10 Critical Reasons Why President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Should Resign Now

“The structures,functions,purposes,powers and duties of governments must serve the interest and satisfy the aspiration of the people” -Gani Fawehnmi

“I think it that it's very important for African leaderships to take responsibility and be held accountable. I think the people of Africa understand that” -Barack Obama

It is no more news that Nigerians are disillusioned and disappointed with President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's 30 months administration. The thought of articulating critical reasons in order to suggest resignation to the President has been on my mind since this administration marked its two (2) years anniversary on 29th May 2009.Those two years were devoid of any achievements except unfulfilled promises riddled with a sick,rudderless and confused leadership. The TELL magazine September edition cover story “Is Nigeria a failed State?”,reminded me once again of the need to call on Mr. President to resign given the decrepit state of the nation which is still on the decline. However,the timing was wrong as that period was the peak of the unconditional amnesty offered to the Niger Delta Militants by the President.

I deemed it fit to give the President an opportunity to redeem himself and present his government as a genuine leadership with altruistic agenda. A leadership that will look backward at the past so that it will not make the same mistakes,looking sideways at alternatives so the you know your options, and using that vision to move the nation forward. Leadership is a quality Umaru Musa Yar'adua has failed to show in his 30 months in power. Meanwhile as the year was drawing to an end Nigeria's performance in global indices bench making politcal,economic,business and human capital climate was at its lowest since the advent of democracy in 1999, as the nation's ranking emerged from many organisations and groups. Nigeria's dismal performance was elicited by a decline in all the major indexes of 2009 in comparison to 2008 dashing all hopes of an improvement. A quick view of the various rankings can be found here.

Furthermore,I am more compelled more than ever to make this clarion call to our President because of many issues which include but not limited to the following;the House of Representatives have declared the Implementation of the 2009 budget a failure;renewed threats by Henry Okah Leader of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has shown that the unilateral handling of the post amnesty period which many like myself have always warned against portends real danger for the nation(see my warning here);clampdown on the media,deregulation and Mr President's health status.

Before now many Nigerians have called on the President to resign but the Presidency had dismissed them as politically motivated. In other not be misconstrued as political but to be seen as a genuine call from a concerned citizen, I have taken my time to chronicle my “critical reasons” in about 30 pages which I expect the President or his assistants to go through and respond to if they do not represent realities on ground. On the ground that they are true I would want President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua GCFR to consider two options. Firstly,he should resign in the interest of over 140 million citizens of this country or secondly, serve out his four (4) year tenure and willingly quit the 2011 elections. Let us put tribal sentiments aside and critically examine the points marshalled out herein which are easily verifiable and are made more glaring by realities on ground. In our polity, tribal sentiments takes precedence over national interest,therefore it may be difficult for the President to give way to unbiased,sound and correct reasoning. Resignation may be viewed by a section of the country as a betrayal of trust or a sell out. If Mr. President considers resignation as a sign of weakness,then the second option which is willingly withdrawing from the 2011 election becomes expedient.

Just as morality and Christianity plays a major role in United States (US) politics,I am not ignorant of the fact that the North needs to retain power till 2015 because we cannot run away from the fact that the principle of rotational presidency is critical to the continued unity of the nation unless we want to replicate Yugoslavia in Africa. I will deal with the issue of how the North can still retain the presidency in the absence of Yar'Adua in my conclusion of this clarion call but right now let me go straight to the in medias res- “The 10 Critical Reasons”.

NB: Check the Side Panel for November Archive to Read each of the Critical Reasons below

1. Sick President,sick nation
2. Antidemocratic Impulses
3. Level of Development
4. Post-Amnesty
5. The Evil Wind of Deregulation
6. Justice Uwais Report and Electoral Reforms
7. PDP and Internal Democracy
8. Vision 20:2020 Our “Pipe dream”?
9. Support of Impunity
10. Ostracising the International Community

Conclusion

Genuine leadership means setting the agenda. It means looking backward at the past so that you don't make the same mistakes,looking sideways at alternatives so the you know your options, and using that vision to move the nation forward. Leadership is a quality Umaru Musa Yar'adua has failed to show this in his 30 months in power. No part of our national life has improved since he came to power instead there is a decline. The nation has become as sick as him. We are in a limbo.

