While I am not in the habit of listening in on people’s conversations, I couldn’t help with this amusing narrative told so vividly by the major dramatis personae. As it turned out, it was an objective lesson on the world of young ladies in dalliances with public officials and I am not sure I am sorry for overhearing. Okay, eavesdropping, if you will! The sophisticated hustler, the latest recipient of the goodwill of the Niger Delta governor in the habit of ‘assisting’ hustling young ladies, has a nice apartment in the Central District of Abuja. Though she has no apparent means of livelihood or even substantial inheritance, she only flies business class or first class. Apparently aware that big boys also fly business or first class, lady hustler decided a long time ago that it doesn’t make sense swimming in a pond while trying to catch whales. Happily, our dear narrator caught her whale on one of such trips from Abuja to Lagos and since then, she has been at His Excellency’s beck and call.

The first thing the governor does for recipients of his goodwill is have them tested for HIV/AIDS because he prefers riding unprotected. So, there is usually a waiting period when nothing happens until his doctor certifies the lady okay. Once the lady is endorsed by the good doctor, however, the doors of enjoyment are opened for her at the expense of the poor long-suffering masses of Mr Lover Boy’s rich, yet impoverished, state. She begins to see the world. He sends her to Dubai with a standard $10,000.00 and thereafter to the UK. If she rubs his big belly well enough on that trip and ministers well to him, she is rewarded with a trip to the US.

You are probably saying, “Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard this all before.” Well, I am happy to shock you as you’ve not heard what later transpired between the duo. His Excellency asked Her Royal Slutness to go down on her knees, not in the throes of sexual excitement, but as punishment for keeping him waiting for her at the hotel while she spent an afternoon in town with her friends.

He became mad because his wife, the First Lady, had sent him lunch and he had planned to share it with HRS, only to get back to the hotel and find she had gone AWOL. He got really mad, threatened to take the dollars he gave her earlier and kick her out. Mr Governor, who certainly doesn’t take nonsense from any quarters, eventually calmed down. But apart from that little misunderstanding, they have continued to live happily.

THIS STORY IS NOT ABOUT FUNKE AKINDELE

THE battle for Vice President took another shape last night, with governors rooting for their Kaduna State colleague Namadi Sambo.

President Goodluck Jonathan accepted their choice, a source said this morning. Sambo’s name may be sent to the National Assembly today.

Sambo’s choice, according to a source, is the climax of a desperate power game, which will see Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Vincent Ogbulafor throwing in the towel.

Ogbulafor is facing corruption charges in court. Apparently sensing that saving him may be hard, the governors may have thought of a trade-off – give us Sambo and let Ogbulafor go.

It was not clear this morning how the decision to choose Sambo was taken. His name never came up among the frontrunners for the job..

The governors met last night in Abuja to take a stand on the issues – Ogbulafor’s fate and vice president.

They rose at 10.30pm and headed for the Presidential Villa to see the President. As of 1a.m., the meeting with Dr Goodluck Jonathan was still on. A source said at about 1a.m. that the governors had asked Ogbulafor to resign.

It was not immediately clear last night why the governors withdrew their support for Ogbulafor. A source said it might be a desperate move to beat legislators, who are pushing for former Kaduna Governor Ahmed Makarfi, to the prize. Makarfi is a senator.

Earlier in the day, The Nation learnt that security agencies had compiled briefs for President Jonathan on the candidates.

But, it was unclear last night whether the President will name his deputy today or not.

The six top candidates – before Sambo’s name came up – are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed; former Kaduna Governor Ahmed Makarfi; Sokoto Deputy Governor Mukhtar Shagari; Jigawa Governor Sule Lamido; Ambassador to South Africa Gen. Buba Marwa; and Niger State Governor Aliyu Babangida.

The choice of vice president topped the list of activities in the Presidency yesterday, after the cabinet’s valedictory session for the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, according to sources.

It was gathered that the session had hardly ended when horse-trading took the centre stage.

Findings revealed that security agencies spent the day compiling briefs on the candidates for Dr Jonathan.

