A nation on tenterhooks
President Buhari was last week Wednesday absent for the third consecutive time in as 
many weeks at the weekly FEC meeting. Last Friday, he was also absent at the Friday Jumat prayers at Aso Villa mosque. This has expectedly raised the bar of speculations to the gravity of PMB’s health challenges. No one should blame Nigerians for asking questions. This bar of the rumour mill was raised further last night when former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Abdulsalami Abubakar met with Babangida, ostensibly to discuss “State of the Nation” matters. Hello, we are not all kids or idiots that cannot reason. What “State of the Nation” issues will invoke only three presidents outside Council of States meeting? Why were Shagari, Gowon, Shonekan and Jonathan also not present, as former Heads of State?
Contrary to the usual stance of puritanic defenders, President Donald Trump’s daily schedule is even known ahead, and mostly beamed live across America. This government should come clean on the exact current state of the president’s health. There is nothing to be ashamed of about this. PMB is well over 74, for God’s sake. Even younger elements fall ill. There is no need for a shadowy, faceless cabal holding PMB down in a simulated prison, incognito and incommunicado, denying millions of Nigerians who elected him, including those who did not, of his presence, action and real presidency. It is simply callous and inconsiderate of them. There is no need to put Nigeria on a dangerous precipice, through needless anxiety, curiosity, guesswork, apprehension, perturbation, agitation, tension, permutations, doubts, analysis, gossips, rumours and conspiracy theories. As President of Nigeria, PMB ceased to be a private citizen from May 29, 2015, when he was sworn into office as Nigerian President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He automatically became public property, whose deeds, misdeeds, actions and inactions, performance and non-performance, are daily subjected to rigorous public scrutiny. This is one of the dire prices leaders pay for choosing, voluntarily, to lead the people. PMB can always return to the UK for further medical attention and a well deserved rest, whilst his Vice, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, SAN, acts in his place. This scenario had played out before, for 49 days and heavens did not fall. Heavens will not now fall, if PMB goes to take care of his health. I personally, on my part and from my little corner, wish President Buhari speedy recovery, uncommon energy and vigour and God’s guidance and protection, to be able to lead Nigeria to the promised land. Amen.
Buhari has served Nigeria
Wait a moment. PMB has served Nigeria in various capacities, at crucial times of her history. So, why must he now break his back? To prove what? PMB who retired as a Major General in the Nigerian Army, became Head of State at barely 40, from 31st of December, 1983 to 27th August, 1985, after he toppled Shehu Shagari’s democratically elected government. He was, himself, overthrown in a clinically executed coup d’etat by IBB. PMB, who had joined the Nigerian Army at NMTC, Zaria, in 1961, trained later at NDA, Kaduna (1964), Mons Officers Cadet School, Aldershot, England (1962 – 1963). He had served as a Platoon Commander, Abeokuta, Commander of the 2nd Infantry Division; and was a major participant, along others like Danjuma, Bako, Babangida, Abacha, et al, in the “July rematch” bloody “counter-coup”, led by Lt-Col Murtala Muhammed, that overthrew and assassinated Nigeria’s first self-appointed Military Head of State, Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi.
PMB, who fought for Nigeria’s unity and against disintegration, along Mohammed Shuwa, Sule Apollo, T.Y. Danjuma, Joshua Gin, Isa Bukar and Gado Nasko, among others, made his presence felt during the bloody three-year civil war in Makurdi, Kaduna, Afikpo, Ogoja, Enugu, Nkalagu, Zaria, the Awka-Onitsha-Abagana axis, Oji River, and so on. He was Brigade Commandant, 31st Infantry Brigade, Assistant Adjutant-General, 1st Infantry Division, and Acting Director of Transport and Supply, Army Corps Headquarters.
Together with young fire-eating officers like Colonels Ibrahim Taiwo, Joseph Namven Garba, Anthony Ochefu, Lt. Colonels Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Alfred Aduloju and Ibrahim Babangida, PMB and his group overthrew the sit-tight General Yakubu Gowon, the lucky chap of destiny, who at 32, and as a bachelor, became Nigerian’s Head of State.
Wait for more. PMB was Murtala Mohammed’s appointed Governor of North Eastern state (now six states), from August 1975 to February 1970, and, briefly, Governor of Borno State. In March 1976, General Olusegun Obasanjo appointed PMB as Federal Commissioner (Minister) of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Chairman of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), until 1978. It was during his tenure that Nigeria built 21 petroleum storage depots across the country, from Lagos to Maiduguri, Gusau to Calabar, with pipeline networks connecting the Port Harcourt and Bonny refinery terminals to the depots. The construction of the Kaduna refinery and the pipeline connecting the Escravos oil terminal to Warri refinery also commenced during his tenure. For a nation occasionally suffering from selective (painfully, at times, collective, amnesia), we must remember that PMB was Military Secretary (1978-1979), Mechanised Division, and GOC, 3rd Armoured Division. He was later to chase out Chadian invaders from Borno in 1983, taking many of them prisoners of war. All these, before he ended Shagari’s presidency under a multi-party system and became Head of State, with the no-nonsense Major General Tunde Idiagbon as his Chief of General Staff (Vice).
