By Tabia Princewill

We have a tendency, in Nigeria, to flout established rules
and to turn manageable, controllable events into crises.
We do not seem to learn from the past. We persist in
making the same mistakes, choosing to gamble with the
fates and fortunes of others.
However, it should be noted that the President formally
communicated his absence to the Speaker of the House
and to the Senate President, as the Constitution requires
which in itself is unheard of in Nigeria as Presidents
rarely willingly relinquish power to their deputies,
preferring instead to empower their chief of staff or a
member of their kitchen cabinet.
Despite this small yet non-negligible element of progress,
Nigerians must never stop pushing for what is right. It is
unheard of, in most countries led by democratically
elected Presidents for the citizens who voted him (or her)
into office to be kept in the dark as to their leader’s exact
whereabouts or well-being.
In the United States, President George W. Bush
transferred power to his deputy Dick Cheney not once but
twice: in 2002 then again in 2007 but for no longer than a
day. The reason for this was a scheduled surgery which
required him to be sedated. The American government did
not hide this or any information relating to the President’s
capacity to perform his duties.
The transfer of power was simple, clear and most of all
short. In fact, the media even knew the exact reason
behind the transfer of power: a colonoscopy. It was no
secret that Bush would be sedated and obviously unable
to function while under anaesthesia.
Secrecy and intrigues
The level of openness one finds in foreign countries when
such matters arise is remarkable in its “foreignness”
when compared to the secrecy and intrigues which obtain
here in Nigeria. An article from the Washington Post (July
2007) even went on to give specific details about
President Bush’s general health: “through 6 1/2 years in
office, Bush has been exceptionally healthy.
He turned 61 this month and exercises religiously six
days a week. His blood pressure, pulse and cholesterol
were all reported better than average in his most recent
annual physical, performed last summer”. After the
colonoscopy, it was made clear to all that no “signs of
cancer” were found.
Would a Nigerian leader behave thus? We believe, due to
our superstitious, secretive nature, that revealing details
about our health invites “witches” or bad luck, therefore
taking ideas from the middle ages into offices and
matters of state which belong to this century.
The same Washington Post article went on to say (and to
quote Bush’s press secretary at the time, Tony Snow):
“Doctors found and removed polyps from Bush’s colon
before he became president but discovered none in 2002.
Age and history would suggest that there’s a reasonable
chance that polyps will be noted this time, if so, they’ll be
removed and evaluated”.
Polyps are growths which in some cases become
cancerous. Can one imagine a Nigerian President giving
such details about his health, even going so far as to
admit that a family history of cancer informed the
decision to undergo a medical procedure? Tony Snow,
President Bush’s media aide also added: “Tests on any
such tissue removed could take 48 to 72 hours”. The
article ends by saying: “Snow knows a lot about the
subject (of cancer). He had a relapse of colon cancer in
March and is undergoing treatment. Shortly after his
briefing, he left the White House for his weekly dose of
chemotherapy”.
Ill-health in the Western world is neither seen as
something to be hidden (particularly not when one is
elected into office and must maintain citizens’ trust) nor
as a weakness.
It is merely a fact of life which is dealt with head on and
as professionally as possible, in a manner which doesn’t
delay or negatively impact one’s duties. However, if and
when the illness progresses to a level that isn’t
manageable, whereby one is incapacitated or unable to
be seen in public, to deliver speeches or to communicate
with citizens without an aide acting as a go between, then
there are sacrosanct protocols which demand a real and
immediate transfer of power.
In most developed societies, it would be near impossible
for the President to be incapacitated for a prolonged
period of time without the transfer of powers becoming
total and complete, especially if there was no indication of
when, if at all, the President would return. The Yar’Adua
scenario, with all its intrigues, couldn’t occur in a society
like America. Despite the political divide which might
separate politicians or even the media, the interest of the
country always comes first.
Why shouldn’t this be so in Nigeria? Who are these
“cabals”, these “shadow cabinets” who hold Nigerians to
ransom? Why, if not for their greed and love of power for
its own sake do they believe that Nigerians cannot handle
the truth? Nigerians are generally decent people. As they
say in local parlance, “ na condition make crayfish bend” .
Yet, despite all our travails, we are a people prone to
empathy when it comes to illness. The truth, in any
situation, if well managed and properly explained, could
save this administration from a total loss of confidence, a
dangerous possibility. Here is a quote from a Fox News
article describing the hours after former US President
Bush’s surgery.
Standard agents
The normalisation of power, the specificity of the
narrative, its detail, the way American Presidents are
portrayed as human, sometimes fallible, not
indestructible or paternalistic, is telling, in comparison to
our own would-be larger than life public figures: “during
the 31-minute procedure, Bush was sedated with a drug
called propofol.
The advantage is that it works faster and wears off
considerably faster than the standard agents. After the
examination, Bush ate breakfast with Chief of Staff
Joshua Bolten, White House counsel Fred Fielding and
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
Bush played with his dogs, Barney and Miss Beazley. He
also planned a bike ride around the presidential
compound in the Catoctin Mountains of western
Maryland. The president was in good humour and will
resume his normal activities at Camp David”. When will
we see this in Nigeria?
Pastors’ salaries
IT is highly ironic that the same churches preaching the
“prosperity gospel” to their members apparently pay their
pastors, themselves graduates, very poorly. The churches
are rich (their senior pastors travel in private jets and
unimaginable luxury) and oversee numerous vastly
profitable businesses (schools, universities, farms etc.)
whose profits are undeclared and most often
unaccounted for, unlike what obtains abroad.
Why such injustice and huge disparities in a church
setting? Most religions detest unfairness, yet, the way
religion is practised in Nigeria seems to command
injustice, to make it acceptable and even profitable for
those at the helm of affairs both in and outside
government. It is only the poor who sacrifice in Nigeria,
never the rich. Just how long do we believe the poor will
stand back and watch this state of affairs continue?
Goodluck Jonathan
THE former President reportedly said that Nigeria risks
“destruction” if the government fails to address “religious
violence and extremism”. Jonathan has clearly taken a
leaf out of Obasanjo’s play-book.
Former President Obasanjo has become quite famous for
critiquing and commenting on issues which he himself
failed to positively impact upon, in a clear case of “too
little too late”.

When the Boko Haram insurgency was at its height and
Jonathan was seen dancing live on national television, or
when he and his administration denied that the Chibok
girls were taken, did he tackle “religious violence and
extremism” then?
With what was reported about the diversion of public
funds meant to fund the army, the former President might
not be in the best position to give any lessons to anyone
about insecurity or religious strife.
In Nigeria, we need to move on from stating the obvious
and towards proffering solutions. Sadly, this requires a
different skill set entirely.

The same reason atiku can't be president too

TBH I dint read your epistle, I merely replied to ur headline

0ubenji:
The same reason atiku can't be president too

TBH I dint read your epistle, I merely replied to ur headline

try go through it its worth it

Who said he's not?

All hail d master strategist jagaban d great..Osinbajo must be president by fire by force.