It is now imperative that the President should consider resignation in the best interest of the nation. If he chooses not to resign out of self pride,then he should start shopping for a capable PDP member to nominate for PDP in the 2011 elections. This is the best option as he is not in the best of health to be saddle with leadership of one of the most important countries in Africa. It has never occurred in the history of Nigeria. It is alien to African leaders. The irony of Africa is that African leaders prefer to die in power at the detriment of their citizens even when there are clear reasons why they should resign. Even if their stay in office is inimical to their nation's progress or at times portend danger such as war for their country,they continue to perpetuate themselves in office. This the bane of poverty,underdevelopment and backwardness on the African continent.

It is a decision of a life time and if the President places prominence on the success of the 'Nigerian Project' like the American Dream and yield to sound reasoning,he will emerge as Nigeria's first true leader in over 40 years. He will rescue Nigeria from the risk of becoming a failed state. So that the Vision 20:2020 will not be a vision to place Nigeria in the bottom 20 of the world in every sense. If he listens, many Nigerians will not fail to nominate him for the Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance but probably for good will towards Nigerians in the near future.

The President will attain a heroic status and he will join the class of rare men such as Madiba Nelson Mandela,George Washington and Jawaharlal who despite the pomp and privileges of power relinquished power in the the interest of their people. Nobody ever talks bad of General Abdulsalami Abubakar in the history of Nigerian leadership because he did the unprecedented by not allowing power to intoxicate him. Obasanjo would have been in the good books of Nigeria if not for the failed third term project that destroyed the little strides he achieved in eight (8) years. Against the backdrop that he failed,he now went ahead to impose a leader on Nigeria in other to protect himself after his tenure.

Yar'Adua decision will go beyond our borders. He will herald a new generation of African leaders whose commitment to lift their countries out of doldrums can only equal and possibly surpass the patriotic zeal of our 'volcanic nationalists' to borrow the words of the late sage Chief Awolowo of blessed memory, in their struggle against colonialism. Posterity and indeed the whole of Africa will be grateful to him for leading the way for other African leaders to follow. A dispensation where they place their country first before themselves. It will not only be applauded by West but it will send a strong signal to the rest of the world that Africa has finally woken up from its slumber to the realities of the 21^st century.

However he will not be the first President to have ever resigned or willingly withdraw from a future election in modern history of world governments. Willingly withdrawing from elections is rampant while resignation is pretty difficult but there comes a times in the life of a nation when we have to face the hard truths and take the most difficult decisions. The United States whose democracy is a beauty to behold have had their Presidents resign. One of which is the resignation of President Nixon because of the Watergate Scandal. The decrepit state of our nation is more than a hundred Watergate scandals put together as life has become unbearable and the nation is sitting atop a keg of gunpowder.

As I said in the introduction that just as morality and Christianity plays a major role in United States (US) politics,I am not ignorant of the fact that the North needs to retain power till 2015 because we cannot run away from the fact that the principle of rotational presidency is critical to the continued existence of the nation as a united country unless we want to become the Yugoslavia of Africa. In order for the North to retain power till 2015,Yar'Adua can nominate his wife. Amongst other qualities,Her Excellency has shown signs of being a politician who can hold her ground given the fact she is even more active than her husband even as Late Chief Gani noted that she was interfering much in national issues owing to health status of the President. She is very healthy and can take charge without hindrance as a result of poor health. I advocate this so that another power monger will not emerge from the north after Yar'Adua resignation and seeks to perpetuate himself or herself in power. If the first lady is nominated for as Presidential candidate of the PDP,if she wins, she will not be the first woman president in Africa. However,being nominated by the PDP is not a guarantee that she will win. From all indication anyone running against Yar'Adua or any PDP Presidential candidate in 2011, whether it is Her Excellency,will be from the North.

It happened in Argentina,although the serving president did so well by expanding the country economy by 50 percent,he shunned second tenor and his wife won the election. I will deal explicitly with why Her Excellency will be the best choice for PDP in the absence of Yar'Adua come 2015 in my next publication '2015 and Nigeria Unity'. The summary of it is as a woman it will be easier to get her to relinquish power because in 2015 it inevitable that any deviation from power rotating to the east might fulfil the US prediction that Nigeria may disintegrate then and we will become the Yugoslavia of Africa.

