Yar’adua’s health– upping the ante
I was made to recount to them Niger Delta Amnesty, Banking Reform (the real once this time), Reversion of Fuel Price Hike from N75 to N65, and VAT from 10% to 5%. I forget to tell them about River Niger Dredging, and the sincere efforts in Energy Sector, no matter how contentious that may be. […]
I was made to recount to them Niger Delta Amnesty, Banking Reform (the real once this time), Reversion of Fuel Price Hike from N75 to N65, and VAT from 10% to 5%. I forget to tell them about River Niger Dredging, and the sincere efforts in Energy Sector, no matter how contentious that may be. Surprisingly, a few of them actually gave up and conceded that I made some good points about the man’s efforts. Some even sent me private mails expressing their frustration, and confusion.
On the issue of the man’s sickness, I did a quick research into the medical records of past world leaders and came up with the following, which I related to the online forum:
Winston Churchill suffered from a mental case – DEPRESSION, which he called a BLACK DOG, almost reminiscent of Spike Lee’s depiction of the New York City maniac – Son of Sam. Depression is no joke. Ronald Reagan suffered from Pnuemonia in 1945, and a series of wait for this, Urinary Tract Infections, had prostate stones removed in 1966, had colon cancer in 1984, didn’t hear from one ear, skin cancer in 1987 etc.
JF Kennedy was on morphine (pain killer) throughout his short reign, and he was young, he suffered from autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type II, had signs of adrenal failure around 1940, measles, whooping cough and chicken pox as a boy, his mother described him as an elfin, a very very sick little boy. He also had chronic urethritis, back pains, Addison disease, gastrointestinal issues due to celiac disease, and wore a back brace throughout his presidency. FD Roosevelt who saw USA into greatness during and after WWII was permanently on a wheelchair. He had an attack of polio in 1921 that paralysed both his legs, systolic hypertension in 1937, diastolic hypertension in 1941, and a metastitic tumor by 1944.
I encouraged all the internet bloggers to submit themselves at their nearest hospital for a thorough check and to quit their jobs (no matter how menial), based on the results.
Now the conspiracy theory. I read a book titled ‘In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz’, written by a former Bureau Chief of Reuters for Central Africa, a Briton named Michela Wrong. As part of her research, she interviewed the head of CIA for the DR Congo as it was then called, and was informed about some injections they have that can kill people, while showing different symptoms.
A few weeks ago, this same Chief Olu Falae who is calling for Yar’adua’s resignation on grounds of ill-health, gave an interview in Sun newspapers in which he stated categorically that Abacha was killed by international power brokers (The Sun, Saturday 12th November, 2009). He also claimed that the same guys eliminated MKO Abiola, even though he felt it was okay for them to eliminate Abacha but not MKO. He didn’t give a thought to the implications of their continuous incursion into and interference with our society. One Moshood Fayemiwo, a staunch pro-democracy crusader, who worked one on one with, and wrote an autobiography on MKO Abiola also stated categorically on pointblanknews (30/6/09), that MKO it was who sponsored the coup that took our Muhammadu Buhari in 1985.
For me, that ruined MKO’s democratic credentials. People claimed he worked for CIA. And from the kind of work that CIA people (otherwise known as jackals), have done in Africa, it doesn’t look far-fetched that in the thick of the Cold War, they would have done anything to get rid of a socialist-leaning, indiscipline-fighting government like Buhari. MKO therefore wanted to benefit from a system he helped to ruin. For if we had maintained the Buhari/Idiagbon paradigm, we may have emerged as China by today. WAI would have been our own cultural revolution – the opportunity for everyone to chip in towards saving the nation. Today, Nigeria is treated like absolute rubbish by its own people. Nobody cares anymore.
It is instructive to note that the closest thing to a renaissance for Nigeria was also truncated on February 13, 1976. A leader, who tried to eschew corruption (which was still a baby then), and embraced simplicity (which has become alien to us), was also cut down in his prime. Murtala Mohammed was killed – a victim of the simplicity around government personnel which he initiated. He abhorred too much noise around government functionaries. Today, the noise is all government functionaries live for – long convoys, noise pollution etc.
It then begins to worry me that Yar’adua has lost 30 percent of his body mass since becoming president. Something must have happened somewhere. Like the Congo experience narrated by Ms Wrong, has he been poisoned? I like this guy. He is really decent and gentle, and has shown that one can maintain a low, unoppressive profile and still achieve critical strides. If it happened to MKO, Abacha and even his brother Shehu, could it be the same scenario? I am wired to look at all options. Why is he not getting better as a president? The work is meant for human beings too. Or is it because he has refused to compromise his people at a bigger level?
I laugh when people who don’t even read more than newspapers jump up and start to condemn. Some deluded ones like Ijeoma Nwogwugwu even have the temerity to write articles titled ‘Why Should She Care?’ Economic Development and the quest for social emancipation is the most dangerous contact sport in the world. Even FD Roosevelt was reputedly poisoned in Iran. A lot goes on that we don’t know. Leadership is still for fools and horses, and also people who have signed up for suicide. Only people who are ready to rubbish their own people, like Obasanjo, will perhaps survive it. I’m not even criticising the incursion of the West in our political, social and economic lives as a people. We are still but puppets in their hands. It’s just the way life is. But real freedom is around the corner.