Nigeria Would Have Been Different If Yar’Adua Lived, Says Pat Utomi.

 

Professor of Political Economy, Pat Utomi, has said Nigeria would have been a “different place” if former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had lived longer.

Utomi made the comment during an interview programme, C-Suite Cafe, where he described Yar’Adua as a committed patriot who genuinely wanted to move the country forward.

Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, and was succeeded by his then Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan.

Recalling his relationship with the late president, Utomi said Yar’Adua once invited him to the Presidential Villa in an attempt to persuade him to join his cabinet as a minister.

According to him, he declined the offer, explaining that he believed he could make a greater impact by providing advice from outside government.

Utomi said Yar’Adua disagreed with his position and insisted that he could make a bigger difference by working from within the administration.

“Nigeria would have been a different place had Yar’Adua lived. He was really and truly a committed patriot as president,” Utomi said.

He acknowledged that Yar’Adua might have made mistakes while in office but maintained that the late president was determined to improve Nigeria.

The professor recalled that Yar’Adua spent considerable time trying to convince him to accept the ministerial appointment.

Utomi said he eventually told the former president that joining his cabinet would be difficult because he had already established what he described as a “shadow government”.

According to him, Yar’Adua offered to engage members of the group and encourage them to join his administration in a bid to work together for the country.

Utomi described the gesture as an example of the kind of leadership Nigeria needed.

He said he subsequently compiled a list of seven Nigerians from different parts of the country whom he believed had the capacity to contribute meaningfully to the administration.

He sent the list to Yar’Adua through Stephen Oronsaye, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

However, Utomi said Yar’Adua became ill around the same period and travelled abroad for treatment.

He later learnt that the late president never received the list and may have died believing that Utomi had rejected his invitation outright.

“Someone later told me that Yar’Adua did not get the list and that he must have died thinking he was snubbed,” Utomi said.