Nigeria: Logical conclusions require no intrigue

Nollywood fantasies

Reading some of the Nigerian newspapers online along with the guerilla news agency can be quite interesting not to talk of the comments that accompany their stories.

Every news item with respect to the presidency is never allowed to follow a logical process to clear conclusions without the embellishment of what I would suggest is imagined political intrigue and sensationalism bordering on life imitating Nollywood fantasy.

To say the least, I am personally not bought on those stories that try to justify a certain perspective to garner an engaged readership when the natural course of events might well reveal a truth that unfortunately is not as newsworthy and will not create the market mass of commercial value and establish the organ as a respectable source of information.

Embarrassments and upheavals

The inability for delegated Nigerian government officials sent to Saudi Arabia to see the president had become a growing embarrassment for the Saudi government, they had to do everything to extricate themselves from that ignominious global scrutiny by coercing the “First Lady” to move her husband having done all they could do.

Indeed, the arrival of the President would have cause the upheaval that ensued, that was both natural and logical; obviously, that there were some manoeuvres without the knowledge of the Acting President was unfortunate, but the real condition of the unseeable President had to be preserved, that is understandable.

Like I have time and again surmised, on arrival, there was no way the President could assume or resume power without at worse a picture of the man in compos mentis addressing the matter of his long absence and his expectations.

Logical conclusions with time

Now, after 72 hours we still have heard nothing from him about his state, condition and plans, the logical conclusion without the need for the aggressive posturing certain pundits expected of the Acting President is Goodluck Jonathan is still in charge without having to wrestle and expend energies on those faceless mandarins and the so-called kitchen cabinet.

In my view, no visible President after a certain length of time means Acting President is substantive President until President is seen – the political intrigue and commentary is at best manufactured for effect. Basically the effect of the upheaval just fizzled out.

The First Lady is human

As expected, the meeting between the First Lady and the Acting President was going to be emotional, this is a wife who has watched her able husband deteriorate and become incapacitated by reason of illness, the risk of repeating myself that she had been reduced to a Juliet rather than exerting the powers of a Jezebel is just human in the circumstances.

If anything were being done in her name by others, it can only have been sycophantic and self-serving on the part of those protagonists who would have us believe they are serving the interests of the President and Nigerians at large.

The Acting President is in charge

Once again, the President is just unfit to be seen and that is fine enough with me even if the Acting President himself cannot see the President, without much ado the Acting President has executive authority until such a time that the President can clearly indicate he is well and well able to assume his office and resume his work.

So, let us cut out all the rhetoric, postulation, unnecessary political intrigue and speculative yarns masquerading as analysis or commentary and give the Acting President the essential and necessary support to steer this mighty ship of state called the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Whilst there is a market share to grow and a readership to build by these many news organs, it should not be done at the expense of Nigeria for the purpose of attaining a tainted credibility.

Long live Nigeria and God help Goodluck Jonathan whilst he gives many the patience to allow him do his job, I forgot, his wife is Patience – how uncanny.

Nigeria: In the hands of a good doctor

Such impatient speculation

One has not been too particularly impressed with the hysteria and speculations that followed the return of President Yar’Adua in the dark of the night a few days ago.

Beyond the self-appointed pundits and impatient analysts, heretofore respected Nigerian newspapers assailed the persons and personalities of the kitchen cabinet and most especially the wife of the President with a blood-thirsty and inordinate quest for power at any cost.

It was quite difficult to glean any objective perspective in all those opinions and the Acting President Goodluck Jonathan did not fare that well in the matters either.

There was no doubt that the return of any similitude of President Yar’Adua would cause an upheaval, but we must not forget as I had suggested before that the continual visits of Nigerian politicians failing to see the President in Saudi Arabia was also becoming a serious embarrassment for the Saudi royalty and government.

Once again, he cannot be seen

The return of President Yar’Adua is so far good because with time the charade that had been maintained in Saudi Arabia could no more be retained in Nigeria longer than the day in which he returned.

Having been in the country for more than 60 hours, no one has confirmed a sighting of the President to ascertain what state he is in, it is not too difficult to deduce and conclude as one has averred for long that he is unfit to be seen and thereby unfit to rule.

There was no way that the emissary dynamic from afar was going to work with the President’s proximity still keeping him hermetically sealed from access or he still being too unprepared to address the nation he left over 3 months ago.

Radical changes afoot

So, finally, the coterie of sycophants and faceless mandarins or power brokers around the gravely ill but “recuperating” President have had to defer to his vice-President who at present is designated the Acting President with full powers until such a time as the President like Lazarus miraculously or as the legendary phoenix rises from the ashes to operate with his full capacity and ability.

Meanwhile, the issues of the day has allowed the Nigerian legislature to modify the constitution to deal with the exploited failings of the sections that allowed the President to vacate his post with illness for 90 days without sanction.

An understanding of organisms

In my view, Dr Goodluck Jonathan is a rare breed of politician and personality, as a holder of a PhD in biology he probably has a good understanding of organisms, hosts and parasites which could be microbial or humongous.

Generally, Nigerian politicians are prone to the conspicuous, garrulous, mendacious and atrocious; he has been inconspicuous, literally cloaking himself with a self-effacing lack of ambition and drive whilst attaining authority and exerting influence with unheralded deftness.

