[size=15pt]Sick President can’t lead a dying nation – Tunde Bakare [/size]

By Olalekan Adetayo
Published: Thursday, 2 Oct 2008
The General Overseer of The Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Wednesday, took a critical look at the country, 48 years after independence and submitted that a sick president could not lead a dying country like Nigeria.


He said that contrary to what the Presidency was making Nigerians to believe, President Umaru Yar‘Adua that he saw on the television set during his nationwide independence broadcast, was sick and needed the prayers of all Nigerians.


Bakare spoke in Lagos at a special service he organised to commemorate the nation‘s 48th independence.

The clergyman said that to move out from the doldrums, the nation needed leadership that had strength, vitality and the mental capacity to turn moments of adversity into opportunity.


He said, “Today, we need leadership that can move the country forward with confidence and common purpose. A smaller and smarter government that can make barbecue, spare ribs, pork chops, sausages and ham from the pig in the poke.

“To do so, we must begin where it matters and proceed with strong determination to make positive and lasting changes for the better in four critical areas, like the four river heads at the Garden of Eden.”

Bakare identified the four areas to include the form of government, economy, education and righteous policies.

He recommended the Constitutional Republic form of government which he described as the best form of human government.


Under this type of government, he said the people ruled through their chosen representatives and those representatives must rule by law.

He said the Constitution that could be appealed to and that all parties sworn to uphold, was the governing document under the republic.

He said that the nation‘s economic pie needed to continue to grow as leaders focused the energy of the youth in farm settlements and agro-allied industries, especially in the National Youth Service Corps year.


He also faulted the exorbitant prices being charged for house rents in the country, saying that a fresh graduate who was asked to pay two years rent for an apartment would steal when he gets a job.


Bakare said that apart from declaring emergency in the energy sector, the crises in the Niger Delta also require a serious attention.


Arguing that God hated injustice and oppression, the clergyman asked the Federal Government to give to the people what rightly belongs to them.

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“You cannot silence the oppressed: they will rise and God will rise with them,” he said.


On education, he said that the nation should not be satisfied until every Nigerian child had the same chances for a good education that leaders and the well to do in the country wanted for their children.

He said, “A sick church cannot bring healing to a dying world; neither can a seriously sick leader bring progresss to his followers.

Sin, iniquity and unrighteousness thrive in an atmosphere of undue secrecy.

“Let‘s be honest, let‘s be open, let‘s ask God to give us leaders after His own heart so that by the time Nigeria is 50 years old as an independent nation, the trumpet of true jubilee will blow across this land.

“We pray, believe and trust God to restore our wasted years and heal our land and our

source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20081002242123

when a blind man leads a blind man, they ll end in a ditch

our president should leave a legacy, he should resign! he is not well, and thus not fit to rule. the record is already there he was a president of nigeria. we dont want a president dying on us at this point in time, like Mbeki, he should call it quits with the presidency

dgratrock:

our president should leave a legacy, he should resign! he is not well, and thus not fit to rule. the record is already there he was a president of nigeria. we don't want a president dying on us at this point in time, like Mbeki, he should call it quits with the presidency

If the Vice President (Goodluck Jonathan) was from the North, then it'll be easier for him to resign. The problem is,
if he resigns, a Southerner is going to be sworn in as the next president and the north doesn't want that.

At this rate, it seems the man would rather die in office than resign and attend to his health.

maxell:

If the Vice President (Goodluck Jonathan) was from the North, then it'll be easier for him to resign. The problem is,
if he resigns, a Southerner is going to be sworn in as the next president and the north doesn't want that.

At this rate, it seems the man would rather die in office than resign and attend to his health.

Thats where d major problem lies, they(norhterners) feel its their constitutional right to rule for now.
The constitution as stated if the president dies or resigns or is impeached based on health the vice steps in.really in a nation where development and the people are the primary priority, that should not be an issue,but what do u expect in a nation where an unwritten constituion is been followed.
If Yara dua steps aside "if", i wont be surprised if goodluck is impeached or killed, y?cos at this rate northerners(some) would do anything to hold on to power for this periods.
They wnt want another sourtherner for the next 3-8 yrs to rule over them. So whatever it would take to get anybody that is not a northener out of the way they would do.
I believe at this stage all power lies in the correct interpretation and stance of the judicial system of the nation, if he setps aside or his impeached and the Judicial system can swear in Goodluck,whoever doesnt like it can hit his/her head against a wall.Fine one cannot rule out possibly a protest an all,but the law is the law and the soonest we learn to follow the better we would be as a nation.

