President, Acting President, Vice President or No President?

“Nigeria's deputy leader Goodluck Jonathan is still the country's acting president while Umaru Yar'Adua is sick, the information minister has said”. The BBC Online News headline is one of such headlines accessed via mobile phone to check the latest twist in Nigeria’s leadership saga.

Information minister Dora Akunyili was speaking following confusion over who was really in charge after President Yar'Adua unexpectedly returned home at 0200 local time on 23rd February. President Yar’Adua had been out of Nigeria for more than 90 days. He was away in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment after his health had taken a turn for the worse since his last hospitalisation in Germany some three years ago. Yar’Adua has a history of kidney problem but this time around it had reached the level of heart complication. It’s called pericarditis.

Yar’Adua left Nigeria on 23rd November without having fulfilled the expectation of a section of the country’s constitution, thus:

Section 145: “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.”

Political wranglings, manoeuvrings, intrigues and counter-intrigues somehow led to the emergence of Vice President Jonathan Goodluck as Acting President. If some thought the resolution-backed decision by the National Assembly which was seen as illegal by some – including members of the legal profession – was going to douse the tension, they were wrong. But anyhow temporary stability was restored, but only just!

Less than three weeks since his becoming Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, his supporters and some who refer to themselves as defenders of Nigeria’s democracy were back in the "shugabanci" wilderness. Hours after his "middle of the night" return, a statement from the office of President Yar’Adua referred to Mr Jonathan as “Vice President”. A couple of hours later a statement from the Mr Jonathan referred to him as “Acting President”!

“That’s it”, concluded pundits. The showdown had begun. Nigeria is back to square one...in the torrential downpour of political schism. Who is what?

President, Acting President, Vice President or No President?

Progressively Nigeria is heading toward – excuse me, I never said "failed State" but only – an http address: confused.com!

The good thing is, armed with an internet-enabled mobile phone I can access all the twists, turns and twirls. Indeed I have found myself constantly checking the latest development of this extraordinary "inspector Poirot" style drama since it began more than 3 months ago. Thanks to the mobile world wide wide, I can twitter, blog, facebook, podcast, bbchausa.com around the clock!

Oh, lest I forget:
Don’t miss the BBC’s major season exploring the extraordinary power of the internet from 8th – 21st March 2010

For more information visit: http://bbcsuperpower.com/