Very Important Patient (VIP) Yar’Adua

Christmas Layouts & Comments

…

[/ALIGN]
Waving goodbye? President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua when he was hale and hearty

VIPs
There are different types of VIPs but the acronym should not be restricted to a Very Important Person. We are all important aren’t we? A VIP can be a Very Important Prisoner like the former Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) boss and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Bode George.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is reportedly hospitalized in Saudi Arabia and is a Very Important Patient. He is probably Saudi Arabia’s number one patient because of his presidential status. To his children, he is a Very Important Parent that should not die. To the Federal Executive Council (FEC) aka cabinet ministers, he is a Very Important President, that’s why they said he won’t resign when 56 prominent Nigerians and the Nigerian Bar Association called for his resignation. Rather than confront the First Lady on hidden issues surrounding her husbands absence from office, the ministers preferred to keep mute in order to keep their jobs.
Spin Doctor: Dora Akunyili
The Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili, must have had a problem with what to tell Nigerians about Yar’Adua’s health. Some henchmen ‘cooked’ all sorts of stories by giving the media the wrong impression that he would soon be discharged from the hospital. A section of the media even said that Yar’Adua was expected to perform the hajj rites. Former senate president, Ken Nnamani challenged Yar’Adua to allow a public discourse via a video conference on his health so that Nigerians could see him. That was when the cat was let out of the bag; that Yar’Adua had lost his voice. It looked like a ploy to avoid teleconferencing…
Akunyili ‘had’ to say that only Yar’Adua’s doctors could determine when he could return to Nigeria in order to avoid further speculation. Some days later, the FEC told Nigerians to leave Yar’Adua alone. The masses were treated like nincompoops in a guessing game or taken for a ride a la musical chairs. The President of the West African Bar Association, Femi Falana instituted a legal action against the Federal Government over Yar’Adua’s absence from office and maintained that the FEC meetings were illegal in the absence of the President.
Yar'Adua’s state of health is kept a top secret within his family circle as if the masses don’t have a right to know anything. Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State cum Yar’Adua’s son-in-law and Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State claimed that they saw Yar’Adua on his sick bed in Saudi Arabia. Initially, they kept mute on their return to Nigeria before opening up to the press. Why? Shouldn’t Akunyili and the Health Minister be allowed to see him too? Yar’Adua travelled to Saudi Arabia last month and reportedly suffers from a heart condition called acute pericarditis although he previously suffered from a kidney ailment? Akunyili should be in position to tell the nation his real state of health. The Yar’Adua family should be prepared for the worst and say the truth. Physicians must have told Yar’Adua how many months or years that he is expected to live.
Aondoakaa’s defensive comment
The Justice Minister, Michael Aondoakaa said that Yar’Adua could rule from anywhere. Should he be allowed to rule from his sick bed? When did Aondoakaa become a spinmeister? It was probably the worst spin (so far) on Yar’Adua’s health problems. A lot of Nigerians are fed up of Aondoakaa’s crude 'interpretation' of the constitution. Groups have called for his removal from office because of his negative role in the Ibori case(s) yet he is still on seat.
Resign?
Shouldn’t Yar’Adua resign and allow Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan to take over? Some Nigerians are divided over what Yar’Adua should do than follow the constitution. Opposition groups dislike the fact that he is unable to perform his duties because of his ailing health but will he resign? The masses do not dislike Yar’Adua like Italians hate Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as they protested and marched the streets while calling for his resignation.They wanted him to resign like he did in 2006 during his previous regime; therefore they did not want anymore 'Berlusconi day' (December 5th). Recently, he was attacked by a man holding a statuette and his bloodied nose graced the front pages of major European newspapers. Berlusconi had to go to the hospital for treatment, so isn’t Yar’Adua luckier than him? Has any Nigerian tried to beat up Mr. Yar’Adua?
Neither do Nigerians dislike Yar’Adua badly because they have not burnt his effigy or ‘model’ coffin like the post June 12, 1993 and Babangida Must Go era. Traditional oral poets have not chanted YAR’ADUA MUST GO poems, instead people are praying for him to get well and return to Aso Rock for more rock ‘n’ rule? Yet, Mr. President was allegedly unhappy about his death rumour. If Nigerians knew the postal address of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, thousands of GET WELL SOON cards ‘would’ block the post box. Nigerians are generally compassionate people; despite the fact that Yar’Adua aka Baba Go Slow was as slow as a tortoise in office, they still endured mass poverty in a nation where the rich got richer and the poor have no access to social benefits.
Journalists don’t hate Yar’Adua like he thought when he dragged the Leadership newspaper to court and lost, Ayakata! Legislators don’t 'dislike' him because if they did, they would have colluded with the executive council to search for five medical doctors, according to section 144 of the Constitution – Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, in order to do him in. Even if Nigeria had First Class hospitals, Yar’Adua may still have travelled abroad because of the legal implications of section 144. Nigerians are impatiently waiting to see President Yar’Adua (aka Yardy or Yardie by internet warriors) because some Nigerians are Very Impatient People (VIP). Get Well Soon or hand over… Don’t forget to start and encourage people to carry donor cards.Merry Christmas!