In all fairness to Yar'adua he's only a human that is prone to so many sicknesses and ailments.

I wonder why the issue of his health should be a cardinal point in judging his administration.

On this issue, Pastor Tunde Bakare has failed .

I think as a man of God, it is time for him to just shut his trap called cake hole of a mouth and pray for the nation.
Shame on him as a man of God and his nation is sick, i thought, he has been given power to lay hands on the sick and they will get heal, i am well aware of the fact that Nigeria is going through what not a man can heal, but he has no reason to just talk anyhow, besides, in da bible, God says, whoever is a leader over you must be respected, and Yar'Adua is a leader over Bakare, and he needs to just pray for the man and not rant on about him.
Nigeria is sick and we all know that, but soon as one and not as a divided nation, we will be healed.

These being said, i think yar'adua shd do us all a favour, resign, infact, he will be doing himself some good too, because, he will find the needed time to take care of his health, even an healthy man ruling Nigeria will fall ill, cos Nigeria is just a complex place to deal with.

Dis thin dey complex!
If you follow bible thru thru yu go discover say it is not good to talk to your Gov. not 2 talk of d president anyhow. In another sense yu no fit talk to any man of God. But wether naija sick or she no sick it is even wrong to confess bad bad thing for our Jerusalem. Where we go start?

Ajiii:

this thin dey complex!
If you follow bible through through yu go discover say it is not good to talk to your Gov. not 2 talk of d president anyhow. In another sense yu no fit talk to any man of God. But wether naija sick or she no sick it is even wrong to confess bad bad thing for our Jerusalem. Where we go start?

You are very rght, but Nigeria is yet to get to jerusalem, we needs to move there and so far, there is no leader to take Nija there, we are still stuck in the wilderness,a nd the pillar of light to direct nija has been killed and dead, so we have no way to find the way out.

Pastors should shut the hell up and keep their nose out of politics.

Isn’t it so Nigerian to attribute the man’s failure to his illness. Come on!!! Why do we continue to let these people do this to us over and over again. What has sickness to do with running the country? The man was not too sick to run Katsina for 8 years, why is his illness SUDDENLY a national issue?

inasmuch as i do agree with you that we cant attribute his failure of leadership to his illness, i bet to disagree with you on the fact that he ruled Katsina for 8 years.
Nigeria is a complex nation, compared to Katisina, in Katsine, he only have to worry about his own kind of people and not have to worry abt making sure igbo gets their fair share as well as the yorubas, so there is a big deal and a big difference, but i do not agree that we shd use his illness against him.

You seriously believe that line up there about making sure each tribe gets its own shares?? Come on!!! Don’t you see that that there is the first problem with the sort of democracy we are trying to create out of true democracy?
How can you rule a nation while commiting the same mistake we accuse the citizens of being guilty of? How can you say tribalism is bad but turn around and rule the nation considering tribalism to be part of the solution?

Until the government starts to treat the people as people and not as people from different tribes, we are bound to allow people like yar adua take seat again in that country, tribalism will continue to exist as it does and people continue to get harmed by it.

You bet there is no fair share at all, infact, there is no share at all, cos the money isnt even enough for our leader to steal, all i am saying is that, leading nigeria is a tough job and cant be compared to leading katsina

I am not in anyway comparing his leading Nigeria to his ability to leading Katsina. What I am simply stating here is that we should not buy into the idea that we ought to pity him because of his illness or excuse him in anyway for it. His illness was not an issue during his 8 years in Katsina and so should not be used in judging him.

Imagine a case where you have a killer who has some sort of cancer in his brain. The reason why the lawyers defending this man would introduce his cancer into the case is so as to appeal to jury’s sensitive side. We should please not bite here. This man can do his job IF HE REALLY wanted to but so far chooses not to. Earlier, he claimed the reason for his inaction was that he was busy making plans and deciding how to act. Now, we want to believe his illness is in the way? PLEASE NO MORE STUPID EXCUSES OOO.

for pete's sake, the guy didn't call for anybody's pity now, did he? what has physical abilities got to do with statecraft? all those spartan, healthy and able bodied men we've been getting all these while, what reasonably positive enduring legacy have any of them done to the betterment of the polity?

and mind you, the post is quite mischievous as not anywhere did i see in the above article that the preacher made such a statement as the post would want us believe.

