Citizen Season in Washington - Thisday

Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo
Lagos

The US, Washington and the White House featured prominently in Nigeria's presidential Matrix, beginning from last week. To experienced diplomats dealing with the US on this kind of visit is a piece of cake, but to the Nigerian foreign affairs officials, it was not an easy call. To be precise, before the president left Nigeria for Washington, his visit had assumed a life of its own. First, the grapevine became so busy anticipating the outcome of the visit that even the cloudy skies of Washington turned hazier on a week that was without doubt a Nigerian week. Earlier, the Delta Airlines had commenced a direct flight between Chicago and Lagos.

Nigerians already knew, with certainty that, the meeting would hover around AFRICOM. Until Yar'Adua left, there were talks of his refusal to visit the US. But he was committed against his will and he had to succumb. However, it was his foreign minister who, it is believed, was responsible for putting the meeting together, stanch him by assuring the US government that President Yar'Adua was excited about the arrangement. Yar'Adua on the other hand was said to have given-in to pressure from the hawks in his administration and reluctantly made the trip.

Although the foreign ministry denied this story, several things that took place during the visit indicated the contrary and confirmed the even sinister rumour that preceded the visit. First the shoddy arrangement in Washington depicted Nigeria as an unserious nation, one that could not even prepare adequately for its president's travels. If the president was visiting an inconsequential country, as if there was one, it would have been different, but he was visiting the US and was left at the mercy of people who are still wet behind the ears in diplomatic procedure.

It was no surprise that the occasion of Yar'Adua's first visit to the United States of America turned out the way it did. President Yar'Adua himself looked like a horse that was being forced to the river; distant, throughout the visit, presenting a picture of a bored and uninterested man who simply wants out. By the end of the occasion, the entire entourage was blaming each other. The first lady Turai Yar'Adua, saddened by how things turned out refused to attend the ceremony where the presidential couple was feted. Full Story