However, medical experts told Daily Sun at the weekend that even if Yar’Adua has a wish for re-election, his heart is hardly in a position to withstand the rigour.
In reaction to the thought-provoking trend in the president’s health, a consultant cardiologist in Lagos said the president’s speculated bid for a second term in office has turned him into a patient living on a borrowed time, adding that there is a pressing need for the president to take things a lot easier than his strong individual will is willing to take.
The who preferred anonymity stressed that a lot of emphasis should be placed on preventive and primary care cardiology by promoting healthy heart and risk assessment evaluation, which Yar’Adua’s tight schedule as president will constitute a hindrance.
“He will need aggressive and follow-up management of established case of heart disease and secondary care which he may not have enough time for because of his office. The president would also need prompt and timely intervention in case he presents with acute coronary syndrome such as heart attack which his busy schedule may be a stumbling block to.”
He therefore advised the president to prayerfully complete his first term in office and, concerning second term, he should consider life first before power, going by his declining health condition.
Corroborating, consultant surgeon, Dr Emmanuel Enabulele stated that health-wise, anybody urging Yar’Adua to go for a second term is not doing him a favour, because according to him, it is impossible for Yar’Adua’s deteriorating health to withstand a second term. He, however, said the president would throw in the towel on his own when the time comes without anyone forcing him.
Enabulele said, “Health-wise, anybody that is telling him to go for a second term, that is not just possible. Anybody that is trying to force him into a second term is not doing him a favour. If he wants to give it a try, medically he is praying for the consequences. It is left for him to make the decision.
“It is not advisable. Can he even cope with the stress of the campaign? First time around, was he able to cope with the stress of the campaign? Obasanjo was the one campaigning for him and dragging him along. And in-between the campaigns, while a presidential campaign is going on, the candidate is not even there, he is in a hospital.
Then now his health has deteriorated over a period of four years, leading to even complication, you want him to run? Unless he will just sit in his house, people will campaign for him, organize the vote for him and make him president. But he is not the person that can go through electioneering, if the playing field is level for everybody. Again, can his deteriorating health withstand the rigorous of presidency for another four years?
On his advice for Mr. president as an expert, Enabulele was reluctant and later volunteered: “Advice? You know in this environment in which we live, people don’t like honest and sincere advice. Very soon, you see those who don’t even wish him well, but because of the political patronage they are getting, they want him to hang in there.
“If you say retire now, so many things come into play, who is going to take his position, of course, there is constitutional provision for that. And more horse-trading, mudslinging and all sorts of things will come in. But medically speaking, I think he needs some rest, he needs some rest, for a time. He can proceed on medical leave or annual leave or whatever, and then he will be fully assessed and see whether he can still be at the centre, by the time he comes back. He will be the one that will make the natural decision, nobody will tell him, when to throw in the towel.
“I think the transition will be made a little bit more politically and environmentally friendly. But this is not the time to say you must go, you shouldn’t go. The cause of the pericarditis, and progression or retrogression will eventually, and nobody will be telling him, he will be the one to make the decision.
Continuing, the surgeon said, “you know that in this country, once a party is in power, irrespective of the person that is thrown up for the post, the party, will eventually win, the peoples’ votes don’t count. In advanced countries, by now, the matter would have been settled. People would have sat down and said, this president is not capable of keeping his job, his health has so much deteriorated, and they would have known the right thing to do,” he said.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/nov/30/national-30-11-2009-1.htm
| Posted: at | |
TRENDING GISTS 
Wizkid and Ayra Starr Face Backlash Over “Gimme Dat” Lyrics Allegedly Insensitive to Amadou Diallo’s Legacy
EFCC To Investigate Alleged ₦528bn Misappropriation By Ex-Zamfara Governor, Matawalle
2025 U-20 AFCON: Check Out All 8 Teams That Qualified For Quarter-Finals