|
danlaminmodu@yahoo.com
At
the last special convention of the People’s
Democratic Party, PDP President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua made
an unusual declaration .He told his
foot-soldiers-including ministers, political jobbers
and all, that it was not yet time for the 2011
presidential election campaigns. He spoke very well.
But there is something perhaps more important that
no one is talking about openly yet.
In my view, the news of the day was not really so
much about what President Yar’Adua said last Monday.
The unsaid issue was the president’s disturbing
looks. That was something more personal that gave me
goose pimples .He looked rather sickly and unsteady.
He seemed to be losing his physical freshness. When
I saw his picture on television I asked myself ‘what
is going on?’ I felt the man needed a break, some
sort of good holidays. I am not asking him to
resign, lest the hawks come after me with the
allegation that I am sponsored by the opposition.
No, but he needs to take care of himself.
How can I ask him to resign when I have heard the
rumour all over the North about what Turai, the
president’s wife has allegedly said. There are two
versions according to stories making the rounds.
One, she is accused of saying the first family will
remain in office even if Mr President will die
there. After all, Yar’Adua will not be the first to
die in office, she allegedly said. Two, she is also
quoted by busy bodies as having said the president
will remain in office even if he is a stretcher case
.These tales may be the work of her ‘detractors’ as
officials say. Such stories are however bandied to
give the impression that Turai is the power-hungry
hawk who would do anything to hang in there because
she is said to be enjoying the pecks of office
while the husband , the president is in pains. But
most of those who watch the president’s sickly looks
now are convinced that he is in fact a prisoner of
the hawks of power who may wish to stretch him to
death. I believe however the president himself is
enjoying it. Turai alone is not to blame.
Why for instance can’t the president announce that
he is going on leave for one or two months
basically on medical grounds? During such period
vice
president
Goodluck Jonathan can effectively preside .All the
president needs to do is to come clean; tell
Nigerians he is not quite well. I know Nigerians
will sympathise with him and even pray for his
swift recovery. If all the constitutional steps to
make him go for thorough medical check up overseas
are taken, I don’t see why he cannot. But I suspect
some men and women want his presence in order to
give us a false sense of wellness. There is no way
Mr President can thoroughly do his job now with the
way he looks. I am not a medical doctor, so I cannot
say he is thoroughly sick, but it is apparent he
needs some thorough medical attention .He should
take some weeks off. He deserves it. He is entitled
to it.
My worries were compounded the day after the PDP
convention when graphic pictures of the president as
PDP delegate casting his vote came out .The
photographs on the front pages Vanguard and the
Punch that I saw were very disturbing. Take a closer
look at the vanguard’s shot. See the president’s
saggy physique. I posted the picture on my website
–www.newsdiaryonline.com .See his fingers. And you
will ask: Is this the man ministers and governors
have been telling us is very healthy and looks
strong enough to run for a second term?
Lest one is misunderstood. I do not wish the
president dead. Secondly, if he is strong enough, I
wish he will continue to rule in line with the
constitutionally provided mandate especially after
the Supreme Court finally ‘voted’ for him. Perhaps,
it is possible medically to look so sickly and be
able to discharge the duties of your office as
president. But the president’s recent looks when
compared with older pictures give the impression
that something is wrong. We need not fear to tell
the president that Nigerians wish him well and he
should take some time off to make himself look much
healthier and better. A president’s good looks, if
nothing else can also inspire confidence in the
citizenry. President Yar’Adua’s present looks can be
very demoralizing.
See, we have a regime of power outage, dwindling
economy. There is perpetually no water, no good
roads ; and as a man put it when we came out a
mosque in Kaduna last week, no Masara, no
Gero, no Shinkafa, nothing! He might be
exaggerating but he was stating the issuea2that were
close to his heart .Now if we have to persistently
add the president’s wobbly looks to our problems,
then we will be keeping the spirit of the citizens
perpetually down .We must rise up and urge Mr
President to go for medical attention. He has
nothing to fear. He has everything to gain .He must
not listen to doomsday scenario painters who may say
he will be ousted. No such thing will happen if the
president is very transparent with progress reports
about his condition from whichever hospital he
attends.
Now, how can anyone wish the president a second term
with the way he looks? Those who have campaigned for
him are not his true friends. The first thing to do
should have been to advice him to take care of
himself rather than make him a Prisoner of Aso
Rock, the Presidential Villa .If anything untoward
should happen, such campaigners should be tried
for misleading the president.
In any case, I believe the 2011 campaigns have
truly begun whether the president stops his men or
not. In fact, the decision to mention the issue at
the convention may make his followers see it as
something dear to his heart. Mentioning the 2011
campaigns may in fact be a way of keeping the
issue on the front burner from now onward. If you
believed that the president has indeed suspended the
campaigns, then you can believe just anything.
We live in impossible times .How can a regime which
has failed to meet the people’s needs still have the
effrontery to tell the citizens that the president
still has the capacity to lead the nation beyond
2011?I pray that the president takes care of his
health .But I believe until he does that within the
shortest possible time and comes back to squarely
face the challenge of governance, all the talk about
running for second term will be idle and
meaningless. As things stand now, the Yar’Adua
regime has failed to perform .His unconvincing
looks make things even more worrisome.
Nmodu's opinion can also be read in the current
edition of
Insider
Weekly
magazine. |