A source said: "The briefs on the candidates are to guide the decision of the President.

"Since most of the candidates are public officers, I do not think that they will go through any fresh screening as being claimed. But the security briefs on the candidates will assist the President on his choice.

"It is the prerogative of the President to decide after studying the CVs and security briefs on the candidates."

Asked if the President would submit the name of his nominee to the National Assembly today, the source said: "I am aware that consultations are still ongoing and no one knows his mindset.

"As I am talking to you, state chairmen of the PDP are meeting with the President. The issue of VP may come up in one way or the other."

Former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nasir el-Rufai and two former aides of his were yesterday arraigned before a Federal High Court, Abuja..

The two others are Altine Jubrin, former Director-General of the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) and Ismailia Iro, former General Manager.

They are facing an eight-count charge of criminal conspiracy and abuse of office preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

They are accused of conspiring to use their offices to gratify and/or confer corrupt or unfair advantage upon one another by the irregular revocation and re-allocation of land to themselves.

The commission accused the former minister of corruptly re-allocating parcels of land, which belonged to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc and Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST), to his wives, Hadiza and Asia, as well as associates, such as Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, Saidu Samaila, Philip Daudu, Jamaila Alhassan and Bello Sani.

A company, System Property Development Consortium Limited (SPDC), also benefited from the allocations, it was alleged.

The alleged offences are contrary to Sections 19 and 26(1)c) and punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Act, 2000.

All the accused pleaded not guilty.

Clad in a black kaftan with a red cap to match, the former minister was accompanied by some of his associates and friends, including the former Culture and Tourism Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

Moving an oral bail application, el-Rufai’s counsel and former Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), urged the court to release him on self-recognition.

Said the lawyer: "He has served the country as a minister. He was not in the country when the charge was filed but when he came back, he voluntarily went to EFCC that he is back in the country and would want to know why they wanted him.

He made a statement as required and was released on bail on self-recognition. Again today he voluntarily came to court to answer the charges. The offences are bailable."

After an interjection by the EFCC counsel, Mr. Adebayo Adelodun, Olujimi applied to withdraw a motion he had earlier filed.

Counsel to Altine, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), adopted Olujimi’s argument. He added that his client had been enjoying bail granted her by the court when she was first arraigned on May 6, last year.

Iro’s counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), a former Attorney General of the Federation, adopted earlier submissions. He urged the court to grant the accused bail on self-recognition.

The prosecution counsel did not object to the oral bail application as, according to him, the accused were on administrative bail granted them by the EFCC after they provided sureties.

"The state will, therefore, ask that the accused persons provide reliable sureties as conditions for their bail," Adelodun said.

Mr Justice Adamu Bello said: "I have considered the oral bail application moved on behalf of the accused persons. I also have it in mind that the prosecution did not object to bail. I feel inclined to exercise the discretion of the court in granting bail. There is no doubt that the second and third accused persons have been attending court’s sittings. I hope the first accused will do the same."

He granted the accused N100 m bail and one surety in like sum. The surety, Justice Bello said, must be a resident of the FCT and must show evidence of landed property worth the bail sum.

The judge said the accused should remain in EFCC custody, until their bail conditions have been perfected.

Security agents attached to the anti-graft agency escorted el-Rufai out of the court in a Mercedez Benz ML350 marked Kaduna-BB417 MKA..

From the photo it is clear that one of the boys is black I hope say no be naija man pickin !

An eight-year-old girl cuddled her teddy bear and cried as she told a jury in a recorded interview that she had been raped by two ten-year-old boys.

The defendants sat with their mothers in the well of a courtroom as the recording was played at the Old Bailey yesterday. The girl, who was interviewed by specially trained police, said that the boys had refused to return her scooter unless she did what they demanded. She said that they led her from a lift at a block of flats to a bin shed, then a hedge, and exposed themselves and raped her.

Wiping away tears, she said that while it was happening she had thought about going to a sweet shop with her mother.

