Twelve years after the demise of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, former President Goodluck Jonathan has described the late ex-president as a patriot, a selfless leader and a peacemaker who governed with sincerity and passion for the people.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Jonathan made this known in a statement on Thursday, stressing that though “Yar’Adua is no longer with us today, …his strides in public life continue to testify for him and keep his memory alive”.
Jonathan wrote: “Twelve years ago, our nation lost a patriot, a selfless leader and a peacemaker who governed with sincerity and passion for the people.
“President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua is no longer with us today, but his strides in public life continue to testify for him and keep his memory alive.
“Like a good athlete, he ran with passion, kept the faith and finished the race. Today we can look back and say, as President he won laurels for us in terms of peace and other worthy causes he successfully pursued.
“He was a soldier of truth, committed to justice, equity and other democratic virtues. He was a servant leader and a good man; the type that is hard to find.
“He was my boss.
“President Yar’Adua, we remember you today and will continue to remember the good works that you did in our nation. Yours is a story of patriotism, a life well-lived in service to the people and humanity”.
TNG reports Yar’Adua was Nigeria’s President from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the presidential election held on 21 April 2007 and was sworn in on 29 May 2007.
He previously served as the Governor of Katsina from 1999 to 2007 and was a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
In 2009, Yar’Adua left for Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for pericarditis. He returned to Nigeria on 24 February 2010, where he died on 5 May.