Nigerians Demand To See Their Sick President
10th March 2010 · 0 Comments · By Newstime Africa
Yar'Adua - Where art thou?
In Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, thousands of people gathered for a march to the state office of the presidency to demand the appearance of their leader Musa Umaru Yar’Adua who has not been seen in public since his arrival from Saudi Arabia where he underwent treatment for heart problems two weeks ago. It was reported that the president secretly returned to the country late at night to avoid any press coverage.
Yar’Adua has not been seen in public since being flown back after spending three months in Jeddah receiving treatment in a private hospital. There have been no announcements on his health but officials say he remains in intensive care. It seems the president is still too frail to govern and this has raised fears that his inner circle of aides, led by his wife Turai, would fight to maintain their influence over the country and would do anything to undermine the work of the present Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.
But it is important to note that any struggle for power could bring paralysis in government decision-making, which also threatens an amnesty programme in the Niger Delta an oil-producing area, and stalling momentum on reforms wearing T-shirts with the words “Save Nigeria Group” on the front and “Enough is Enough” on the back, gathered near to a city centre hotel under the watch of police officers lining the avenue. They were chanting ”We want the invisible president to be revoked. We are tired of a president we can’t see, who can’t govern. We want to see him, If we can’t see him we want someone else who is allowed to govern.”
Those organising the march said they planned to walk to Aso Rock, the presidential villa, and hand a letter of protest to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who co-ordinates between the presidency and government ministries “Turai, leave Nigeria alone” and “Jonathan get decisive now” were among the banners held up above the crowd. Political demonstrations like these are rare in Nigeria, but similar marches in recent months have passed peacefully. If the President is be formally declared too sick to govern, or resign or die, Acting President Jonathan would be sworn in as head of state and complete the unexpired presidential term, which runs to May next year. This will mean the appointment of a new Vice President. It was also clear that the people are also demanding electoral reforms to avoid the sort of chaos seen in the 2007 polls which brought Yar’Adua to power, a vote so marred by ballot-stuffing and intimidation that observers said it was not credible.
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Tags: Demonstration, nigeria, President Umaru Yar'Adua