She said that on the day it happened, in October, she had been playing with her younger sister and a five-year-old friend when the boys approached and led her away. They told her to pull down her underwear, warning that she wouldn’t get her “scooter from the bush” if she didn’t

Sometimes rushing her sentences, the girl said: “Then they took me and my friend downstairs to the bin shed and they put the bins near the entrance so we couldn’t get out. We wanted to go out but they wouldn’t let us. They put the bins so no one could see us.”

Rosina Cottage, for the prosecution, said that the girl’s mother had been told by her younger daughter, who returned home alone, that the two boys had been “hurting her”. The alleged victim’s mother and younger sister went to look for her and came across the mother of the younger defendant and a five-year-old playmate.

When the boy’s mother asked the little boy where her son was, “he said that he was in a nearby field and that he was with her and that he was hurting her”, the prosecution said.

He pointed to the field and they went to find the children. The girl’s mother went into the field in Hayes, West London, but could not find her. “As she was walking out she saw her with the boys and asked what they had been doing. They all said nothing,” Ms Cottage said.

The mother asked for her daughter’s scooter back from the younger defendant. As they walked home, the woman “could see things were not right with her daughter”. It is claimed that the girl later told her mother what had happened and the police were called.

The judge and three barristers in the case are appearing without their usual wigs and gowns because the defendants and alleged victim are so young. Mr Justice Saunders has also moved from the raised judge’s bench to the lower court clerk’s seat. The sitting hours will be shortened.

The two boys often discreetly asked their mothers or solicitors questions and occasionally pointed at the screens used to show maps and CCTV footage of the area. The girl was introduced to the jury via a video link from an anteroom of the court after the taped recordings had been played.

Opening the case, Ms Cottage said that after the alleged attack the girl was taken to hospital complaining of stomach pains, and scratches and grazes were found. When officers interviewed the older boy he denied raping the girl and blamed the other, who said nothing to the police.

Both boys deny two charges of rape and two of attempted rape. The trial continues.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP)—Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says the NBA should raise its minimum agefor entry into the league to 21.

The NBA’s career scoring leader and center on the Los Angeles Lakers’ 1980s“Showtime” teams said Wednesday there’s a disturbing sense ofentitlementamong many of today’s young pros.

“They get precocious kids from high school who think they’re rock stars—‘Where’s my $30 million?’ ” said Abdul-Jabbar, who was in Omaha to speakat theB’nai B’rith sports banquet.. “The attitudes have changed, and the gamehassuffered because of that, and it has certainly hurt the college game.”

The 63-year-old Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson led the Lakers to five NBAtitles in the 1980s. Before Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989, he set the NBArecordfor career points (38,387), MVP selections (six) and All-Star selections(19).

He now is a special assistant to the Lakers and a best-selling author.

Abdul-Jabbar met students Wednesday at Boys Town, the nationally acclaimedhome for troubled youth. He told them about his time at UCLA, where heplayed onthree national championship teams for John Wooden and graduated in fouryearswith degrees in English and history.

“Coach John Wooden encouraged me to be more than just a jock,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He said if I let my intellectual life suffer becauseI wasso into being an athlete that I would be less than I could be. I wouldtell allstudents to pursue your dreams but don’t let your education suffer.”

The NBA in 2005 changed its entry age to 19. Players who previously mighthave jumped from high school to the NBA now end up playing one year ofcollegeball before declaring for the draft.

Those players are still too young, Abdul-Jabbar said, and many deprivethemselves of the emotional and physical maturity necessary to meet on-andoff-the-court challenges.

“When I played, the players had to go to college and earn their way ontothe court, meaning that there were upperclassmen ahead of them,” hesaid.“Players who had to go through that and had to go to class, when theygot to beprofessional athletes, they were a lot better qualified.”

Abdul-Jabbar said if college weren’t the right place for a player, theplayer should, as an alternative, be required to play in a minor leagueordevelopmental league.

Kevin Garnett, KobeBryant and LeBronJames became stars right out of highschool. The day after James all but disappeared in Cleveland’s playoffloss toBoston, Abdul-Jabbar said even “King James” would have benefited fromcollege.

“He would have come into the professional ranks very polished, given hisinnate gifts,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Having to go through a college systemwouldhave made him a total gem as soon as he stepped out of the collegeranks.”