It is on this note that I make this patriotic call to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to resign or better still announce to Nigeria that he will abstain from the 2011 elections and start shopping for a successor.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Nigeria must be Great.

Ostracising the International Community

10.Ostracising the International Community

I want to conclude this critical reasons why President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua must as a matter of urgency resign from a broader perspective of our non-existent foreign diplomacy policy. I read an interview President Barack Obama granted ALLAFRICA.COM's Charles Cobb,Jr.,Reed Kramer and Tami Hultman on his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa. I was reading the second answer before the last question and it was clear that neither Obama nor the journalists had mentioned Nigeria. I noticed that they systematically avoided it. I was infuriated. I said to myself that if only Obama knew that he had more supporters from Nigeria towards his campaign than his fatherland Kenya which he made mention of in his second answer. If only he knew that Nigerians who are wont to crying more than bereaved in the delirium of his campaign raised millions to send across the pacific towards the success of his election only for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to dismiss the fund raising as fraud and returned the monies back to the contributors. Is he not aware of many pre- and post-election Obama conferences which were organised by many sympathetic groups in Nigeria?.

I almost flung the paper away but late continued just hear all he had to say on why he chose Ghana instead of other sub-Sahara African countries. Being the charismatic gentleman he is,he mentioned Lagos in the last answer of that Interview. (I imagined him in the their Americana style musing “ don't get angry dude I even know Eko! not just Nigeria. Blame your leaders for the US ignoring you guys,I still recognised that you ain't gonna talk about my papa's continent without talking about Nigeria”). Then I smiled at his wisdom. He tried to let us know that he knew us well and that the story of Africa cannot be complete without the mention of Nigeria.

Forget the Muammer Gadhafis who are only interested in condoning impunity and wishing to become the President of a United States of Africa in his dreams. He has refused to relinquish power in Libya with a track record of aligning with countries former President Bush will refer to as the 'Axis of Evil'. Nigeria is the most populous countries in Africa and one of the most important country in Africa with a potential of assuming full leadership of Africa just like the US. Right now our only significance lies in the fact that we are the highest contributor of peace keepers for United Nations.

We are ranked among 42^nd among 133 countries in market size according to Geneva-based World Economic Forum with potential to consume more if the economy improves. So even if politicians ignore us, investors seeking to make quick profits will not only on daily basis sort to come here,they earnestly pray for our stability and good governance to take over. We have the best crude oil in the world with little percentage of sulphur. Need I remind anyone that we among the top 10 in worldwide crude oil export and production.

Although late Chief Gani had to caution former President Obasanjo for his incessant foreign trips to canvass foreign investments while the country was in shambles. He did that to remind Baba that we needed to consolidate more on the home front before selling Nigeria to the world. Nigeria will never be a hard sell if the indexes are right. This is what many like this writer have been trying to let the Minister of Information,the 'Re-branding apostle' to recognize. All the energy and resources put in rebranding will be better channelled if she concentrated on educating Nigerians about governance and participation in same so that we could evolve a better society. The world needs us and Africa needs us more. Late Chief Gani did not mean that international diplomacy is not important neither did he underscore the importance of Nigeria in African and World politics. The Minister of Information in a press release stated that the election of Nigeria to the non-permanent seat of the United Nations is an endorsement by the international community that the 7-point Agenda is working. Then I ask,are we the only one chosen to seat along with US,Britain,China,France and Russia,the permanent members, as non-permanent members of the security council? There are about eight countries selected alongside Nigeria and our vote cannot even stop a key decision such as the veto power of the five permanent member. Moreover we have been seeking election to that seat long before now and the tenure is only for two (2) years.

Africa deserves a permanent seat at the United Nation if we must belong to this world to take charge of the destiny of the black man just as the blacks in America now feel equal to the white with emergence of Obama as president in the US. The world is waiting for Nigeria to come and occupy that exalted position because Africa deserves to belong to the Comity of nations as a key player. Asia and the Americas have one representative each,Europe dominates with France,UK and Eastern Europe represented by Russia,then where is Africa? Do we not make up a continent or probably the population and contribution of Africa does not warrant her a permanent seat among other continents? The centuries of colonialism is long over. Nigeria is in the best position to jostle and secure that seat for Africa. What will wake us from our "sleep walking" is the offer of this exalted permanent seat to Ghana because according to Obama they have become a model in Africa and also for the West to enjoy that delicious “crude oil soup” or to South Africa because of the country's stability and prosperity.

