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Yaradua will be out of country until Sunday. Waooh!!, thats a lot days off for a President of a country. Is there any shame at all? Imagine how much it will cost each time Nigeria's head of state is flown to Alien land for medical reasons- a lot and a slap on Nigerian medical students who must study in an Alien land to be reckoned with. Nigeria could spend billions of dollars to build state of the art hospital and save lots of money. What a country? and what a shame?
YARADUA ILL FLOWN TO ALIEN GERMANY By Ihuoma Chiedozie and Oscar Onwuemenyi, Abuja President Umaru Yar’Adua was on Monday flown to Germany following an undisclosed ailment.
His Special Adviser on Communications, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja, linked the sickness to an allergic reaction. “The President will leave for Wiesbaden, Germany later today (Monday) to see his private physicians for a medical review of an indisposition believed to be due to an allergic reaction,” Adeniyi said. Yar’Adua, who assented to the N2.7tn 2008 budget before the trip, is expected back in the country before Sunday. The President had on March 8, 2007 travelled to Germany for medical treatment during the peak of his electioneering. Yar’Adua was said to have collapsed during one of his campaign tours, and was rumoured to have a kidney problem. His personal physicians had complained then that the gruelling presidential campaign tours had obstructed his medical schedule and that he would need an opportunity to rest. Dispelling rumours concerning his ailment, the president had said then, from Germany, “I’m alive. I’m responding to treatment. I have a severe dose of catarrh which has made it difficult for me to breathe. “It is caused by strenuous campaign across the country. As a Muslim, death is inevitable; sickness is a different kettle of fish. Insha Allah, I shall return to Nigeria.” Our correspondent reported that the budget signing was devoid of the elaborate ceremony usually associated with it. It was witnessed by Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan; the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark; and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Usman Bayero Nafada. Adeniyi explained that during the occasion, the President said that he expected all agencies of the Federal Government to implement the budget with “the highest sense of responsibility and total deference to due process”. Adeniyi added that Yar’Adua pledged that every effort would be made to ensure that results that were commensurate with the resources provided were achieved with the 2008 budget. He said that the President was determined to fulfill his administration’s “promise of poverty alleviation and to pursue its seven-point agenda.” Adeniyi also refuted insinuations that the signing of the budget was shrouded in secrecy. “There is no secrecy. There is no law that says it (budget) must be signed in public or with a ceremony. He could have signed it and sent it to the National Assembly, just like any other bill,” he said. The Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Aderemi Babalola, who offered further insight into the budget said that an amendment bill is to be sent to the National Assembly in the next few days to correct some of the contentious issues raised by the President in the harmonised document from the lawmakers. Babalola described the passage of the budget, nearly six months after it was forwarded to the National Assembly as “the beauty of dialogue, democracy and consensus” between the executive and the legislature. Explaining the need for the amendment, he said, “Majorly in the area of new projects that have been added to the budget, we both agreed on how to go about it. Some of those projects will be taken out.” However, the minister hinted that some of the new projects deemed to be necessary could form part of a supplementary budget to be sent to the National Assembly by the President. Allaying fears that the late passage of the budget would have an adverse effect on its implementation, Babalola said, “The downside would not be as bad as expected.” According to him, the President’s assent to the budget will lead to an acceleration in the execution of capital projects by the ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government. “Many projects would be coming to the Federal Executive Council, and by November we will have had substantial implementation,” he said. As part of new measures to ensure effective budgetary implementation, Babalola said that by December, any ministry, department or agency that failed to fully implement the budget would be held accountable, and the concerned officials punished. He also said that the Federal Government would include shortfalls in the money released for the first quarter of the year while releasing funds for the second quarter. The minister added that the Federal Government would immediately begin planning the 2009 budget once it finalised the 2008 amendment bill. Highlighting the details of the 2008 budget, the minister said, “If you recall, the history of the budget started on November 8, 2007 when Mr. President presented N2.45tn budget with a make up of N636bn capital expenditure and N1.187tn recurrent expenditure. “On February 12, 2008, the National Assembly passed a bill of N2.898tn, which Mr. President considered a little bit too large for our fiscal restraint, and in consideration of that on March 13, 2008, the National Assembly returned an Appropriation bill of N2.748tn to Mr. President with break down of N860bn capital expenditure and N1.888tn recurrent expenditure. “That is the bill that has just been signed into law , therefore capital expenditure as at today is N860bn and recurrent expenditure is N1.888tn.” Meanwhile, Yar’Adua has said that the future of the country depended on a well-educated youths, with a passion for nation-building. Reaffirming his administration’s commitment to youth development, the President urged youths and youth organisations to support his administration. He spoke when he hosted a delegation of the Youths Mission and Initiative for African Development in Abuja. Yar’Adua was represented by the Minister of Labour, Dr. Hassan Mohammed Lawal.
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