If Mr. President dies, what happens? The Igbo nation of present day south-eastern Nigeria have an ancient adage which states: ‘onwu si, ekwumela uka, aghakwalaya’ which translates to: ‘death says, in any discussions, do not neglect it. This adage expresses the transient nature of life. Life is but like a lit candle in the wind – it can be snuffed out at the slightest flicker....Even as I write this piece, I realize that if I suddenly had a tweak in my heart, and being all alone in the office presently, no one would be able to call for assistance, and the heart attack I may have, may be my way out of the present dispensation. Such eventuality would certainly be a source of great sorrow to some, whilst to others, particularly the kleptocrats (and their cronies) who are robbing Nigeria blind, it will be a good reason to pop several bottles of exotic wines, bought with looted funds, in celebration thereof.... When on the 6th day of April 1994, the then Rwandan President, Juvenal Habyarimana, was killed in a plane crash alongside his Burundian counterpart, Cyprian Ntayamira and eight other persons, the mere ‘accidental’ death was to mark the beginning of one of the most vicious orgies of mass killings man-kind has ever witnessed. By the time the Rwanda genocide ended, over 800,000 people or a full one-tenth of the Rwandan population had been annihilated. Despite similar ethic demographics in Burundi, the people of Burundi were able to contain reactions to the death of their president, and the killings did not spill over across the border from Rwanda..... Whilst one continues to wish that President Goodluck Jonathan lives long enough to see his 100th birthday and beyond, with the posturing of various ethno-religious militias in Nigeria in the course of the past few months, the multiple killings taking place in the northern fringes of Nigeria and the threats emanating from all corners of the Nigerian contraption, one cannot but wonder what will befall the country in the event of the death of the President....contd. at: If Mr. President dies, what happens?
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 07:31:29 +0000