Parasites and hosts

When he became acting President he curtailed the most virulent organism in the administration, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Michael Aondoakaa frightening a number of parasites from the hold they had on the helpless host.

Certain bacteria would definitely need to be catalysed into helpful bacteria and others would require a healthy dose of antibiotics, in some cases the ecosystem in which they thrive might have to change making them ineffective.

Viruses are a more difficult problem but with a boosted immune system championed by a determined mission to rid the nation of many of its ills, I would suppose there would be enough antibodies to overwhelm the viruses offering residual immunity to those strains.

In the hands of a good doctor

The body of the country called Nigeria is sick but not incurable; it has walked into swamps where leeches had almost sucked it dry but it not anaemic beyond what a decent few transfusions can help.

I think Nigeria is in the hands of a good doctor and am ready to be patient, non-judgemental and amenable to appreaciating the qualities and abilities of Dr, Goodluck Jonathan – I would suggest his knowledge of biology would come in more usefully in the political landscape of Nigeria, it consists of organisms no different from ones studied under microscopes too.

Nigeria: The "success" of the Jeddah delegation

The search party

The Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) risks a state of myopic closed-mindedness having first spearheaded the consideration that the President be declared missing on medical grounds and search party be instituted to ascertain his whereabouts.

The Federal House of Representatives instituted a “search party” of sorts to seek out the President comprised of members of the House rather than some special composition prescribed by HURIWA.

All but one of the selected members were able to make the journey to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the one being an unmarried lady would have been disqualified for visa requirements to Saudi Arabia even if she had presented her diplomatic passport rather than her Nigerian passport, but that was beside the point.

The host of delegates and President

The team arrived in Jeddah and would have by reasons of protocol been guests of the most senior Nigerian official in Saudi Arabia, that being the Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The Ambassador would also have been the recognised host of the Nigerian President by our standards of protocol just as the President would have been a guest of the Saudi Arabian government by reason of his visiting the country in his capacity as the Nigerian President with the purported aim of opening a university in Saudi Arabia when he made his journey in November 2009.

As representatives of the Nigerian legislature visiting Saudi Arabia, the Ambassador would have known the main purpose of that entourage, to have at most an audience with the President of Nigeria or at least an observation of the President.

Inability to facilitate

For the first three days of that visit, the Ambassador who politically, legally and technically was host to the Nigerian President and the delegation from the House of Representatives could not facilitate an audience, an observation, a conversation or contact by all seemingly possible means with the Nigerian President.

As the reports go, the Ambassador tried to distract the delegation from their tasks by offering better accommodation, religious perks and tourist attractions which the delegation ably declined so as not be to distracted from their purpose and be compromised on their mission – that might call for some commendation.

Juliet not Jezebel

In any case, they eventually met with the First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua who from all indications was forlorn but hopeful, distressed but prayerful and so very aware of the condition of her husband.

The condition we can safely say could not be observed by persons who were not close family, by deduction one might surmise and aver that the President was in no condition to be seen for an audience or basic observation and probably in intensive care of some sort.

It is even possible that the President might not even be in the condition to see his wife, recognise her and consequently converse coherently with her – the picture painted of the situation reveals a lady who is a Juliet rather than a Jezebel – this is no woman scheming to retain the trappings of power and influence, I would suggest this lady just wants her Romeo back, alive, strong, able and responsive.

Those opportunists

The unfortunate thing is the faceless mandarins pulling the levers of power were already aware of her preoccupation with the health of her husband but conveniently co-opted her name and supposed influence to mask their conspiratorial Machiavellian activities.

It cannot be safely said those people were rooting for President Yar’Adua by any stretch of the imagination, but as long as they could keep us all in limbo about the state of the President they could pretend to have the eyes, ears and blessing of the President and his wife to run roughshod over the Nigerian Constitution and the Nigerian people.

A useful visit

That delegation by not being able to see the President through lawfully constituted provisions of assignment, protocol and purpose proved that the President not being available to meet under every possible circumstance was probably too incapacitated for himself, talk less of the office he had so far held.

For that reason, I do not believe that meeting was a wasteful and fruitless journey as HURIWA clamours. Regardless of the developments that have since ensued, the deduction HURIWA should have made should have been closer to recognising these circumstances rather than raising an unnecessary ruse which in my view leaves them open to myopic closed-mindedness as I said in my introduction.

God bless Nigeria

Until President Yar’Adua can be presented for observation, conversation and audience in contemporary settings as I suggested in my blog of January the twelfth Nigeria: Put Yar’Adua on screen today! – he is just incapable of appearing in public, he is also incapable of his public and his inability to be a public figure for what other unstated reasons means he is currently unable to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We still genuinely wish him a speedy and full recovery, but the ship of state cannot be permanently moored in foreign docks, there are stormy seas to traverse with essential cargo for the purpose of building the motherland – Nigeria needs to move on.

God save the President, but more so, God bless Nigeria with capable leaders.

General Sources

(1) SaharaReporters – HURIWA asks Speaker Dimeji Bankole to refund Saudi trip’s expenses

(2) SaharaReporters – House delegation returns empty-handed: Yar'Adua very sick, isolated and abandoned in Jeddah

(3) 234Next – Lawmakers to account for failed mission

(4) Akin.blog-city.com - Nigeria: Put Yar’Adua on screen today!