadsbanner
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