Uzokwe's Searchlight

The latest rumor, in the mill, is that the man may have passed. This last rumor became a news item, last Friday, on one of my favorite TV programs - The Rachel Maddow show. The show is watched by millions of Americans, a followership gathered over a short period of existence, attesting to its quality. Here is what Rachel, the host of the program, said during the show, "…Nigerians are worried that their president might be secretly dead….

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Sunday, January 10, 2010



Alfred Obiora Uzokwe

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YAR'ADUA CALL WOLE SOYINKA

t is now 50 days since the president of Nigeria was flown out of the Country. He is supposedly in Saudi Arabia for the treatment of a heart condition. This is not the first time the president of a nation has been placed under the care of doctors because of sickness. Senior president Bush was once ill during his tenure and had to be hospitalized. In such circumstances, the normal protocol is to place a credible presidential spokesperson on standby. The responsibility of this person is to continually update the nation on the state of the president's health. That person would be providing verifiable assurance that, inspite of the absence of the president, the ship of nation still sails along the desired course. At every opportunity, and in the interest of transparency, the press is allowed to catch and share with the populace, the image of the president. This serves to reassure the citizens and help ward off vicious rumors that often result from information blackout. It is a known fact that rumor rushes in to fill the gap where a vacuum exists.


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Unfortunately, in the case of Nigeria's president, all normal and sensible protocols have been bucked by inept cabinet officials. For the most part, the presidency has been silent about Yar'Adua's condition. The scanty information so far released, via his cabinet members, has been fraught with inconsistencies and in most cases sound contrived, unbelievable and unreliable! This has created the perfect situation for unbridled rumor mongering. One of the rumors is that the president's condition is not improving at all. This rumor triggered demands from some Nigerians that he quickly hand over to the vice president, Jonathan Goodluck. This group of Nigerians even asserts that the president could not have signed the supplemental budget. Another rumor making the round is that the president is not really at the King Faisal hospital in Saudi Arabia. The purveyors of this rumor challenge the president to prove them wrong by inviting the press to the hospital to see things for themselves. The latest rumor, in the mill, is that the man may have passed.

This last rumor became a news item, last Friday, on one of my favorite TV programs - The Rachel Maddow show. The show is watched by millions of Americans, a followership gathered over a short period of existence, attesting to its quality. Here is what Rachel, the host of the program, said during the show, "…Nigerians are worried that their president might be secretly dead….According to press reports, after lots of longstanding rumors about the president of Nigeria having poor health, he has not been seen anywhere for six weeks. He is MIA"[Rachel Maddow Show, Friday, January 8, 2010] The fact that this rumor has now been presented on Rachel's show, to millions of viewers in the United States and beyond, with the collective credibility of all Nigerians on the line, is reason enough for the presidency to start coming clean on the true situation of things. It is odd and even threatening, for the world to be wondering if the man entrusted with the security of the nation called Nigeria is alive or not. It is even more worrisome for Nigerians to be wondering where their president is, at a moment in time, when decisive presidential actions and pronouncements are needed to ensure that Nigeria is not permanently consigned to the limbo of irrelevance. The mess that fueled these rumors can be blamed on the way that the presidency has treated the issue.

Aware of the mess they have created, the president's cabinet members have begun some damage control. However, just like what happens when there is no clear leader, these people are giving Nigerians disjointed and incongruent messages. In the past couple of days, they have been telling Nigerians that the president talked on the phone with the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Senate President and the Vice President. Who are they fooling? A conversation that is not witnessed by the press remains a secret conversation and so an innuendo! I cannot count how many times Nigerians have been lied to in matters pertaining to the presidency. With that in mind, Nigerians are not ready to swallow this story hook, line and sinker, we want proof, period.

It baffles this commentator that an issue of this magnitude and import is being poorly handled. If the presidency is serious about setting the records straight, their current modus operandi must be changed. They have three clear choices if they want to convince Nigerians of what we are being told. The first choice is to station members of the press, in Saudi Arabia, next to the president's hospital bed, as he makes the call to Nigeria. That way, the press will record the footage and play for the world to see. If the president does not want the press and the world to see his physical appearance, because people do emaciate when they go through serious ailments, then the second option is to call a member of the opposition party, someone known to have an independent political streak. This call must be witnessed from the Nigerian end by the press and the audio broadcast live. The third option, if he does not trust the opposition, is to call an independent-minded person like Wole Soyinka. If the president calls Soyinka, considering his antecedents, the man will pull no punches in reporting what transpired. Nigerians will be more apt to believe Soyinka, if he says that the president truly called him, than Dimeji Bankole, David Mark or Goodluck Jonathan. Saying that he called members of his party, men who would accent to anything to tow party line, will continue to fuel the rumor that is going on.

It must be understood, however, that calling Soyinka may dispel the rumor pertaining to the president being "secretly dead" but will not quell the rumor about the condition of his health. To completely dispel all the rumors, the president needs to have a nationwide broadcast from wherever he is. It is time for him to come off this high horse of trying to hide the fact that he is sick. Well meaning Nigerians, and there are many of them, know that he is a mortal and just like anyone else, he could get sick. Nigerians are not quarrelling with the fact that he is sick, they just have issues with the way the president and his men are trying to conceal this. In light of this, the president needs to become more forthcoming to start debunking the damaging rumors that are floating around. As long as people sense a conspiracy of information blackout, the rumor mill will continue to churn out more rumors both vicious and acerbic. If as reported, the reason why Nigerians are not being fed with the truth is to preempt the call for Jonathan to be sworn in, I say the damage has been done but there is still chance to begin a repair work. If the president's condition is such that he cannot discharge his duties now, he should cede authority to Goodluck and get the peering eyes of reporters and the world off his back. This will help him recover both mentally and physically. Stress has a way of exacerbating an ailment.

The lesson Nigerians must take away from this saga is that we do not need a one party majority. Opposition is healthy. As I write, PDP is in the majority in the house and senate! They have the Speaker and Senate president. This makes it easy for them to continue to conceal the issue of the president's health. If we had a substantial opposition, the mere threat of impeachment will make Yar'Adua and his handlers forthcoming. Furthermore, if the president were being treated in a hospital in Nigeria, this issue cannot be concealed for too long. We need well equipped hospitals to preempt this constant case of outside medical treatment.

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