NIGERIA’S GOODLUCK TO BE OR NOT TO BE?

“Resume or relinquish power!” seems to be the cry on the lips of every keen and
justifiably irate observer of the Nigerian political things fall apart. Our President and
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces left the shores of Nigeria late last year and has
been said to be receiving treatment for acute pericarditis at the King Faisal Specialist
Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Since then, the exact situation of
his health status has been shrouded in utmost secrecy, right from his departure, through
his three-month stay till his eventual return still in an ambulance and on life support, his
health no better than when he left the country. Amidst the constitutional dilemma rising
on the heels of the acute health condition which has rendered our indefatigable president
incapacitated and subjected the entire citizenry almost to a state of chaos and anarchy,
culminating in the controversial declaration of erstwhile Vice President, Dr Goodluck
Jonathan, as Acting President by the House, on Feb. 9, 2010, to fill the lacuna reigning
hitherto due to the President’s unavoidable absence, a redress of the nation’s law book as
well as impeachment considerations is on ground. This has also roused some partisan,
sectarian and other selfish moves in the higher echelons of power to oust every other
altruistic interest for the sole purpose of being in control. The news of the president’s
return to Nigeria in the wee hours of Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010, albeit a top secret
operation, coming in the wake of the six-man delegate to Saudi Arabia with regard to our
President’s ill health and prolonged hospitalization there since the 23rd of Nov., 2009, has
been met with an uproar that can be compared to that of the June 12, 1993 annulment of
M. K. O. Abiola’s presidential election. That was a sheer rape of democracy which is not
far from what we are made to endure today. As anxiety heightens, the debate boils hotter.
Swords are being drawn; all weapons are being launched in the conflicts of interests of
both groups and individuals. Some are wielding the constitution as a weapon, some
political affiliation, others geographical zone, or simply anything favourable, even if
short-lived.

Consequently, the constitution has been interpreted, misinterpreted and reinterpreted all
over again. The million-dollar question remains: are we guided by the letters of the law or
the spirit of the law? Do we substantiate Jonathan’s present office or do we maintain the
status quo, Jonathan being the Acting President while Yar’Adua recuperates, or do we
hoist Yar’Adua back onto the pole of leadership notwithstanding his precarious
condition? But when and how will Yar’Adua resume work? Will he start with a note of
appreciation to Saudi Arabia or will he start with a note of apology to Nigeria, or maybe a
note of gratitude to Nigerians for their prayers so far and for not complaining about his
gargantuan medical expenses despite the adverse economic climate? Will he transmit to
the House in writing that he's now fit, so A.P can relinquish his seat, whereas he never
wrote them that he wasn’t fit? Will he make a public declaration of his fitness? Or will
his spokesmen still do that for him again, like they did when they smuggled oga presido
in commando style into the country in the dead of the night when men of goodwill like
Goodluck were counting the number of dreams they had had, only to come out in the day
when their clandestine act 1 scene 1 had been compromised by sharper eyes that also
defied sleep to make up with public scene 2, announcing the arrival of Mr President? By
the way, who ordered the deployment of troops that oversaw the torch-lit action, since it
is only the president that is constitutionally accorded this unique authority? Why all the
secrecy and cover-ups in the first place? So many questions on the lips of concerned
Nigerians but no assuage. Many prominent people and leaders in the past have at some
point in time had recourse to the appropriate professional medical services. Pope John
Paul II, Fidel Castro, Babangida, and lately, Bill Clinton, as well as Barrack Obama who
just had his first medical check up as President, are few examples of public servants in
this regard, the only difference being that theirs were made public and remained
transparent until it was over.

With every hope of his recovery lost, doctors have finally declared that our dear President
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is in a vegetative state and can’t survive a couple of hours or
thereabout without a ventilating machine. He can’t eat, can’t talk or sit up, let alone walk,
probably can’t recognize anyone and worse still perhaps doesn’t even know he is back in
his beloved country, being denied access to the same Nigerians he staked his life to lead
to 20:2020 and who have never ceased praying for his quick recovery and continuous
good health.

Initially, some critics cried foul that all this was just a head of Obasanjo’s political hydra,
in this case, a grand but camouflaged third term and “nth term” or perpetual term scheme,
and that OBJ must be thoroughly disappointed and displeased, to say the least, that his
stooge has not passed on till now so he can throw in another pawn who will continue
bringing him the choicest game of their hunting spree.