Abdul-Jabbar commented on other topics:

— He said his role as co-pilot “Roger Murdock” in the 1980 comedy movie“Airplane” changed his life.

“I think everybody in the airline industry is required to watch it,” hesaid. “When I get on planes, every so often the stewardess or the pilotwillcome out and ask me, ‘Do you want to fly the plane?’ “

During a flight in Europe, a pilot escorted him from his seat to the cockpitfor takeoff.

“I get a good laugh from it,” he said. “It’s been over 25 years since Imade that movie and people still watch it all the time. I guess it’s aclassic.”

— He said he has known about Boys Town and its founder, the Rev. EdwardFlanagan, since he attended Catholic school in an Irish neighborhood inNew YorkCity. “The Irish were very proud of him and what he had achieved. It’sreallyneat for me to come out here and see it in reality and seeing they’redoing suchfine work. That is so necessary. People have to care about our youth.They areour most precious resources. If we don’t care, what’s going to happen.”

— He said his greatest athletic achievement was playing on the Lakers teamthat beat Boston for the NBA title in 1985.

“But seeing my kids graduate from college and knowing they have a firmbasis in life, that is a lot more important to me, personally,” he said.

— He said 6-11 center Nate Thurmond, who played for Golden State, Chicagoand Cleveland, was his toughest matchup.

“A lot of guys beat on me and said they played good defense. Nate actuallyused skill and knowledge of the game to play against me and make myeveningsmore difficult when I had to play him,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He waseverythinga professional center should be.”

— He said the “Showtime” Lakers would fare well in the current NBA.

“We had guys on the bench who were Hall-of-Famers,” he said. “That doesn’t happen now because there is such a dispersal of talent. We woulddo verywell in this present climate.”

Abacha's son challenges Swiss court order to refund $350m to FG

Agency Reporter

An appeal by the son of ex military dictator Gen Sani Abacha, Abba, against a court order to return $350m in illegally gained assets has begun in Switzerland.

Photos: right late Sani Abacha, below son of the dictator abba abacha

Abba Abacha was also convicted of being a member of a criminal organisation and given a suspended custodial sentence, according to the BBC.

Switzerland began investigating the Abacha family in 1999 and has so far handed back about $700m to Nigeria.

The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice believes that Sani Abacha, who ruled from 1993 until his death in 1998, may have stolen $2.2bn.

The appeal started on Monday at a court in Geneva, officials say.

However, Swiss newspaper LeTemps reports that Abacha, who is currently in Nigeria, would not be attending the hearing.

He was refused a visa to come to Switzerland because he did not apply for it in time, the newspaper says.

The Swiss authorities pursued Abba Abacha for six years before extraditing him from Germany in 2005.

He was finally convicted by a court in Geneva in November 2009.

Other Reports:

A police court in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday began hearing in an appeal filed by the 41-year-old son of the late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, Mr. Abba Abacha, against an order seeking to seize $350m in stolen funds from him.Swiss newspaper, Le Temps, reports that Abba was not in court because he did not apply for a visa in time. The report said his lawyer asked for an adjournment to enable him to be present.

The British Broadcasting Corporation reports that Swiss authorities pursued Abba for six years before extraditing him from Germany in 2005. He was finally convicted by a court in Geneva in November 2009.Abba was also convicted of being a member of a criminal organisation and given a suspended custodial sentence.He was also ordered to return $350m, which was collected with help from Luxembourg and the Bahamas.Le Temps reports that Swiss prosecutors alleged that Abba used false identities to open more than 30 bank accounts in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and the Bahamas.

The funds allegedly belonged to his late father and close relations.Over two billion Swiss francs were deposited in Switzerland.Switzerland began investigating the Abacha family in 1999 and has so far returned about $700m to Nigeria. The former head of state, who died in June 1998, is believed to have stolen $2.2bn in public funds, which he stashed in various banks around the world.Since 1999, Switzerland has restored over $600m to Nigeria.Le Temps reports that members of the Abacha family used various means to move public funds out of Nigeria.