Sani Abacha was ostracised by the comity of nations,Yar'Adua has reversed the trend by ostracising the comity of nation. It was widely speculated the the President will not attend the UN Assembly held this year and he confirmed the fears of speculators by actually jetting out to Saudi Arabia instead of attending a meeting of about 150 world leaders. He went to attend to unfinished business such as the commissioning of a $7bn university while his country's universities were shut down due to lecturers strike. Yar'Adua chose to visit Saudi Arabia while world leaders gathered in New York to discuss world affairs ranging from Middle East Peace to Terrorism and Global Poverty. African leaders met with the President of the United States, Barack Obama, to discuss issues of concern to Africa and the US. In this era when the government blames its failure on recession,there was an opportunity for trade discussion with the US. Just as the present government is a monumental failure at the home front,it has scored below average on a scale of hundred when it comes to international politics and diplomacy.

Support of Impunity

9.Support of Impunity

It is now more clearer than ever that it is the disastrous policies of African leaders since the era colonialism that is the bane of Africa's woes. Africa is bedevilled with a long history of leadership crisis. We crowd the list of the worst countries on earth in every indexes of human development despite being the cradle of human civilization. The irony of it all is that Africa leaders want to perpetuate themselves in office while their countries are on constant decline in all aspect of human development. The recent death of Omar Bongo of Gabon who held on to power for 42 years,seven years short of our 49 years of independence confirms a situation where a man holds his country hostage. Now his son has taken over possibly for another 50 years. We were very close to this evil when former President Obasanjo told the international community that Nigerians wanted him for third term. The biggest lie of the century.

Another problem of Africa is the unending conflicts and wars caused by our leaders. This brings me to the issue of impunity in Africa. Since all African leaders are of the same kind it is not difficult to understand why they cannot speak their mind on critical issues that include genocide,war crimes and crime against humanity. It was Muammer Gadhafi who convened Africa leaders in Tripoli and rejected the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir for trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the troubled region. The UN says 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million fled their homes in the western region of Darfur. And one man is responsible and his life is deemed more precious than this scores of men,women and children who have lost their lives.

October 2009, Nigeria hosted a meeting of the African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Council on Darfur and the government of Sudan was invited with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir to lead the delegation. With Rights groups and others urging the Nigerian government to arrest him if he turned up for the meeting coupled with threats of demonstration at the Abuja venues,our government whose support for impunity cannot be hidden resorted to cheap and dirty politics by possibly advising the Sudanese wanted criminal to avoid the meeting. Well, South Africa and Uganda abstained themselves from the pack of disgruntled wicked African leaders, by refusing to allow Al-Bashir into their countries because of its feared legal and political implications. That meeting was moved to Nigeria because we could tolerate the accused and Nigeria was even expecting to receive Al-Bashir in our airport.

We continue to envy South Africa,why won't this nation make progress and become the darling of the West. What stops Nigerian Government from clearly stating its position on Al-Bashir. If we support the ICC,it will go along way to send a strong massage to other leaders and intending ones who are busy committing acts of genocide and war crimes across Africa that enough is enough. Some will argue that we have about about 5million Nigerian living in Sudan and the diplomatic effect will be fatal. Do we realise that the crime against this man is the death of over 300,000 human beings? Why should over 5 million Nigerians be living in a war torn country,one of the poorest nations on earth that falls far below Nigeria in all areas of human endeavour? Are these 5 million Nigerians tourist or is that Nigerians love to live outside their country? Is not the failure of their government?

This goes a long way to tell us that if our President has his way he will commit more than Al-Bashir. This why the President could not openly condemn the Parliamentarian,Ibn N'Allah who joked about killing 20 million persons in the Niger Delta so that he and his kinsmen will continue to loot and plunder the wealth God put under the people of the Niger Delta.