Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit
On Friday, a group of Nigerian expatriates gathered outside of the Nigerian Consulate in Midtown to protest the absence of the country's ill president.
In late November of 2009, President Umaru Yar'Adua went to Saudia Arabia for medical treatment and did not speak publicly about his absence until mid-January. Reports indicate that Mr. Yar'Adua suffers from a kidney ailment and heart disease. Last week Yar'Adua claimed in a phone interview with the BBC that he has been hospitalized in Saudi Arabia for two months and that he intends to return to his duties in Nigeria upon his release.
The Nigeria Democratic Liberty Forum -- the Amityville, New York based group which organized Friday's protest -- is attesting that that Yar'Adua left Nigeria without officially handing over power to the country's vice president. According to the group's chairman, Dr. Adegboyega Dada, the president has sent Nigeria into a state of political peril and unrest.
"Enough is enough. We are concerned about his health, but Nigeria has to move forward as a country. A lot of things are happening every week that need serious attention," stated Dr. Dada.
The Nigerian constitution provides for the succession of executive authority to the country's vice president. Attendees at Friday's protest said that the president's unwillingness to temporally suspend his power is indicative of the corruption that monopolizes Nigerian politics.
"They are completely handicapped. There is no government here," stated Esther Onooha as she pointed to the consulate on Second Avenue. "The government has taken everyone for granted, it has gotten out of hand."
Similar protests took place last week in London and Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria. The West African nation is the fifth largest oil supplier to the U.S. Home to 150 million people, Nigeria's population is the largest in Africa.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian national who allegedly attempted to bomb an airplane over Michigan on Christmas Day, brought Nigeria to the forefront of the American media cycle. The absence of President Yar'Adua and the lack of a Nigerian ambassador to the U.S. -- a position that was vacant for one year until the appointment of Adebowale Adefuye in January -- left Nigeria without an appropriate diplomatic voice in the aftermath of the Christmas Day incident.
The crowd at Friday's protest was fewer than 30 people who stood behind a green and white banner that read, "Enough is Enough." Several staffers from the Consulate came outside to observe the activities.
Sonala Olumhense, spoke at the protest and said, Friday's event was just the beginning of a larger movement. "We want to stimulate the consciousness of the average Nigerian, wherever he or she may be around the world...to see themselves as part of this very effort to insure that things change in Nigeria."