[size=15pt]Yar'Adua's absence stalls UN talks on Bakassi[/size]

Meets on Mbeki as parliament okays President's exit
From Laolu Akande, New York
PRESIDENT Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's absence at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly debate, which kicked off yesterday morning in New York, United States (U.S.), has affected the Nigeria-Cameroun meeting planned by the world body.

As at yesterday, 79 heads of state and 38 heads of government had shown up for the summit. However, the session did begin without the absence Yar'Adua and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki causing ripples at the UN headquarters.

On Monday, 26 heads of state and nine heads of government had participated in the UN special summit on African developmental needs convened by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, where both Yar'Adua and Mbeki were scheduled to feature. Mbeki had already announced his resignation from office.

United Nations spokesperson Michelle Montas disclosed that a meeting Ban had scheduled to hold with Yar'Adua and President Paul Biya of Cameroun had been cancelled at the last minute because of the Nigerian leader's absence.

Montas said on Monday afternoon that the UN scribe got wind of President Yar'Adua's decision not to attend the summit "only yesterday," meaning Sunday. That meeting that all the three leaders had intended to hold was to review the Bakassi Peninsula handover, which the UN had supervised.

A source said Nigeria simply missed an opportunity to celebrate the country's magnanimity on such a critical opportunity.

A statement from the UN Secretariat on Monday, said "in the light of the fact that the President of Nigeria, Mr. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, will not be attending this year's ordinary session of the General Assembly, the high-level meeting between the Secretary-General and Presidents Paul Biya and Umaru Yar'Adua, initially scheduled for this afternoon, will not take place as planned."

source:http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=240908&ptitle=Yar'Adua's%20absence%20stalls%20UN%20talks%20on%20Bakassi

Yaradua is sick, Nigeria is sick, both are in intensive care awaiting surgery