Death
of Yar’adua And Its Political Relevance To The Nation
25 May 2010
By Yakubu
Muhammad Rigasa
Though Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s death was
anticipated by speculations months before it actually
stroke, the shock it sent to both those who had waited
for it with bated breath and his admirers knows no
bound. This could be as a result of the reports from
his close relatives that his condition was getting
better by the day since his sudden and secretive
return into the country which succeeded in dousing the
hitherto political tension throughout the nation. So,
he died at a time when very few expected it while many
others kept eyes on his possible resumption to his
presidential duties.
So much drama took place within the circle of those
around the Late President until the sad news of his
death. First his health status was concealed from
Nigerians despite the calls that such attitude was
unbecoming of his family members since having
information about his health was never tantamount to
peeping into his privacy. After all, they argued, a
person in the shoes of a president of the most
populous black nation has very little concerning him
to call his privacy as he’s more or less considered a
public property. Many people heaped the blame of this
concealment and the subsequent strict restriction to
accessing the President on Hajiya Turai, his devoted
wife. His personal physician, however, once exonerated
Turai from the accusation of barricading any means to
Yar’adua, stressing that they were acting on
directives from the Saudi doctors who said the
President could develop what they called ‘contact
infection’ if allowed to mingle with sympathizers at
that moment. With or without the doctors’
prescription, Turai deserves commendation for standing
by her husband for better for worse till death did
them apart.
Second, the explicit silence of the Nigerian
constitution on whether or not the vice president
could be elevated to assume full executive powers of
the president in circumstances like these was another
issue that drew our attention and the resolution of
which made headlines. So, when it came to the crunch,
the National Assembly decided to confer acting
president status on Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in order to
save the nation from impending political instability,
but in spite of that the country was thrown into an
apparent constitutional crisis with the legislators
and ministers on opposing divides looking at the
decision from different perspectives. Those for
Jonathan accepted the decision wholeheartedly and even
moved farther to make the legislature declare
President Yar’adua incapacitated and thus strip him of
his leadership position so as to pave way for Dr.
Jonathan to become the substantive president, while
those for Yar’adua vehemently resisted the move seeing
it as an open betrayal of the President. Now with the
demise of Alhaji Umaru Yar’adua this tussle for power
has been finally laid to rest. Mr. Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan is now the president who must do his utmost
to overcome the multiple challenges of his government
within the short span of its life.
Another issue of paramount importance is that of
rotational presidency system maintained by the ruling
party, PDP. I wonder how the very people who had
consistently declared at a time that this system must
be retained by the party were now cunningly reversing
from their words when they became convinced that
Yar’adua could hardly return to his seat talkless of
seeking for a second term. To be able to make an
impact on the lives of Nigerians within this short
period of his administration, President Goodluck
Jonathan should pay deaf ears to sycophants’ possible
calls for him to vie for the presidency but should,
instead, concentrate on how to build a good legacy for
himself by touching lives in the most positive manner.
If the system is eventually abrogated and he’s given
the chance, then of course he’s free to contest, but
for now let that not distract his attention from
offering his most needed services to his fatherland.
Let him scrutinize the ongoing projects started by the
Late President and continue with them where necessary.
Programmes like those designed to boost power
generation and distribution should be accelerated to
meet maximum target, security must also be given its
deserved priority, nor should he discard the
Niger-Delta development projects that succeeded in
quelling the violence of dissidents in the area.
As for Late President Yar’adua, all he needs now is
our prayer for the repose of his gentle soul.
Allah Ya gafarta masa, amin.
©
EsinIslam.Com
Add Comments