However, events unfolding in the past few weeks seem to suggest that a cabal is utilizing
every available machinery to make sure Yar’Adua remains in power, dead or alive, fit or
unfit. Till now, we (including the Acting President and other federal executive members)
have seen neither our president nor his corpse. But OBJ is not likely to be a part of this
cabal, on the basis that Yar’Adua on a stretcher would be virtually useless to him, and
like the schemer that he is, it is time he moved on to a more promising candidate. Of
course, you don’t need to be told that both the man who gave you slow poison and stands
aside to feed you another lethal dose whether you ingested the first or not, and the one
who is sweating profusely to forcefully stick it down your throat whether you like it or
not, are to be resisted even with you last breath. If for nothing else, then for the simple
fact that they have at least one thing in common, i.e., they don’t have your good in mind.

Quite remarkably, Dr Goodluck Jonathan on his part has been an epitome of a loyal,
humble, patient, focused, diligent, intelligent and God-fearing public servant. In spite of
all the vicious slanders meted out to him so far, he did not revile in return. His is a lesson
for all Christians and all who aspire to greater heights. I would have begged Nigerians to
spare him the cross of Nigeria hanging on his gentle shoulders, but we really need him at
a time like this, especially if we wouldn’t want to see our beloved country been hijacked
by hooligans. He is our Simon of Cyrene and we have to support him to steer the Giant of
Africa out of the raging storm. He really needs our support and prayers.

To Turai, while we sincerely regret whatever emotional, physical, political or mental

trauma your husband’s health condition must have unleashed on you and your family, we
nevertheless urge you not to lose sight of the truism that the presidency is much more
than a person and the nation far more than a family, which is only a microcosm in the
macrocosm. Unfortunately, you have to choose between honour and power, because at
this juncture, you can’t have both. Rather, you stand to lose both and have in fact already
started to. Moreover, long life and impeccably good health are utopian fantasies which
human frailty is not privy to.

The prophets and fortune tellers seem to be nursing the still sore wounds their hungry
prophesies cost them by goofing about the outcome of the Anambra guber race, if not,
they would not have hesitated to catch in on the melodrama and tell us what act 2 scene 1
would be, even though we know they’d also be quick to further scripturise their fake
tongue in the event of any failed prophecy, that He changed His mind just like in
Niniveh’s case. Whatever be the case, the suspense is engulfing. It brings back some
memories of 24, the popular screen Fox TV series, a fast-paced action thriller in which
the safety of the country is at stake and every second counts, with it’s shadowy figures in
government acting for their own unpatriotic interests, struggling tooth and nail, fair and
foul, dead or alive, to cling on to power for life. Or do we need a Jack Bauer here to
uncover and thwart their plans and bring them to book, doing what is necessary?
Or do we need a Jerry Rawlins as in the Ghanaian situation?
Or a re-re-brander?

Be that as it may, there is no gainsaying that this political quagmire vis-à-vis the Aso
Rock-Jeddah jamboree cum FEC logjam has caused so many setbacks in both our
national realm and international relations. The so much lauded amnesty package is
becoming nightmarish. Repentant militants are tracing their way back to the creeks to
resume hostilities. Threats everywhere. Electricity and petroleum supplies have been
sabotaged. Our nascent democracy is threatened by the minute. Aspersions have been
cast on our political image. Shenanigans and good-for-nothing-except-greed politicians
have held our nation hostage after the Saudi hostage. But all hope is not lost.

It is on this note that I passionately reiterate the clarion call of Prof. Mrs Dora Akunyili,
Wole Soyinka and other patriots for us to rise en masse against this ungodly minority, no
matter how highly placed in the society they are, and whatever their motives and
expectations are. Those responsible for this political impasse have to be fished out and
flushed out. The affairs of over 150 million Nigerians cannot be rubbished by an
exploitive few. Posterity will frown at us if all we do is fold our arms disinterestedly and
allow these politicos continue to bamboozle us. We have to salvage our beleaguered
polity. We should restore normalcy, decency and sanity in the polity. We must uphold
our national pride and dignity. If only 1% of the citizens and well-wishers of this our
great nation would come out and say YES!, then YES! shall it be, because vox populi,
vox Dei.