Germany is Nigeria's 37th state. All that remains is for our lawmakers to review the Nigerian constitution and make it official.

They should get cracking. Several weeks ago awoke to news that President Goodluck Jonathan's wife, Patience, had disappeared from Nigeria. Nobody in Aso Rock bothered to inform Nigerians about the whereabouts of their "First Lady." It later transpired that Mrs. Jonathan had sneaked away to a clinic in Wiesbaden, Germany. It was as if she'd merely left one room in the Presidential Villa to another.

In the end, it took enterprising online reporters to tell Nigerians that their president's "missing" wife was in Germany, hospitalised. In response, the woman's spokesman denied that she was ailing. No, he said, she had exhausted herself from clinking glasses, eating and chatting with some other African leaders' wives she hosted in Abuja. She'd then traveled to Germany to take a well-deserved "moment's rest."

Nigerians would discover that Mrs. Jonathan's moment was counted in weeks. As in, more than four weeks. In a bizarre twist, the woman whose exit was shrouded in secrecy came back to a staged carnival-grade welcome. After all, she was returning from Germany, Nigeria's latest satellite. Last week, Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State crashed a small CESSNA plane he was piloting as he attempted to land in Yola, Adamawa State. Initial reports said the governor had died. It turned out, thank God, that he was only injured. He was soon transferred to the National Hospital, Abuja. President Jonathan went to see him there.

Afterwards, Mr. Jonathan pronounced the governor's condition stable. In fact, the president's words bear quoting in detail, for they reveal something about the mindset of the man currently presiding over Nigeria. "We are quite happy that the governor is stable," said Nigeria's president. "I have seen him. Doctors are working very hard on him. I believe that God willing, he will come out of it.

But he is still in hospital. Being a governor, people are worried. People want to know his state of health." A day or two after Mr. Jonathan spoke those words, Governor Suntai was airlifted to an undisclosed hospital in Germany.

The National Hospital, Abuja used to be Nigeria's best hospital. That was when Nigeria had only thirty-six states. Since Nigerian officials unofficially annexed Germany as their country's 37th state, the torch of best hospital has been passed on.

The best Nigerian hospital now is - wait for it - in Germany! Last Sunday, several Nigerian newspapers reported the airlift of the injured Suntai to Nigeria's outpost in Germany. A report in The Sun was quite revelatory. Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, the paper reported, "has been flown to Germany for PROPER TREATMENT" (emphasis mine).

The paper's report continued: "The governor was on Friday taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, where Sunday Sun reliably gathered he was prepared for the longer journey to Germany for BETTER TREATMENT" (again, emphasis mine).

At any rate, he hardly shied from touting his achievements. Yet, one of the man's reliable records is that he's something of a showman. Taraba State lacks the most basic of facilities. But that fact would not detain Mr. Suntai.

A lover of jets, he acquired a pilot's license to enable himself to hop from place to place. If he ever wrote a political playbook, jollity would be a venerated principle. I could not help thinking about the state of Nigeria as I reflected on Suntai situation. Last week, three friends wrote or spoke to me about the ghastly condition of Nigerian roads.

One, a businessman, described the harrowing experience of traveling by road from Port Harcourt to Enugu. "It's unacceptable to see a highway so dilapidated," he wrote in an email. He continued: "Attention must be drawn to save lives that are being needlessly lost. I saw victims being pulled out from a fresh crash at the Aba/PH stretch.

Right after Umuahia, you could only continue by driving on top of piles of chippings, two over-turned trucks on both sides were clear warning signs of the risk involved." Another friend, a lawyer, detailed the sheer dread of driving from Lagos to Abuja to represent a client.

The recent flood disaster, he said, had made the trip an even greater ordeal. The third friend, a banker, had traveled from Calabar to Anambra State. "I won't make this trip again anytime soon," he told me over the phone. "The road is so bad that it was like going through a war zone." Let's be clear: Nigeria's deplorable condition is, in large measure, a function of the individual and collective stupidity of the country's top officials.

Paradoxically, these wreckers-in-chief get airlifted to Germany (as well as such other locations as the US, the UK, India, Dubai and South Africa) for "proper" or "better" treatment. And the rest of us, whose lives they misshape, are left paying for them to get excellent treatment.

http://saharareporters.com/column/germany-nigeria%E2%80%99s-37th-state-okey-ndibe

http://saharareporters.com/column/germany-nigeria’s-37th-state-okey-ndibe

Yawns. Yawns. Yawns.

And then what?

too long for dis early mo'mo joor.

That's ‎​ђã†̥ our shameleSs leaders are good at! They don't know that they are being mocked by Germany government! Nothing good about their country and they don't seem T̶̲̥̅Ơ̴͡ be moved! Nemesis will surely catch up with them after their regime! God of Naija is watching!

What a boring thread. Nl wetin dey happen?

Nice write-up!

Just passing by......... Just passing by.........

We go always comment and complain.. But when we go do something?

diluminati: What a boring thread. Nl wetin dey happen?

Boring ke? What made it boring? Is it because you are too lazy to read or understand.

