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Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua Dies

   Scott Stearns | Abuja 05 May 2010
   Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua

Photo: AFP

   Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua (File)

   Nigerian  President  Umaru Yar'Adua has died on Wednesday after a long
   illness. The president's heart condition led to the appointment of his
   vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, as Nigeria's Acting President.
   Umaru  Musa  Yar'Adua  was  born  in  1951  to  a  prominent family in
   Nigeria's  northern  Muslim aristocracy. His farther was a minister in
   Nigeria's first republic.
   "He  brought  us up to believe in hard work, honesty, and discipline,"
   said Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
   That  pedigree  featured  prominently  in Mr. Yar'Adua's 2005 campaign
   video,  which  included  an  endorsement  by  then-President  Olusegun
   Obasanjo,  who  appointed Yar'Adua's older brother, Shehu, as a deputy
   when Obasanjo was Nigeria's military leader in the 1970s.
   "If  you  like,  you may say that they have a long tradition of public
   service, of decency in their family," said Olusegun Obasanjo.
   "Yar'Adua was groomed to provide leadership, nurtured in tradition but
   strengthened by his spirit and character," said a media announcer.
   "I  draw my inspiration from God," said Yar'Adua. "Like my late father
   told me, serving humanity is service to God."
   As an undergraduate at Nigeria's Ahmadu Bello University, Yar'Adua was
   a  self-described  Marxist.  He  lectured  in  chemistry  but said his
   interests reached beyond the laboratory.
   "I  was  interested in the development of my country, and that means I
   have to learn something about the economy of nations and the wealth of
   nations," he said.
   As  governor  of  Katsina  state,  Yar'Adua turned around a $3 million
   deficit.  He  improved roads and schools but fell short of promises to
   improve food and water supplies.
   It  was President Obasanjo who chose Mr. Yar'Adua to follow him on the
   ruling-party  ticket  in  2005.  But  there  were  concerns  about the
   candidate's  history  of  kidney  disease  - concerns  that only grew
   worse  when  he  left  for  medical  treatment  in  Germany during the
   campaign.
   The  party  tried  hard  to  reassure  voters  with video of a healthy
   candidate playing squash.
   "Humble,  thoughtful,  analytical,  determined,  a thriving, energetic
   leader,  he  plays  squash  for  1.5  hours  everyday,  and he does so
   vigorously, and this is somebody who spends 15 to 18 hours in office,"
   it said.
   "He  and  his  running  mate,  Goodluck  Jonathan, Governor of Bayelsa
   State,  comprise  a  unique  team  for  Nigeria  - a new generation of
   leaders," said one of Yar'Adua's aides.
   President Yar'Adua won a controversial election, promising to continue
   democratic  reforms,  a  vow  he  repeated  in  the  Oval  Office with
   then-U.S. President George W. Bush in 2007.
   "I  have  briefed  Mr.  President  on the situation in Nigeria, on our
   efforts  to  anchor  democracy  on  the rule of law to help a credible
   democratic  process  and  to ensure that the principles of justice and
   equity  will  guide the conduct of affairs in Nigeria -Â  transparency
   and accountability in the fight against corruption," he said.
   Mr. Bush said he was impressed.
   "The president is committed to democracy and rule of law," said George
   W.  Bush. "He is very articulate in his desire to make sure the people
   of   Nigeria  understand  that  their  government  will  be  fair  and
   transparent and will be a government of the people."
   President  Yar'Adua's  biggest challenge was ending a rebellion in the
   oil-rich  Niger  Delta which cut the country's petroleum production by
   nearly one-quarter since his taking office.
   Meeting  with  British  Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2008, President
   Yar'Adua promised to solve the problem politically, not militarily.
   "These decision which we have reached today will ensure that Nigeria's
   oil  production, and peace in the Niger Delta, and development efforts
   in  the  Niger  Delta  are  sorted  out and solved within the shortest
   possible time," said Umaru Yar'Adua/
   Thousands  of  former  fighters took advantage of President Yar'Adua's
   amnesty offer and oil production climbed slowly. But the peace process
   lost  momentum  when the president left for medical treatment in Saudi
   Arabia in November of 2009.
   He   was   suffering  from  an  acute  inflammation  of  the  membrane
   surrounding  his  heart.  But  the  president  did not formally notify
   lawmakers  of  his  departure, leading to a constitutional crisis that
   was  only solved by parliament making Vice President Goodluck Jonathan
   Nigeria's  acting  leader  more  than 70 days after President Yar'Adua
   left.
   He  eventually returned to Nigeria, but Mr. Yar'Adua never resumed the
   powers of the presidency.
   He is survived by nine children - five daughters and two sons with his
   first wife Turai - and two sons with his second-wife Hajiya Hauwa.

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