Controversy surrounding Yar'Adua's Health

Yar' Adua's presidency was perturbed by his long-term cardiac illness. He left the country for three months to receive foreign treatment in Saudi Arabia. During this time, Vice President Goodluck Johnathan took position as "acting president, however he was not formally introduced, sparking an enormous amount of controversy in Nigeria. The citizens began to question the government on the whereabouts of their President Yar'Adua. The administration poorly informed the citizens of Yar' Adua's health in fear of evoking more chaos, instead they withheld details on both the state of Yar'Adua and the overall governance of Nigeria.

This video illustrates the confusion surrounding the whereabouts of President Yar'Adua. The comical attitude that is displayed in this video is the same attitude that the Nigerian citizens accused the President and his family over blogs, facebook, and other social media, that President Yar'Adua was already dead and they (the family) just wanted to continue "eating the money" and maintaining their high social status as the first family of the country. Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege assents to the assumption that the President's health was kept in secrecy: "Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege said the severity of his illness had been shrouded in secrecy since he was airlifted out of Nigeria in November 2009 ("Alja" May 06, 2010)." The senator, Nuhu Aliyu alludes to the January phone call made by BBC news network to President Yar'Adua while he was receiving treatment. He questions Yar'Adua's actions saying, "Why BBC?", implying that the President should be addressing his own people first and foremost. He continues to stress that the government should be more informing towards its people and that it is morally right to do so and desist from keeping the people in the dark. Moreover, this video demonstrates the citizens lack of faith and trust in their government due to its history of deceitfulness and corruption. With the decreasing government dependance and yet increasing anger and distress, Boko Haram was able to take advantage of Nigeria's fragile state and consummate into country shaking movement.



Aljazeera, "Alja." Last modified May,06,2010. Accessed April 22, 2012. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2010/05/20105523627997165.html.