Next Newspapers have just printed Goodluck Jonathan has declared his interest to run for the 2011 presidential elections.

Cairo Ojougboh, the president’s special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, made the revelation on Wednesday while briefing journalists in Abuja.

“Mr President is a PDP president and he is a member of PDP, and Mr President will run under the PDP,” Mr Ojougboh said.

He, however, added that despite the zoning policy of the party, President Jonathan will run and they are certain he will win.

“There is no moral justification to ask Jonathan not to run,” he said..

More to follow

A Libyan Airbus crashed when trying to land at Tripoli airport early on Wednesday, killing 103 passengers and crew aboard, but a Dutch child survived, Libyan officials said.

Libya's Afriqiyah airline said it operated the plane, which was flying from Johannesburg in South Africa to Tripoli. Planemaker Airbus said the jet was an A330-200 and the firm would help authorities with their investigation..

"All of the passengers and crew died except for one child," a Libyan security source told Reuters at Tripoli airport. "There were 93 passengers and 11 crew on board."

Libya's Transport Minister Mohamed Zidan said the 10-year-old child, who holds a Dutch passport, was in hospital.

The child did not have life-threatening injuries, the minister told a news conference near the crash site.

The casualties included 22 Libyans, including passengers and crew, and the rest were of various nationalities, a Libyan official at the airport said.

In a statement posted on its website, Afriqiyah Airways said its flight 8U771 had an accident during landing at Tripoli International airport. An airport official said the plane crashed at 6.10 a.m. local time (0410 GMT).

Airbus issued a statement confirming it had manufactured the plane involved in the crash. "Airbus will provide full technical assistance to the authorities responsible for the investigation into the accident," it said.

A South African foreign ministry spokeswoman said the plane had left Johannesburg en route to Libya the previous evening.

Girl frozen in time may hold key to ageing

American scientists are keenly studying the DNA of a 17-year-old girl who still has the body and behaviour of a baby

This 21'st century Peter Pan has defied scientists .A genetic condition (Anageria) opposite to progeria which some speculate Paris Hilton and many other women and MEN will kill for ! Brooke Greenberg is a miracle.

Scientists are hoping to gain new insights into the mysteries of ageing by sequencing the genome of a 17-year-old girl who has the body and behaviour of a tiny toddler.

PHOTO:Brooke Greenberg "baby", then aged 9, with sister Carly who was 6

Brooke Greenberg is old enough to drive a car and next year will be old enough to vote — but at 16lb in weight and just 30in tall, she is still the size of a one-year-old.

Until recently she had been regarded as a medical oddity but a preliminary study of her DNA has suggested her failure to grow could be linked to defects in the genes that make the rest of humanity grow old.

If confirmed, the research could give scientists a fresh understanding of ageing and even suggest new therapies for diseases linked to old age.

“We think that Brooke’s condition presents us with a unique opportunity to understand the process of ageing,” said Richard Walker, a professor at the University of South Florida School of Medicine, who is leading the research team.

“We think that she has a mutation in the genes that control her ageing and development so that she appears to have been frozen in time.

“If we can compare her genome to the normal version then we might be able to find those genes and see exactly what they do and how to control them.”

Such research will be the focus of a conference at the Royal Society in London this week to be attended by some of the world’s leading age researchers.

It follows a series of scientific breakthroughs showing that the life span of many animals can be dramatically extended by making minute changes in single genes.

The work began with tiny worms known as C elegans, which normally live for only about a fortnight. Researchers have been able to extend their life span by up to 10 weeks by making small changes in certain genes.

Scientists have gone on to discover that mutating the same genes in mice had the same effect.

“Mice are genetically very close to humans,” said Cynthia Kenyon, professor of biochemistry at the University of California, San Francisco, who is a key speaker at the Royal Society.

“The implication is that ageing is controlled by a relatively small number of genes and that we might be able to target these with new therapies that would improve the quality and length of human life.”

