Obasanjo, Bankole, Govs pray for Yar'Adua
Written by Leon Usigbe & Ola Ajayi
Tuesday, September 2, 2008


FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole; and four South-West Governors yesterday held a joint prayer session for President Umaru Yar’Adua who is in a Saudi Arabia hospital.


The ocassion was the South-West PDP Elders Caucus meeting in Ibadan just as some members of the House of Representatives say there is nothing unusual in President Yar’Adua falling ill or even hospitalised.


Also in attendance at the Ibadan meeting were the Governors of Oyo, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala; Ekiti, Engineer Segun Oni; and Osun, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.


The rest were Hazeem Gbolarumi; Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun; Chief Bode George; Biola Morakinyo, former Commissioner for Finance in the old Oyo State; Senator Clement Awoyelu, representative of former Ekiti Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose; Mr. Demola Seriki, Minister of State for Agriculture; and Chief Ebenezer Babatope, among others.


Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, was absent.


Meanwhile, the Reps who spoke yesterday in separate interviews on the President’s health said he (Yar’Adua) as a human being could fall ill without notice and seek treatment as he deems fit.


The Presidency remained quiet yesterday amid reports that the President would be back in the country “anytime from (Monday) yesterday.”


Chairman of the South-South caucus of the House, Mr. Andrew Uchendu, said: “I don’t have anything to say about the speculation but the President is a human being. He can fall sick any time.”


Concurring, former chairman of the House Committee on Power and Steel, Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, declared that President Yar’Ádua was healthy. “The man will be back tomorrow night (today). There is nothing wrong with him.


“He has also ensured that rule of law is respected and due process is followed and people are not happy about it and people that know that their toes have been stepped on are bent on running down the government.


“What is wrong with somebody falling sick and going for treatment if that is the case? I don’t think that is even the case. The man went to rest and as a citizen of this country, he has freedom of movement and association. So, he should be allowed to have his normal rest,” Elumelu said.


Former chairman of the House Committee on Air Force, Rep. Halims Agoda, wondered "why should people be wishing their President dead? Can’t a President even fall sick? A President is a human being. When human beings fall sick, we go for treatment and we get well.


“What we should do as a nation and as a people is to pray and encourage our leaders. We are all human beings. That he is president does not make him not to be a human being. We should be wishing our President long life, prosperity and good leadership.


“All that we owe the President is wishful prayer and longevity in life. People should stop this madness or speculation. It is not of a right mind. Such a person (Yar’Ádua) is bound to live long. Such a person that people carry speculation about is bound to live very long. Instances abound everywhere.


But of course, as a privilege man in government, I know that the President is very okay,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, Rep. Friday Itulah, representing Esan North East/Esan South-West Federal Constituency of Edo State, urged every citizen to join hands in prayer to wish President Yar'Adua a quick recovery in order to enable him to resume is normal duties.


Yar'Adua in King Fahd Hospital, Saudi official confirms


An official of the King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital in the Red Sea City of Jeddah told AFP that President Yar’Adua had been in the hospital for several days. But he did not specify his medical condition or the treatment he is undergoing.


Saudi military police were seen guarding the hospital, which is run by the Saudi Defence Ministry and where ruling family members and senior officials are usually treated.


Yar’Adua left Nigeria about 12 days ago for the lesser hajj, or umrah, which is performed in Mecca in Saudi Arabia, according to the government.


The Federal Government on Sunday again sought to dispel speculation over the president’s health, saying he is well and fit to run Africa’s most populous nation.


“The Federal Government wishes to restate here that Mr President is very well and healthy,” said Information Minister, Mr John Odey.


“He is in good health to steer the affairs of the state to bring about better livelihood for the generality of the people of Nigeria,” Odey said in a statement to the media.


Odey said the head of state is expected back in Nigeria “soon after his trip to Saudi Arabia where he has gone on lesser hajj.”


The King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital has 420 beds and five city-wide satellite clinics. It is part of a national network of healthcare facilities directly managed by the Medical Services Division (MSD) of the Ministry of Defense and Aviation (MODA).


The hospital provides a wide range of primary, secondary and tertiary medical services to members of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces and their dependents. The Cardiac Centre, situated within the main hospital, is the only adult cardiac surgical facility in the Western Region.


In-service training and education are actively promoted by the Departments of Medical Education and Nursing Education and from within the individual departments.


The programme includes a weekly hospital Grand Round, monthly Nursing Grand Rounds and regular nursing study days. Inter- and intra-departmental activities include seminars, case presentations and Journal Clubs. The hospital is also a designated training center for junior medical and nursing staff.


All departments and units, both medical and non-medical


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[size=13pt]Yar’Adua yet to undergo surgery – Agency report [/size]
By AMOS DUNIA, Abuja
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Fresh details on the trip made by President Umaru Yar’Adua to Saudi Arabia indicate that he was yet to undergo surgery for kidney transplant as has been widely reported in the media.

The facts emerged as a group, Nigerians United for Democracy (NUD) condemned the perceived mishandling of the issue of the president’s health by Federal Government officials.


. President Umaru Yar’Adua
Photo: Sun News Publishing

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The Minister of Information, Mr. John Odey, had told the nation that Yar’Adua was away to Saudi Arabia on Umrah, lesser hajj.