If the discussion was about Tonto Dike or Dbanj, it would make sense, shebi?

Who cares

u dont expect me to read all of that right ?

Its rather unfortunate n heartbreaking that our leaders care for nothing else but themselves. I travelled from lagos to osha last week n I was scared aπϑ at the same time sad of the situations of the roads,the roads were bad,bridges didn't have railings. Its only an insensitive person that W̶̲̥̅̊Iι̥ι̥ say to him self"who cares as long as am not affected" if I affects one it affects all

*singing* Wetin man go do,wetin man go do o,wetin man go do uuuu *singing*

Okey, find something else to post, please!
Yar'Adua was hospitalised in S.Arabia. How has that made Saudi a part of Nigeria?
Every year Nigerians troop out in thousands to the US and UK. Yet, you didn't call those ones "Nigeria's satellites."
Now, you're making reference to Germany simply because Nigerians are going there on health grounds (I'm not saying this is normal anyway - lest some shallow thinkers take this up). And at the end of your story, you cited less than 5 examples (when I thought you've got thousands of them, going by your topic).
Sit down and read the piece again. I'm sure something will tell you this from within: "Did I really write this? What came over me? Oh, this probably must have been due to joblessness. Let me get something doing!"
I'm not saying you've written BS, but other countries fit in your satire better than Germany. So, you got it wrong there!

Nice write up from a great columnist Okey Ndibe. I always read his columns in SunNews paper and Saharareporters. He is a very insightful writer and has this great sense of humour with additions of wittisms to his write up.
Back to the topic at hand,Nigerian leaders are failures and have failed the Nigeian citizens, making life unbearable for them. What is happening now can be liked to Karma, they are being punished by the Almighty for all the sufferings they have brought to the Nigerian people.

Why can't we have a good crop of specialists in our hospitals accross the nation? What does it take for us to get those sophisticated life supporting machines down here? It's a shame.

these leaders don't seize to amaze me , they travel abroad see fine this ,n like it when they come back they just forget.

Like play like play NLers are proving elrufai right.
Some people are even proudly displaying their intellectual laziness.
But if it were to be gossip, celebrities and romance or other inane stories, people would read it to the last page.
However, they forgot to include late president yar-ardua to the list, he shuttled to and fro regularly.

What about d road from yola to jalingo how motorable is it?

Hahahaha! Hypocrisy at d highest level. Please some shld ask Okey Ndibe: where is Saharareporters website hosted? The last time i checked, d answer was in NEW YORK.

Okey cant you host ur website in Nigeria here? (I even thought HurricaneSandy was gonna affect your organisation sef)

in as much as i dont support d selfishnez of our leaders, i dont see Saharareporters as unbaised.

Beefing our leaders for going abroad for medical trips where as ur baised website is hosted in New York! Arrant nonsense!

Thok: We go always comment and complain.. But when we go do something?

Lead the way to positive change now- we wait for your directive.

Jayses: u dont expect me to read all of that right ?

Meen... You are so dumb!

*whisling*...waka pass

Jayses: u dont expect me to read all of that right ?

We don't! Why would anybody expect you to read "all of that"? Do they want your brain to collapse as a result?

hurricaneChris: Hahahaha! Hypocrisy at d highest level. Please some shld ask Okey Ndibe: where is Saharareporters website hosted? The last time i checked, d answer was in NEW YORK.

Okey cant you host ur website in Nigeria here? (I even thought HurricaneSandy was gonna affect your organisation sef)

in as much as i dont support d selfishnez of our leaders, i dont see Saharareporters as unbaised.

Beefing our leaders for going abroad for medical trips where as ur baised website is hosted in New York! Arrant nonsense!

What has Sahara Reporters website And where it is hosted got to do with Public office holders travelling overseas for health reasons when the existing facilities in Nigeria are in a state of comatose. We should learn to separate a private entity doing its reportage business from Public office holders who are nto living up to their responsibilities

diluminati: What a boring thread. Nl wetin dey happen?

Hey mate, you totally missed the point. This article was not written to satisfy your inherent hunger for entertainment!

hurricaneChris: Hahahaha! Hypocrisy at d highest level. Please some shld ask Okey Ndibe: where is Saharareporters website hosted? The last time i checked, d answer was in NEW YORK.

Okey cant you host ur website in Nigeria here? (I even thought HurricaneSandy was gonna affect your organisation sef)

in as much as i dont support d selfishnez of our leaders, i dont see Saharareporters as unbaised.

Beefing our leaders for going abroad for medical trips where as ur baised website is hosted in New York! Arrant nonsense!

sahara reporters owe u nufin so y on earth cant they leave d country 2 New York or wherever dey wish. Nigerian leaders on d other hand owe u alot. D mantle was given 2 each one of them 2 rule us n make our lives more comfortable, dey shudnt be leaving the country 2 get d comfort dey cant provide here (or rada they can but wud prefer nt 2 cos of their greediness). Sahara reporters shud b appreciated 4 doin wat majority of Nigerians arent capable of doing...SPEAKING OUT!!!

Nice article, will be leaving this country ASAP till things become normal