The laboratory findings have been supported by research into humans, focusing on families whose members are long-lived. In one recent study Eline Slagboom, professor of molecular epidemiology at Leiden University, Holland, collected data on 30,500 people in 500 long-lived families to find the metabolic and genetic factors that make them special.

“Such people simply age slower than the rest of us,” she said. “Their skin is better, they have less risk of diseases of old age like diabetes, heart disease and hypertension and their ability to metabolise lipids and other nutrients is better. The question is: what is controlling all these different manifestations of slow ageing?

“So far, the evidence suggests that there could be just a few key genes in charge of it all. If we can find out where they are and how they work, it opens the way to new therapies against the diseases of ageing that could work in all of us.”

Walker and other researchers, including Kenyon, believe that finding the cause of Brooke Greenberg’s condition could be one way to pinpoint some of those genes.

Superficially, Brooke, who lives with her parents Howard and Melanie Greenberg and her three sisters in Reisterstown, a Baltimore suburb, is frozen in time. She looks and acts as if she were a small toddler — for 17 years her family has changed her nappies, rocked her to sleep and given her cuddles.

Brooke has shown some development, including crawling, smiling and giggling when tickled but she has never learnt to speak and still has her infant teeth.

But she has also suffered a succession of life-threatening health problems, including strokes, seizures, ulcers and breathing difficulties — almost as if she were growing old despite not growing up.

Howard Greenberg, Brooke's father, said he wanted the genome research carried out in the hope it might help others.

He said: "Brooke is just a wonderful child. She is very pure. She still babbles just like a 6 month old baby but she still communicates and we always know just what she means."

Walker and his colleagues, who are working with Brooke’s parents to ensure she benefits from any research findings, have just published a research paper which suggests that in reality some parts of her body have indeed aged — but slowly and all at different rates.

“Our hypothesis is that she is suffering from damage in the gene or genes that co-ordinate the way the body develops and ages,” he said.

“If we can use her DNA to find that mutant gene then we can test it in laboratory animals to see if we can switch if off and slow down the ageing process at will.

“Just possibly it could give us an opportunity to answer the question of why we are mortal.”

Jerly Lyngdoh: World’s oldest baby:

Surgeons and pediatricians in India have been puzzled after discovering a 26-year-old man trapped inside the body and mind of a child aged between one and two years.Jerly Lyngdoh – who is still dressed in baby clothes by his parents – has a head circumference that babies 9-12 months old have, measures 84 cm like any two-year-old and weighs 22 pounds.

“Jerly’s infantile features are remarkable, and the only things he shares with an adult are his teeth,” Dr. J. Ryndong told the Hindustan Times.

According to the pediatrician, Lyngdoh suffers from poor secretion of growth hormones from the pituitary gland.

“His is a case opposite to progeria, which means advanced ageing, and we have reasons to say Jerly is a rarity,” Ryndong added. He ruled out the genetic factor, since all six of Jerly’s siblings have no physical or mental disability.

“We also plan to seek expertise from the medical world beyond to crack Jerly’s case,” the doctor said.

Chuka Umunna "humbled" by Streatham victory .Once hailed as the UK young Obama and one of the top ten black Politicians in the UK The Boy wonder has finally done it calling it a humbling experience .With the UK Election in a Hung Parliament and Gordon Brown still holding on .We Congratulate Mr Umunna for a Landmark achievement.

Mr Umunna, standing for the first time, took the seat with a 3259-vote majority.

He hauled a massive 20,037 votes, beating his nearest rival, Lib Dem candidate Chris Nicholson, who received 16,778 votes.

He called the victory “a quite extraordinary night”.

He said: “I was born and bred in this constituency and the fact so many of my neighbours,
close friends and people I know in the community and that I am tasked to
represent them is something that makes me deeply humbled.

“I know our party will do everything we can for the residents of this fantastic place.”

Mr Umunna has ensured the seat remains in Labour hands after Keith Hill MP stepped
down this election after 18 years in the job.

He became the second Nigerian leader to die of natural causes while in office, as the late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, who died on June 8, 1998. Other Nigerian leaders who had died in office were Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa Maj.-Gen. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi and Gen. Murtala Muhammed. They were killed during attempts to overthrow their governments in 1966 and 1976 respectively.

