Malachy Uzendu
27 August 2008
Abuja — There are strong indications yesterday that President Umar Musa Yar'Adua who is on an official trip outside the country, may have taken ill, as he has been admitted in a Saudi hospital.
International wire agency reports quoted sources in Saudi Arabia as saying that Yar'Adua is in a serious condition at the Saudi German Hospital in Jeddah. He was said to have been admitted in the hospital last Wednesday, shortly after he left the country for undisclosed ailments.
Consequently, the agency said, his planned state visit to Brazil, previously scheduled to commence tomorrow was indefinitely postponed. Sources said that Yar' Adua's German doctors have not given a date for his departure from Saudi Arabia.
An official at the Presidency in Brazil was quoted as saying that the protocol department in the office of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had received advice from Nigerian authorities stating that the official arrival ceremony for President Umaru Yar'adua earlier scheduled for Thursday had been postponed indefinitely.
Sahara reporters said the Brazilian official stated that no reasons were advanced for the postponement of Yar'adua's trip. Quoting sources within Aso Rock, it said that Yar'Adua's close associates and his wife, Turai, had decided against sending him back to the German hospital, where he was last treated and where his comprehensive medical history is being kept.
Their fear is that his return to Germany might create undue alarm within the diplomatic community and create security problems for his presidency.
Yar'Adua, it was gathered, travelled with a few family members, including his wife and daughter, as well as his personal doctor, aide-de camp and two German doctors who had earlier flown into Nigeria to manage his deteriorating health condition.
Signs that Yar'Adua would not be able to make it to Brazil emerged yesterday when members of his advance party to Brazil were recalled to Abuja from Lagos.
The delegation had planned to fly to Brazil via London. But, it was learnt that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), who should have been attending the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Delegates Conference holding in Abuja, was instructed to abandon the conference and proceed to London.
All attempts to get Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, the Senior Special Assistant (Communication) to Yar'Adua to speak on the matter failed as several call put through to his mobile telephone were not answered.
However, a presidency source who pleaded anonymity, told Daily Champion that the trip to Brazil had been cancelled, though he gave no reason for the cancellation. On the state of health of the President, he said even if he had been taken to the hospital, it was for a routine check which is normal, given the demands of his office.
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The President is not an extraordinary superhuman. He is mortal like any other person. He has never claimed superiority in his abilities. He can be sick tired, be exhausted, get angry, be gullible. His sickness or personal happening should not be made public. We do not have to follow the president and see how he prays or talk with his children before we can have confidence in his ability to lead the country. We shall not like the Americans who see their President as demi-god and therefore shall be extra-human. We love our president, pray for him and seek Allah's guidance to enable him carry out his duties judiciously and mercifully.
You got it all wrong and the latest development has proven that my position was right. We should all shy away from allowing sentiments to becloud our judgment and your missive did exactly that.
When a president is no longer in a position to perform his duties the Nigeria people should know about it and the president should transfer power to his VP. There is nothing wrong with that because no person is super human and anyone could be affected by one ailment or the other and the president is no exception. Besides the president was elected by the people and the people should know since he is a public figure. Yes, the president should have privacy but not when the National security is at stake.
No one is chastising the president for being sick but that is not problem it is about the man who has the power to declare emergency. How about if Nigeria was attacked was the president in a position to defend Nigeria?
My heart goes out to the man and join the many Nigerians to pray for the president for a speedy recovery
The management of information about the President's health is out of whack. The nation deserves to know the health condition of the man who is entrusted with the nation and possesses the power of life and death of the any citizen. We most know if this man is competent to make such decision and govern.
This demand does not in any way suggest that we are indifferent about the President's wellness but as a matter of the citizens right.