Nigerian President Yar'Adua is dead

[Infinite Chaos]

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has died at his presidential villa, state television announced.
A presidential aide and the information minister confirmed his death. Mr Yar'Adua, 58, who became president in 2007, had been ill for some time.
The government announced seven days of national mourning and said the president would be buried on Thursday.
BBC: Africa

Analysis
Martin Plaut, BBC World Service Africa editor
The uncertainty at the heart of Nigeria has been tremendously destabilising.
There has been considerable unrest in the central state of Jos recently with clashes between Muslims and Christians, and people put this down partly at least to the fact that there was not a firm hand at the centre of power.
Goodluck Jonathan is already exercising control. He will take over.
But this does cause difficulties because there is a convention that this was the turn of the Nigerian Muslims from the north to control Nigeria and Goodluck Jonathan is from the south.
He will be taking over during the turn of the Nigerian northerners, the Muslims, to control Nigeria.

The emboldened bit in Plaut's analysis is the bit that worries me - as does the continued Muslim vs Christian unrest and conflict in Jos where I stayed.

The "convention" of taking turns running the country has always been undemocratic as was the often unspoken convention that a Christian President could never be elected in Nigeria.

He was reached the office as an interim caretaker (seems to have had this role throughout his career) but I see problems ahead from the Northern Muslims if he contests (or wins) the next Presidential elections.

 

[Degreez]

Rest In Peace

 

[cpwill]

President Yar'Adua himself took over from a Christian; Goodluck is just early. He's also not incredibly personally powerful; I'm betting Obasanjo's holdovers are still the power brokers there.

 

[bhkad]

Goodluck Jonathan is already exercising control. He will take over.

Goodluck, Jonathan!

 

[Infinite Chaos]

Death of Nigerian leader exposes 'sham' democracy
The death last week of the Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has exposed popular anger over the nature of the country's power politics - and, according to one political scientist, revealed the country's democratic credentials to be a "sham".

Since the return of civilian rule in 1999, the ruling and dominant People's Democratic Party (PDP) has sought to rotate, or "zone" the office of president between the overwhelmingly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south.

Under this plan, the Mr Yar'Adua was supposed to be the northern president who would follow the two terms (1999-2007) served by the southerner Olusegun Obasanjo.

But fate dealt the plan a blow with Mr Yar'Adua's death from a long illness - and the subsequent accession to the presidency of another southerner, the former Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan.

The handover to President Jonathan was entirely peaceful, legal and constitutional.

But it has broken the deal planned by the godfathers of the powerful PDP. So some northern leaders are complaining that President Jonathan should not seek to stand as the PDP candidate in elections next year.

BBC: Africa Pages

Money will still change hands in dirty deals, corruption will remain endemic and angered feelings will be smoothed by bribes.

So I waka waka waka
*[CHORUS] WAKA WAKA WAKA- [AFTER EACH LINE]
I go many places
I go business places
And I see, see, see
All the bad, bad, bad things
Dem dey do, do, do
Call corruption
And dey call “nepotism”
Inside promotions
And inside all business
I say I waka waka waka
I see, see, see
*[CHORUS] WAKA WAKA WAKA

So I waka-waka-waka-waka-waka-waka-waka
(HORNS Short response)

I waka any business anywhere in Africa
I waka any business anywhere in Africa
North and South dem get dem policies
One Christian and the other one, Muslim
Anywhere the Muslims dem dey reign
Na senior Allaha-ji na ‘im be director
Anywhere the Christians dem dey reign
Na the best friend to Bishop na ‘im be director

Ah, for the commentary only Fela Kuti could have delivered on Nigeria's shame.