Nigeria: In the hands of a good doctor

Such impatient speculation

One has not been too particularly impressed with the hysteria and speculations that followed the return of President Yar’Adua in the dark of the night a few days ago.

Beyond the self-appointed pundits and impatient analysts, heretofore respected Nigerian newspapers assailed the persons and personalities of the kitchen cabinet and most especially the wife of the President with a blood-thirsty and inordinate quest for power at any cost.

It was quite difficult to glean any objective perspective in all those opinions and the Acting President Goodluck Jonathan did not fare that well in the matters either.

There was no doubt that the return of any similitude of President Yar’Adua would cause an upheaval, but we must not forget as I had suggested before that the continual visits of Nigerian politicians failing to see the President in Saudi Arabia was also becoming a serious embarrassment for the Saudi royalty and government.

Once again, he cannot be seen

The return of President Yar’Adua is so far good because with time the charade that had been maintained in Saudi Arabia could no more be retained in Nigeria longer than the day in which he returned.

Having been in the country for more than 60 hours, no one has confirmed a sighting of the President to ascertain what state he is in, it is not too difficult to deduce and conclude as one has averred for long that he is unfit to be seen and thereby unfit to rule.

There was no way that the emissary dynamic from afar was going to work with the President’s proximity still keeping him hermetically sealed from access or he still being too unprepared to address the nation he left over 3 months ago.

Radical changes afoot

So, finally, the coterie of sycophants and faceless mandarins or power brokers around the gravely ill but “recuperating” President have had to defer to his vice-President who at present is designated the Acting President with full powers until such a time as the President like Lazarus miraculously or as the legendary phoenix rises from the ashes to operate with his full capacity and ability.

Meanwhile, the issues of the day has allowed the Nigerian legislature to modify the constitution to deal with the exploited failings of the sections that allowed the President to vacate his post with illness for 90 days without sanction.

An understanding of organisms

In my view, Dr Goodluck Jonathan is a rare breed of politician and personality, as a holder of a PhD in biology he probably has a good understanding of organisms, hosts and parasites which could be microbial or humongous.

Generally, Nigerian politicians are prone to the conspicuous, garrulous, mendacious and atrocious; he has been inconspicuous, literally cloaking himself with a self-effacing lack of ambition and drive whilst attaining authority and exerting influence with unheralded deftness.

Parasites and hosts

When he became acting President he curtailed the most virulent organism in the administration, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Michael Aondoakaa frightening a number of parasites from the hold they had on the helpless host.

Certain bacteria would definitely need to be catalysed into helpful bacteria and others would require a healthy dose of antibiotics, in some cases the ecosystem in which they thrive might have to change making them ineffective.

Viruses are a more difficult problem but with a boosted immune system championed by a determined mission to rid the nation of many of its ills, I would suppose there would be enough antibodies to overwhelm the viruses offering residual immunity to those strains.

In the hands of a good doctor

The body of the country called Nigeria is sick but not incurable; it has walked into swamps where leeches had almost sucked it dry but it not anaemic beyond what a decent few transfusions can help.

I think Nigeria is in the hands of a good doctor and am ready to be patient, non-judgemental and amenable to appreaciating the qualities and abilities of Dr, Goodluck Jonathan – I would suggest his knowledge of biology would come in more usefully in the political landscape of Nigeria, it consists of organisms no different from ones studied under microscopes too.