Presidential Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, told The Associated Press that Yar’Adua died at 9pm on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, with his wife, Turai, at his side. Adeniyi, whose voice cracked with emotion as he spoke did not give a cause of death.

By virtue of Section 146 of the 1999 Constitution, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan automatically becomes the President. It reads, ”The Vice-President shall hold the office of President if the office of President becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the President from office for any other reason in accordance with section 143 of this Constitution.”

THE PUNCH learnt that news of Yar‘Adua‘s death first filtered out shortly after he breathed his last when some presidential aides briefed Jonathan and the National Security Adviser, Lt.-Gen. Aliyu Gusau (retd.), about his death.

The Federal Governmment immediately declared today as a public holiday. It also declared seven days of mourning, during which flags will fly at half-mast.

Yar’Adua spent much of his time as the governor of Katsina State (1999-2007) battling a kidney-related ailment. But his supporters he claimed had recovered sufficiently to contest the 2007 presidential election, after he got a kidney transplant.

At a point during his tenure as governor, Yar‘Adua spent six months at a stretch in a German hospital. But not long after he won the presidential election and was inaugurated, his health failed and he had to be flown abroad on a few occasions for treatment.

Although the exact nature of Yar‘Adua‘s frequent illness was never truly known, as his medical trips abroad were always shrouded in secrecy, the Presidency gave an indication of the nature of the sickness after he was flown to Saudi Arabia on November 23, 2009 for medical treatment.

His personal physician, Dr. Salisu Banye, told newsmen on November 26 that Yar‘Adua was being treated for acute pericarditis, an inflamation of the membrane surrounding the heart.

However, Saharareporters, an online medium, had, in a series of reports, insisted that the President suffered from the terminal Churg Strauss syndrome.

Last November, he was admitted to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he spent 93 days before being flown back to Nigeria under the cover of darkness.

After his return on February 23, he was kept incommunicado at the Presidential Villa and was shielded from his deputy. In fact, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation last month, Jonathan said the President‘s family was shielding Yar‘Adua from him.

He said he had only been able to meet with the President‘s wife while attempts to see Yar‘Adua and assess his condition were rebuffed.

Due to the uncertainty that surrounded Yar‘Adua‘s medical condition, the National Assembly on February 9, 2010 passed a resolution declaring Jonathan as the Acting President.

The news of the President‘s death immediately spread like wildfire across the country, with many Nigerians expressing shock and grief at the 58-year-old President‘s demise. Also, various cable channels across the world broadcast news breaks of Yar’Adua’s death intermittently.

Reactions started pouring in within a few hours of his death. Kwara State governor Bukola Saraki, who is also the chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, said, “As a Muslim, the first reaction is that everyone will pay the ultimate price and death will come when it will come. The passing on of the President at this point in time in our national history is not only tragic but devastating. It‘s indeed a colossal loss to the nation and Africa.”

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, in his tribute, wrote, “What passes for the Nigerian nation is nothing more than a tragic arena, and Yar‘Adua is only the latest tragic figure. The vampires, including those within his own family, turned him into a mere inert resource for their diabolical schemes.

“They have a reckoning with their conscience, assuming they know what the word means. One can only hope that, while mouthing sanctimonious platitudes such as ‘Power belongs to God,’ they have now learnt that the politics of Do-or-Die cannot guarantee who does and who dies. They must stop playing God. I pray for the repose of the soul of their latest, much abused innocent victim. Wole Soyinka.”

In his reaction, Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko described the President‘s transition as a sad loss to the nation. Mimiko, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Kolawole Olabisi, described the late President as an apostle of democracy, who maintained a firm belief in the Rule of Law and fairplay.

In his reaction, Kogi State Governor Ibrahim Idris said in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Richard Elesho, “We would like to keep our fingers crossed, taking into cognisance that the power of life and death are the in the hands of God. We have to accept it as the will of God. We condole with the family and pray God grants them the fortitude to bear the loss. The man suffered for so long. It’s indeed a big loss.”