if one can grasp the context in which the statement was made, he was not referring to the president per se, but to the inept leadership cadre we've been having since independence.

physical ability is is no barrier to the discharge of state duties, especially when the one discharging these duties have a clear vision of where he wants his nation to be. while not saying that uncle umaru is the solution to nigeria's leadership crisis, but what the heck. let's give the guy a break. . .

p.s. franklin delano roosevelt, yeah, remember him? the yankee was paralysed from the waist down and was wheel chair ridden throughout the duration of the second world war, while he was the incumbent president. and what do you know, the guy is the only american president to have served for more than two terms in office.

the american people had so much confidence in his abilities that he stayed a comfortable four terms in office. i guess his wheel chair was some good luck charm

Give what guy a break? Give Yar adua more time?

if he ain't meeting expectations, then tell it as it is, he ain't meeting expectations, simple. what is the point of ascribing his inefficiency to his state of health?

No one is using Yar'Adua's illness against him, and if in the United states the leader never did anything but travel all the time for treatment while the affairs of the nation was left unattended to, i am sure the americans would have asked for his resignation, yar 'Adua has done practically nothing since he assumes power, or please, tell me one thing he has done right, oh less i forget, he got rid of Ribadu that was doing a great job fighting the theives in aso rock, does that tell you something? i guess not, cos you just want us to give the guy more chance to make a mess of Nigeria.
I wish him better health, but he is not good enough to rule Nigeria and i will say this to his face, if i am chanced, he is a lame duck, period.

now you see how practical your criticism sounds without referring to his state of health? everyone has a right to his or her opinions and if you feel he ain't doing good, you got a right to question him. in fact we all do as long as we still lack the basic necessities that act as catalyst for developement. but when we criticize, we should criticize from an objective point of view.

health issues and other trivia like personal/family history are irrelevant to performance in office. rather, one would seek to take a peek at his seven point agenda. what has he done in meeting these set goals? that is more of inquiry i feel we would all do well to probe into. . .

you want us to take his health into considerations? in asmuch as i wish you well with his health, he has a choice to quit if his health is not strong enuf to lead the nation, that is why he has a VP, the VP's job is not to just fill the hole and get paid, he cld pass the VP the mantle and he go and take care of his health, all i am saying is that Yar'Adua is yet to show any concern and he hasnt done anything at all since he has been in office, if we have to give him a grade at present, he will be lucky to even have an "F" cos he hasnt done nor achieve anything, he simplay has been warmng the bench and that is enuf.

Kobojunkie:

Isn’t it so Nigerian to attribute the man’s failure to his illness. Come on!!! Why do we continue to let these people do this to us over and over again. What has sickness to do with running the country? The man was not too sick to run Katsina for 8 years, why is his illness SUDDENLY a national issue?

What a shocking question! The answer is EVERYTHING! A sound body produces a sound mind, and a sound mind produces sound policies. History is filled with story of World leaders afflicted with deadly diseases that eventually influenced their decisions while in office. From former British P.M Chamberlain during the 1st World war who had acute cholecystitis, and ended up caving into the every bit of the Nazis demands, to King Edward with alkaptonuria and its transient insanity, to the Russian Czar and hemophilia.

In every instance, these diseases had produced actions judged poorly by history. If we claim ignorance of these facts and insist that our president with end-stage renal disease ought to perform as if he has no deblitating condition, then you ought to ask the nearest MD the side effects of uremia.

Hint-- altered mental status. What type of decision would you expect from a man with altered mental status? You be the judge.

naijaking1:

What a shocking question! The answer is EVERYTHING! A sound body produces a sound mind, and a sound mind produces sound policies.

Hhmmm… in essence, people who have cancer are not fit and so should be considered incapable of running businesses or achieving anything substantial in society or office?? Interesting .  .  .

naijaking1:

History is filled with story of World leaders afflicted with deadly diseases that eventually influenced their decisions while in office. From former British P.M Chamberlain during the 1st World war who had acute cholecystitis, and ended up caving into the every bit of the Nazis demands, to King Edward with alkaptonuria and its transient insanity, to the Russian Czar and hemophilia.

The same history is also filled with stories of world leaders who were afflicted with some deadly disease and eventually died in office but were still able to run their affairs with no issue as the one we have in Nigeria today.

naijaking1:

In every instance, these diseases had produced actions judged poorly by history. If we claim ignorance of these facts and insist that our president with end-stage renal disease ought to perform as if he has no deblitating condition, then you ought to ask the nearest MD the side effects of uremia.

