FOR the umpteenth time, the rumour mill was, on Wednesday, agog that the Nigerian President, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, might have passed on at an unnamed hospital in Saudi Arabia. The rumour started from Saudi Arabia, where the president had gone for medical checkup since Monday.
As early as 5.00 a.m, series of telephone calls started coming from all parts of the country and from all kinds of people who were anxious to know the true state of health of the ailing president.
The president had, before his electoral victory and his inauguration in May 2007, been embarking on medical trips abroad, particularly to Saudi Arabia. The president, who himself disclosed that he had a kidney problem, spent about two weeks at a Saudi hospital in August 2008.
President Yar’Adua, on Monday, left the country and was admitted to a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for another round of medical tests. Demonstrating the level of anxiety on the present state of health of the president, an anonymous text message from a Nigerian currently performing the yearly pilgrimage to Mekkah disclosed that the rumour of the president’s death had spread to Jeddah.
According to the text message, the rumour became rife on Tuesday night, with many Nigerians becoming apprehensive about the state of the health of the president.
According to the text message, Nigerians were seen gathering in groups, discussing and praying for, the president. One of the special advisers to the wife of the president, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, according to the report, was said to have immediately left Muna in Saudi Arabia and headed straight for the hospital, where the president was admitted, at around 7.00 p.m (Nigerian time) on Wednesday.The rumour and speculations about the state of the health of the president were further heightened by the refusal of many of his aides to give information about what was really happening to him.
While his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, only disclosed that the president was away “for follow-up medical checks,” the Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili, refused to speak to newsmen about the development.
Yar’Adua, on arrival at the King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, on Tuesday, was said to have been admitted to an unnamed hospital same day with the doctor who attended to him refusing to disclose what was happening on the ground, that he was not permitted to do so.
While the state of health of the president remained an official secret, information available to the Nigerian Tribune revealed that activities at the nation’s seat of power, Abuja, were at the lowest ebb Wednesday evening.
The usual human traffic, which was the hallmark of governance at Aso Rock, was said to have been significantly reduced, with the Vice-President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, visibly absent.
Frantic phone calls to the ‘appropriate quarters’ met a brickwall, as none of the people contacted could ascertain the true state of health of the president. However, one of the senators from the South-West who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune on condition of anonymity, said that though he heard the rumour, he could not confirm whether the president was dead or alive.
One of the Nigerian pilgrims currently in Jeddah called to confirm that it was true that the rumour was rife in Saudi Arabia that Yar’Adua was dead, but was quick to add that the special adviser to Turai, who left Muna, had called some few minutes later to inform them the president was alive. Also, some Nigerian pilgrims said Saudi Arabia also aired it on a radio station that the president was alive.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that some top level consultations were ongoing among the nation’s top leaders, with Vice-President Jonathan, President of the Senate, Mr. David Mark; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, and some high-ranking officials said to have held a meeting to review information available to them.
It was gathered that the leaders were in touch with the Saudi hospital, where the resident is receiving treatment. A source in government said that the president’s situation might have been exaggerated, but, added that the president needed the prayer of all.
It was gathered that the meeting by Mark and Bankole was aimed at ensuring that the top government functionaries were well briefed on the situation on the ground.
It was gathered that the top officials wore no long faces after the consultations. A source said that “the whole environment of government is sluggish. Something is happening but you don’t expect everybody to be cheerful when the president is sick.”
