Nigerian president's health remains a mystery

Umaru Yar'Adua has not addressed the public since November. Aides say he's fine, but his political rivals are suspicious, and the West fears the crisis could destabilize the oil-rich country.
March 04, 2010|By Robyn Dixon

Joedson Alves / AFP/Getty ImagesReporting from Kano, Nigeria — Nigeria's ailing president may still be flat on his back in the ambulance that rushed him from the airport to his residence after his secretive return last week from Saudi Arabia, where he was treated for heart-related health issues.

Or sitting in a hard-backed chair in his official residence, while nieces, nephews and grandchildren tear up and down the stairs. Or working out daily on an exercise bike and walking up and down stairs.

Any of the scenarios, reported by Nigerian newspapers or by President Umaru Yar'Adua's supporters, could be true, false or somewhere between, but they're all that Nigerians have to go on: The president has not addressed the public since he left the country for treatment in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, for pericarditis, inflammation of the lining around the heart, in November, not even after he returned Feb. 24.