MONDAY DISCOURSE BY DR. ALIYU TILDE
Discourse 273
Yar'adua: Between Power and Health
aliyutilde@yahoo.com
We all wish our President a quick
recovery from his illness. However, given the nature of his sickness,
I strongly believe that he should resign. I very much doubt that there
could be a better decision he could take. This is better for him,
better for his family and better for the country. We have toed with
the sickness of the President for long now, we have seen an incredibly
active person deteriorate in weight and retard in vigour as his health
continued to collapse since he assumed office. The optimism that he
can survive at least his first term despite the failed state of his
kidneys is still there in many of us. We will fervently wish a miracle
of some sorts would happen and he regains full health. However, that
does not seem to be happening. Miracles are not under the control of
mortals. The Heavens decide when they happen.
Lest I am misunderstood, I must rush to
say that I am not precluding the survival of Mr. President. Not at
all. His survival is indeed to be wished. However, my advice is rather
built on the premise that in his present condition he cannot
effectively manage the affairs of this contentions country and any
attempt to assert the contrary as many of his associate would
naturally do for their narrow selfish interest will only exacerbate
his condition and push him closer to his grave with a speed faster
than he would if he were to accept the reality and resign now.
However, the fate of a person should not be left in the hands of
people living fat on his predicament, nor should that of a nation be
retarded because of their selfishness.
I can validate my argument using three
fundamental instruments: health, constitution and religion. The most
recent official report on the condition of the President is not
reassuring at all. His physician is quoted saying that the President
is suffering from acute pericarditis, a
heart disease that has rushed him to Jeddah. This is in
addition to, and perhaps a consequence of, his
chronic renal failure. The
Presidency has
always tried to play down the precariousness of his condition. First
they said he travelled to
Saudi Arabia for
Hajj and will use
the opportunity to see his doctor. Even on Wednesday, we were told
that he will attend the summit of Arafat on Thursday. The following
day, the confession that his condition is not that optimistic was made
clear with the revelation of his
ailing heart condition.
Nigerians have been wondering about the logic behind these attempts to
hide the obvious. Finally, this time, the nation is told that the Vice
President will act on behalf of the President. Early in the week, the
Daily Trust published a terribly pessimistic photograph of the
President which was widely circulated on the Internet. These are
pieces of facts which if put together will persuade any passionate
mind to arrive at one conclusion: that the condition of the President
is not optimistic.
I can trust the kidney if it promises
that its patient could linger for some years, just as Yar'adua,
Obasanjo and the entire nation trusted Yar'adua's kidneys in 2007. In
fact, we were told that he has been on their moratorium throughout his
eight years as a governor. It appears, however, that they have been
pushed to a limit. Physicians have said that "infection" of the
pericardium could be as a consequence of the chronic renal failure. I
cannot dabble into that because I am not a medic.
What I cannot trust, however, is the
heart. It has failed to keep its promise any time I came across it.
First, it was my in law, the late
Pharmacist,
Huseini Falaki from Daneji in Kano City. I still remember the last
time he visited us in my house at Shika in Zaria in 1991 when I was
still a PhD student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. My wife, his
sister, burst into tears when she saw how he considerably lost weight
as a result of his heart condition. Few weeks later, he passed away
quietly in his sleep. The second was my elder brother, Tijjani, on
whose demise I wrote Losing a Brother in 2002. He was diagnosed
with
pericarditis, like the President, and treated to satisfaction,
we thought, by a doctor friend of mine. He returned home, discharged
from his hospital bed. One evening, I passed by him and heard him
telling a friend: Jiki ya yi kyau saura
kawai karfi ya
dawo (I am now fine; what remains is just regaining my strength).
Poor man! That evening he went to bed early, listening to
BBC Hausa Service
8.30pm news. He did not live to hear the end of the thirty minutes
programme. He was found dead the following morning with the radio
still tuned to the frequency on which it was the previous night.
How could I trust the heart in case of
Yar'adua after these experiences? Once beaten, they say twice shy. I
was beaten twice. I do not know what the English would call me. I
think three times would be foolish. I believe that long term rest is
the best advice any physician will give to a person in that condition
and Yar'adua's physicians have been prudent enough in that regard. But
for obvious reasons he still pushes on with his daunting
responsibilities as the President, perhaps until now. Here the
President is not fair to himself because his intransigence will only
further complicate his situation and reduce his chance of survival.
Yes. The
Constitution.
Just as I was writing this piece, my iphone prompted me of the arrival
of an email from
naijagroups.com.
A group member, Lola Sawyerr, has posted a mail asking Nigerians to be
patient with Yar'adua and his illness until the obvious end is around.
"Nigeria," he
wrote, "has one president and his name is Musa Yar'adua, whether sick
or alive. And if he chooses to rule by proxy of his wife or someone
else other than his VP, as bad as that might seem, I say so be it!
Just educate your people that next time around they should vote for
someone with the energy, intellect and gravitas to perform the
duties of the president." This argument may
appear perfect on the surface but it cannot hold water even
constitutionally.
I do not think the
constitution allows for leadership of this country through proxy. The
President as a patriotic citizen is expected by the constitution to be
honest and declare his incapacity on his own. The constitution expects
him to resign and give way to his VP. If he fails to do so, as another
writer posited, the Senate ultimately is required to impeach him. As
at now, the Vice President, who is acting on behalf of the President,
has told us that he has been communicating with his sick boss. This
sounds reassuring but not convincing.
A contemplation of an
incapacitated president ruling by proxy can happen under the
totalitarian rule of Tito in
Yugoslavia or
Kim II-Sung's North
Korea. However, it has not even happened in Communist Cuba and
I wonder how a liberal democracy would tolerate it. I know that
America had a President, Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) who suffered a
stroke in 1919 and who for the remaining eighteen months of his second
term remained paralysed on his left side. But check his pictures
during that period and compare them with that of our President.
Moreover, American institutions even then were far stronger than our
corruption ridden democracy that is dependent more on individual
discretion than on rule of law. I wonder how far we can go with the
proxy-hood of either Turai or Dahiru Mangal.
The choice between
power and survival would be a difficult one for Yar'adua, though it is
one which he has to make, or be forced to make, sooner or later.
Compelled by survival instinct or persuaded by his comrades, or by
both, the President is most likely to prefer a natural exit no matter
how inevitable over a courageous resignation. I understand his
problem: there is a lot to lose in a country whose tradition spites at
continuity. People build their fortunes around a godfather. In our
history every godfather leaves the scene along with the opportunity he
accords his cronies. Hardly would anyone inherit such liabilities for
he too has his own battalion in the waiting. This is the fear which
Yar'adua and his cronies would naturally entertain and their refusal
to allow him to enjoy his last days quietly is based on this parochial
interest and no other reason. We have seen some of them even going as
far as forging a matrimonial relationship in order to consolidate
their power and achieve the goal of re-election in 2011 using
unscrupulous means. It is pathetic if he will remain there on their
behalf.
In conclusion, I
think Yar'adua presently has a choice to make between his health and
power. The recent report on CNN that he will not resign shows he has
chosen to retain his power at the expense of his health. To me, it is
a bad choice because, as we have seen above, it could be the surest
way of losing both. When the heart fails him, as it failed my in law
and brother, it may not send him the signal to decide otherwise. He is
allowing the ample chance to slip away now. I wish he were wiser.
Tilde
29 November 2009
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