Our president has taken time out to attend to his health, ok, nothing in itself is wrong about that, but in our usual way, we’d rather keep it secret and brand all those who dare discuss it ‘enemies of the state’,.
Everything should be kept hush-hush...just as we hush-hush about our uncommon luck that has seen the president’s daughter cornering all the governors as husband. Again like i said, some matters are considered for the primary 5 class (like my pastor will rightly put it) and should never be discussed in public.(how amazing, suddenly, some of us have become ‘public’). Since there is just but a thin line or demarcation between public and private life, the president has the right –divine right-to brand any issue that catches his fancy as private. And we should be under the obligation not to discuss it as public citizens. It does not matter if the future of our country is directly affected by that decision.
Yes, that’s the power of the presidency.-or is it what incumbency-means. Anybody who does not like it can as well get his own Maurice lwu, win his own ‘selection’ and become president.
So, the president’s health, annual leave, vacation, marriage-age daughters and who they marry should not be any of our business, we should all be concerned about the failing price of crude oil, and the price of petroleum products-which the minister of petroleum has told us is not the responsibility of the government.
Of course we have long known that government has abdicated that responsibility to raving mad oil marketers, contractors and what have you, (don’t forget smugglers-most of who happen to be the same politically elected ‘private citizens’).
Rather than the health of our president and the future of our country, we should concern ourselves with Atiku and Obasanjo and how they reconcile the PTDF account-which they never told us of, until they disagreed on the sharing formula...
But while we let our president be, let me quickly add that just last week, the Indian Prime Minister was to undergo a heart surgery and it was all over on CNN. The entirety of the Indian 900 million populations knew about this. It was no big deal...
It was not shrouded in one big national mystery. As a mortal man like the rest of us, it’s only natural that the president fall sick and go for check-ups...after all, we will all die one day, either by ailment or accident...at least, that’s how God created the world.
The great Senator Ted Kennedy came to the Inauguration of President Obama from the operations theatre, where he’s been battling with brain tumour. Everybody knows he’s ill and there is no big deal about that. It has not diminished his profile before the America people, or the global audience. That he even collapsed during one of the inauguration ball events was not mystified as a taboo that must never come to the lips of the living.
The outgoing vice president, Dick chemney came to the swearing in ceremony in wheelchair. He had strained his back while packing out of his official residence and was advised by doctors to use a wheelchair to reduce the pressure of his legs to rest his back. The Americans were never under an illusion that the vice president was supposed to be a super human...
But once it comes to Nigeria, everything is suddenly viewed from the esoteric standpoint of culture. You’d think that this culture they talk about-that’s so secretive- is not the same culture you come from. Why is that it’s only when it comes to telling the truth about our culture that we remember out culture? Does our culture not frown against looting public treasury? Against under-age sex? Smoking (am i a culprit here?...lol) having children out of marriage? Which of these has our political leaders religious adhered to?
Ok, they say we should be secretive about the president’s ailment. Is it not our forefathers who warned us that whoever conceals an ailment risk being concealed by the ailment?
We know our president is not enjoying the bet of health, and it’s not secret also that many vultures hovering over the political landscape, patiently waiting to profit from the said ill health. Hoping that he would drop dead any minute...
I wonder how on earth...rather than we learning from Obama, it is the Americans that should from us. How can they be talking about sacrifice and stopping of presidency staff salaries when we know in our peculiar clime that democracy is very expensive?
How can he be talking of openness when there is something called official secret act?
While Ya’radua administers the oath of secrecy on his appointees, naive Obama was administering an oath of openness and transparency.
While our presidency threatens to deal with anyone who leaks out an official secret, Obama takes time on as he saddles on his new journeyto brief his people conditions upon which information should be withheld.
How can any president be in a hurry such as Obama is? He should come to Abuja and learn the act of ‘slow and steady wins the race’.
...How can he get down to business so quickly without taking at least, six months to settle down? And another six month to draw a one point agenda?
OBAMA AND THE REST OF US-‘Nigerians’...we really do not have any lesson to learn from him or anyone else, not even neighbouring Ghana ( for a successful election which Nigeria has struggled with since independence). We are simply in a world of our own.
2 comments:
i find your write-up comically professional...the truth is as you have said it.
its indeed the world of those in power and the rest of us tring to keep up with how much is daily looted from our national treasuries.
God will see us through anyway.
May God bless america
gone are those days when this leaders expect us to close our eyes and see no evil. rightly put, our culture has daily been the bane of most of our catarsrophies. but i hope that one day, the leaders will fear God and be true to their calling.
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