Are you in essence saying that Yar adua’s ailment has in some way altered his mental status? Again, I have to remind you that he was able to, with the same illness, sit as governor of Katsina for 8 years and was seen by so many, just about 3 or four months ago, as being sufficiently capable of running that country, even with practically nothing achieved in over a year.

naijaking1:

Hint-- altered mental status. What type of decision would you expect from a man with altered mental status? You be the judge.

Can you prove without a doubt that this ailment has in some way altered Yar adua’s mental status? Cause I see no reason why we should be discussing mental status in relations to this man’s illness if his doctors have not in anyway stated that his mental capability has been affected in any way by this ailment of his. If no such proof exists, then why are we discussing MENTAL STATUS??

@ Kobojunkie
Remember your question that started me. There're different types of disease, some could affect your legs, eg FDR, or even present as cancer, etc, but the most important point is that we know what type of disease someone making life and death decision for our country has or has not.

If he had kidney disease and successfully governed a state for 8 years, that's a good reason why we should be worried, because these diseases become progressively worse, not better.
Oh yes, kidney disease could result in altered mental status, I wouldn't argue that with you unless you're also an MD like me.

naijaking1:

@ Kobojunkie
Remember your question that started me. There're different types of disease, some could affect your legs, eg FDR, or even present as cancer, etc, but the most important point is that we know what type of disease someone making life and death decision for our country has or has not.

In the context in which the statement was made, do you really think this argument works?

naijaking1:

If he had kidney disease and successfully governed a state for 8 years, that's a good reason why we should be worried, because these diseases become progressively worse, not better.
Oh yes, kidney disease could result in altered mental status, I wouldn't argue that with you unless you're also an MD like me.

If his doctor deems him capable of running the country even after 8 years of the assumed kidney disease, do you really think making a big issue of it is what we should spend our time doing? Should we now start to discriminate against people who have had to endure disease for a long period, in this case you suggest 8 year?? Should we now limit the sort of offices they can take based on how progressive we feel their condition may be, even when no doctor has come out to deem them incapable??

Are you trying to change arguement to discrimination? I think the issue is full medical disclosure and the willingness of your employer(in this case the Nigeria electorate) to give you the job despite any percieved illness. The type of disease vis-a vis the job in question is the issue. While a blind person can do so many other types of job, it would be risky to make him a taxi driver, so also the man with cancer, high blood pressure, arthritis, etc have their limitations. We must know what our rulers are sufferring from, if any.

Well, I don't agree that we should now place much focus on such, especially in Nigeria. Again, there is no proof presented that his illness has contributed in anyway to his lack of action in the last 1 and half year and so I am not willing to debate such. If the man wants to step down because of his illness, then fine but he has had this same illness for over 8 years and it was never made an issue. So I still see no reason why it should suddenly become an issue when we do not have any information to prove that is the case.

Once again, we're not talking about asking the president to quit, my point for the umptenth is full medical disclosure.

Asking him to quit because of his illness?? Or asking him to quit because he does not seem to be the man for the job?? Which one??

Kobojunkie, there is no doubt that some illness will affect your judgement while you runing the affair of a nation, my guy when a body is sick or ill, it messaging to the brain will no way be normal, a man that has to be on medication can't stay in a meeting longer than when he "must" take his medication, so there is no way he will make a decision without being affected, take for example leader that has some kind of disease that stem cell cld be of help, what do u think will happen when he has to make a bill to support such?
please note, i wish him well

Check the Constitution of Nigeria

1. The President must be Physically and Mentally Fit [Failed]
2. A Qualified Person can contest from anywhere in Nigeria without Geographical or Ethnic Variation [Failed]

Is Nigeria working on a good Constitution?

auwal87:

Check the Constitution of Nigeria

1. The President must be Physically and Mentally Fit [Failed]
2. A Qualified Person can contest from anywhere in Nigeria without Geographical or Ethnic Variation [Failed]

Is Nigeria working on its Constitution?

God bless you on those points, but then, he ought to have been elected based on free and fair election, which he failed again.
I am just sicken by the fact that he was sick, he left Nigeria and wont even let no one knows what was happening and the whol nation has to wait without a leader.
Yet, he is telling Nigerians on the independence celebration to have faith in Nigeria, so much faith for our president to go to Saudi for treatment, why not General hospital in Ikeja, i guess not good enuf, and yet they cant invest in it to make it world standard.