When PMB was himself overthrown by Babangida (what goes around comes around), he was held in a small guarded bungalow in Benin for three years, with a television that showed only two channels. His family members visited only on strict authorisation by IBB. Under General Sani Abacha, PMB served as chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund. All these before he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency on three occasions (2003, 2007 and 2011, on the platforms of the ANPP and CPC). He finally clinched the presidency on the fourth occasion in 2015, with a coalition of opposition political parties that merged into APC.
Why this historical recap? It is to show that, even among his greatest critics, it cannot be denied that PMB has strived had to serve Nigeria patriotically, notwithstanding visible mistakes and shortcomings along the line (we all have them).
So, why is it a “crime,” or an abomination, for the government to simply accept that, at over 74, PMB needs some proper medical attention, especially after his spine-chilling rendition of “I have never been so sick in my life”; and “ I could not recall when last I had blood transfusion … in my 70 years”? Haba!
World’s sick presidents
For the records, PMB is not the first president to be sick in history, during his presidency. Umaru Yar’Adua was.
Charles II of Spain, a Spanish King (1661 – 1770), could not rule successfully because he suffered extensive physical, intellectual and emotional disabilities. His reign plunged Spain into economic stagnation. He died five days before his 39th birthday. The physician, who performed his autopsy stated that his body “did not contain a single drop of blood; his heart was the size of a peppercorn; his lungs corroded; his intestines rotten and gangrenous; he had a single testicle, black as coal and his head was full of water.” American historians, Will and Ariel Durant, described Charles II as “short, lame, epileptic, senile and completely bald before 35; he was always on the verge of death, but repeatedly baffled Christendom by continuing to live.”
Catherine II of Russia, aka, Catherine the Great, was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, reigning from 1762 until 1796. Born Prussia as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, she came to power, following a coup d’état, when her husband, Peter III, was assassinated. Russia was revitalised under her reign, growing larger and stronger than ever and becoming recognised as one of the great powers of Europe.
Catherine, throughout her long reign, took many lovers, often elevating them to high positions for as long as they held her interest. Rumours of Catherine’s private life were rife with how she took on young lovers, even in old age. Lord Byron’s Don Juan, at about 22, was her lover. Catherine also had sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy. A common story states that she died as a result of her voracious sexual appetite while attempting sexual intercourse with a stallion. The story holds that the harness, holding the horse above her broke, and she was crushed. This story took root after her servants reported her visits to the stalls of Arabian stallions for long hours without supervision.
Jose Gaspar De Francia (1776 – 1840)
Gasper was a Paraguayan lawyer, politician and first dictator. He subjected marriage to high taxation, personally over all weddings, kept a ledger of all women he slept with, and sired seven illegitimate children. He took several precautions against assassination, by personally locking the palace doors, unrolling cigars given him by his sister to ensure no poison, sleeping with a pistol under his pillow, having all bushes and trees cleared and uprooted whenever he ventured out riding to avoid assassination, with pedestrians prostrating as he passed. Living a Spartan life, Francia had only few books, bare furniture, a tobacco case and a confectionery box. But, he left the state treasury twice as much money as he met when he took office. He always refused medical aid, even on one occasion attacking a physician with a sabre.
Richard John Seddon PC (1845 – 1906)
Seddon is to date the longest – serving Prime Minister of New Zealand. He is regarded as one of New Zealand’s greatest political leaders and is sometimes derisively known as King Dick for his autocratic style.
Seddon accumulated a large number of portfolios for himself, including that of Ministries of Finance, Labour, Education, Defence, Native Affairs, and Immigration.
Seddon was also accused of nepotism and cronyism. Many of Seddon’s appointees were not qualified for the positions they received – Seddon valued loyalty above ability, even appointing illiterates.
Seddon remained Prime Minister for 13 years and died of massive heart attack just before his 61st birthday.
Thomas Klestil (1932 – 2004)
Klestil was an Austrian Diplomat and politician. He was elected the tenth President of Austria in 1992 (on 56.9% of the popular vote) and was re-elected to the position in 1998. His second and final term of office was due to end on 8th of July, 2004, but his death two days prior to his retirement from office cut his term short.
Klestil studied at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and received his doctorate in 1957. In 1969, he established the Austrian Consulate-General in Los Angeles, where he befriended Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fluent in English, Klestil was the Austrian Ambassador to the United Nations (1978 – 1982) and Ambassador to the United States (1982 – 1987), prior to his election as president.
Klestil, who had three grown-up children by his first marriage, divorced his wife of many years shortly after his successful election campaign of 1992 and subsequently, in 1998, married work colleague, Margot Loffler, the woman he allegedly was already having an affair with at the time of his election. In 1996, he was taken seriously ill, but recovered. However, on 5th of July, 2004, three days before he was to leave office, he suffered a heart attack or heart failure, probably caused by his long-term lung problems, and was left in critical condition. He died on 6th of July, at the AKH (Allgemeines Krankenhaus – General Hospital), in Vienna, from multiple organ failure.
To be continued
Thoughts for the week
“Inability to make decisions is one of the principal reasons executives fail. Deficiency in decision-making ranks much higher than lack of specific knowledge or technical know-how, as an indicator of leadership failure.” John C. Maxwell
“Every man, every woman, who has to take up the service of government, must ask themselves two questions: ‘Do I love my people in order to serve them better? Am I humble and do I listen to everybody, to diverse opinions in order to choose the best path?’ If you don’t ask those questions, your governance will not be good.” –Pope Francis.