What if the president goes?

Umaru YarAduas ill-health is fuelling dangerous speculationIN AN office in Nigerias commercial capital, Lagos, economists scour the mornings newspapers for photographs of President Umaru YarAdua, hoping to divine a clue as to his well-being. The global financial crisis and the dive in the price of oil, Nigerias main export, are forcing the countrys businessmen and investors to rethink Nigerias hitherto unusually hopeful economic outlook. Ministers admit that Nigeria is in for a rough time. The prevailing view, however, is that it should be able to ride out the storm, provided there are no bad political squalls.But what if the long-ailing president were to die or leave office prematurely? Then, says Bismarck Rewane, a prominent financier, all bets are off. When the departing president, Olusegun Obasanjo, hand-picked Mr YarAdua in 2007 to succeed him, the new mans health immediately aroused concern. As governor of a remote northern state, Katsina, he set up a specialist unit in his local hospital to treat a chronic kidney ailment. On the campaign trail, his soft voice and persistent cough contrasted unfavourably with the rumbustious ways of Mr Obasanjo. ...