SPECIAL REPORT ,IN LOVING MEMORY................. 20 YEARS AFTER THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF HIS HERO, ATIKU ABUBAKAR PAYS GLOWING TRIBUTE TO LATE LEGENDARY SHEHU MUSA YAR'ADUA
"In life he was a force to reckon with. In death his legacy remains a guidance to those who hold power and those who seek power."
Many years after he most pathetic and untimely death
of legendary Shehu Musa Yar'Adua (March 5 - 1943 -December 8 1997) his loving memories still continue to linger on
Today, as the world remembers him in death, one of his
faithful loyalist, Ex Vice-president Atiku Abubakar,Waziri Adamawa has sent in
a passionate remembrance note to his late Mentor
In a brief memorial message made available to WORLD
LEADERS, the Waziri
May Allah, The Oft-Forgiving, in HIS Bounty, keep you
in His lasting residence, where no toil nor sense of weariness shall touch you
Amin
-ATIKU ABUBAKAR & FAMILY
WAZIRI ADAMAWA
Shehu Musa Yar'Adua : A
PROLIFIC PROFILE
"In life he was a force to reckon with. In death
his legacy remains a guidance to those who hold power and those who seek
power."
Legendary Sir Shehu Musa Yar'Adua was born in Katsina on March 5, 1943 to the late
Mutawallin Katsina, Mallam Musa Yar'Adua, young Shehu was greatly influenced by
his father's own strength of character and capacity for leadership. A member of
the Katsina Emirate Council, Mallam Musa Yar'Adua was one of the leading lights
of Nigerian political development and a pillar of political wisdom. During the
first Republic, Mutawalli served as a Member of the House of Representatives,
Federal Minister for Establishment, Nigerianisation and Training and later as
Minister for Lagos Affairs.
Shehu Yar'Adua was educated at Katsina Provincial Secondary
School and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, U.K. He returned from Sandhurst
in 1964 as a young Second Lieutenant not long before the Nigerian Civil War
broke out. Major Yar'Adua's capture of Onitsha in 1967 is regarded as the
decisive battle which lead to the end of the bloody conflict that consumed
millions of lives.
The Civil War had a tremendous impact on Lt. Col. Shehu
Yar'Adua. Disheartened by the devastation he witnessed, he recongnised the
futility of disunity based on ethnicity, region or religion. He understood that
a united Nigeria was prerequisite for the nation's growth and development.
Colonel Shehu Yar'Adua served as Federal Commissioner of
Transport in 1976. As Commissioner, he was credited with establishing a
blueprint for the development of Nigeria 's transport sector as well as the
reorganisation and decongestion of the nation's ports. Upon the assassination
of the revered Head of State, Murtala Mohammed, in 1977, Shehu Yar'Adua was
named Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters and promoted to Major-General in the
Olesegun Obasanjo Administration. At just 36 years of age, he was the youngest
officer to hold that rank on the entire Continent.
Among many accomplishments, perhaps most significant was the
Administration's successful conducting of elections and historic hand over to
democratic rule in 1979. As the first military government to voluntarily hand
over power in Africa , General Obasanjo and General Yar'Adua recognized that
enthronement of democracy was the only way to ensure stability and social
harmony in the country.
Upon retirement, Yar'Adua joined the business world with a view
to providing important private sector services with partners and investors. He
established a publishing company, cultivated agricultural holdings, developed
manufacturing, oil service and shipping facilities and incorporated Habib
Nigeria Bank. He established the Islam in Africa Organisation and served as
Chairman of the National Mosque Committee where he oversaw the funding and
building of the National Mosque, Abuja.
In April 1978 he was honoured by Katsina people and turbaned as
Tafida, a traditional title he inherited from his father.
But the return of a military regime without commitment to
handing over to a democratically elected government led General Yar'Adua to
join politics. He was prepared to lead the political class through the familiar
antics and obstacles set by his former colleagues in uniform.
Shehu Yar'Adua was a gifted politician. His grassroots politics
were void of ethnic bias and religious or regional sentiment, His organisation,
whether PF or SDP or PDM, dominated the political landscape of the country,
breaking what he dubbed the “siege mentality” which had dogged politics since
1914.
His aspiration for the SDP Presidential ticket was inspired by a
desire to give this nation the committed and responsible leadership the country
so desperately desired and deserved. He advocated a new National Purpose which
was designed to enrich lives, inspire patriotic pride and serve the common good
of all.
As a Presidential candidate, Yar'Adua continued to break old
barriers, beating formidable home-based opponents and winning elections across
the nation to become his party's nominee. Just when he was poised to win his
party's presidential nomination, his election was annulled and he was banned
from further participation.
Without bitterness or rancour, General Yar'Adua devoted himself
to playing the role of advisor, mentor and counsellor through new rounds of
elections. He continued to steer the country toward democracy as the single
most influential politician in the country.
Always a courageous leader, Yar'Adua stood in the forefront of
those who demanded a timely hand over to democratically elected government.
Those who sought to perpetuate themselves in power plotted to arrest and jail
he and others in order to remove any obstacles that stood in their path.
Even when his death sentence was passed, Shehu Yar'Adua's spirit
and determination were not broken. From Kirikiri Prison in 1995, he wrote,
“Don't worry too much about me. It is the sacrifice some of us must make for
our country to be free.”
Shehu Musa Yar'Adua in Abakaliki Prison. The country lost a
gentleman and a hero, but the structures he built could not be destroyed. The
democracy we now enjoy is testimony to Shehu Yar'Adua's courage and leadership.
No doubt, "In life he was a force to reckon with. In death
his legacy remains a guidance to those who hold power and those who seek
power."
· *SPECIAL REPORT BY MIKE CERUTTI OSAGIE
Publisher /Editor In Chief
WORLD LEADERS ONLINE MAGAZINE
·
EMAIL: youngchief@yahoo.com
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234 7042631895
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