Odey explained that the president was hale and hearty and would return to the country after completing all his engagements in the Arabian country. Reports, however, indicated that beyond the official position on the president’s trip, which gave vent to wild speculations, the nation’s number one citizen was taking time to attend to his health problem.

Agency reports on Monday indicated that while the president had not undergone kidney transplant, he had actually been admitted into hospital in the port city of Jeddah for intensive tests by medical doctors.

It was further learnt that after the tests, he retired to a private home in the Saudi city.

Nigerians are, however, querying why the Federal Government would be secretive about the state of health of the president, while its officials made it look they had something to cover up.

Meanwhile, Nigerians United for Democracy (NUD) has called for the setting up of the constitutionally required the medical panel to diagnose the true state of health of President Yar’Adua.

A member of NUD and human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, who made the call at a press conference on the state of the nation, said that it had become imperative for the Senate President to invoke Section 144, which empowers him to set up a medical panel to diagnose the president’s ailment.

He explained that the role of the panel was to confirm whether Yar’Adua was capable of continuing to discharge the function of the president, adding, “This is the time to ask that the provision of Section 144 of the Constitution be invoked, that a medical panel be set up by the President of the Senate to examine the state of the health of the president.”

According to Falana, “It is an unfortunate development that Nigeria will have to read and confirm the state of health of the president in local and foreign media, while what is being dished out from Abuja is official lies about the matter. Whereas we are told that the president has gone to Mecca for Umrah only to later confirm that the man was recuperating after undergoing surgery.

“It is very embarrassing, you can only run a banana republic like this, where public funds are being expended to maintain the health of the President, yet Nigerians are not told the true state of his health,” he added.

On the role of the former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s in picking Yar’Adua for the position, Falana noted that this action was done deliberately, adding that “because of his weak state of health, other people have hijacked power to detriment of the former president and that of Nigerians.”

Also speaking on the matter, the National Chairman of NUD, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, wished the President well during his recuperation in Saudi Arabia, noting that the question of his presidency had not been cleared because “we have not accepted him as the president.”

Reading the seven-page address of the body entitled, “A defining Moment in the History of Nigeria,” Braithwaite called for an interim national government, comprising God-fearing men and women of transparent integrity, designed to foreclose a descent into anarchy.

He noted that the call for interim government was meant to allow the people to take their destiny in their hands and allow them to proceed to build a strong democracy.

He asserted that the NUD shall do everything in its power to wrest the country from the hands of undemocratic and irresponsible power mongers who had held the country down for so long.

He said: “We shall motivate and lead the mass of our people to seize the initiative and claim the momentum that is theirs, to move Nigeria in the direction predestined for it and put an end to the assertion that in Nigeria evil will perpetually triumph over good, darkness over light, dictatorship over democracy and lies over truth.”

On the review of the 1999 Constitution, Braithwaite said thefact the National Assembly, composed largely of unelected persons, has declared its intention to carry out substantial amendments of the bogus 1999 Constitution only goes to buttress our position that the Constitution was not only illegitimate but was clearly subversive of the sovereignty of the Nigerian people.





http://odili.net/news/source/2008/sep/2/509.html

Assignment!!!!  Assignment!!!!!!   Assignment!!!!

where are the IT Graduates in the house, we need an online digital clock for this current administration and its Federal Executive Council

It will be called:

[size=16pt]"Yara'dua clock of dishonesty"[/size]


Lets begin to time how long it takes our so called servant leader to come out clean (regarding his health) and assess whether he is still fit to run this country.

The clock will be sent to ANPP, AC and Saharareporters websites.

mikeansy:

Assignment!!!! Assignment!!!!!! Assignment!!!!

where are the IT Graduates in the house, we need an online digital clock for this current administration and its Federal Executive Council

It will be called:

[size=16pt]"Yara'dull clock of dishonesty"[/size]


Lets begin to time how long it takes our so called servant leader to come out clean (regarding his health) and assess whether he is still fit to run this country.

The clock will be sent to ANPP, AC and Saharareporters websites.

I second that. The guy has been to germany just before his election and few times therafter. Normal people especially with money and influence don't get sick everyday. He is clearly unfit to lead this nation at this time. the benficiaries of his health conditions are the chop and chop politicians who are defending a complete nonsense. The samething happens to ABACHA some years back. All those due process and rule of law presumably does not apply to the President, the servant leader who canot come out and explain his illness and use a cover of lesser Hajj to be sick. Is the lesser hajj part of his national business or is on annual holiday.

the truth of the matter is that he is sick in his kidney and like other nigerian leaders, he is sick in his head.
why is it that they must run out of nigeria for every sickness? are they telling nigerians who cannot go abroad for health care to die here? i thank God for death which he made for every body otherwise our nigerian rulers would have bought all the lives and put them in their warehouse.
very soon, the stupid rulers will be going to cotonou for treatments.
i still don't believe they go there for treatment rather they go there to launder our money - thieves.
the prayers of obj and co are simply aimed at protecting the hear and do from being caught by a sturborn officer.
who is saying jonathan no wan be president? jonathan shld be praying that yar adua will die over there.
for me na look i dey look them