By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
It was a heartfelt pouring out of emotions on Tuesday by various leaders as Nigerians marked the tenth anniversary of the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Nigeria’s 13th president.
Yar’Adua who assumed office as Nigeria’s fourth democratically elected leader on May 29, 2007 died on May 5, 2010 at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
Yar’Adua’s successor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, said his late boss was a man with an accommodating spirit and enormous goodwill who built bridges of hope, love and understanding among Nigerians.
In the same vein, former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, a close political ally of the late president, said he would be remembered forever as a ‘gentleman president’ and as an ‘intellectual.’
Jonathan who was Yar’Adua’s deputy in a special tribute on his Facebook page on Tuesday described his late boss as one who lived and died for his country.
Jonathan said Yar’Adua stood out in many ways, describing him as the best President Nigeria has ever had.
“It has been a decade since His Excellency President Umar Musa Yar’Adua was snatched by the cold hands of death. On this day, every year, his image fills our consciousness as a mark of his selflessness, typical modesty and exceptional flair,” Jonathan wrote.
“He was a President like no other who lived and died for the sake of his country. He stood on the side of the people, toiling day and night to make their lives better.
“President Yar’Adua built strong bridges of hope, love and understanding for which he became a force for national unity and positive change across our blessed land.
“In many ways, he stood out. He had an accommodating spirit and enormous goodwill that secreted a web around our national fault lines to strengthen the bond; thus leaving for his successors the task of reinforcing the band.
“President Yar’Adua no doubt left enduring legacies in his wholehearted devotion to the ideals of democracy, respect for peoples’ rights, freedoms and reason for living as well as a commitment to the rule of law and laws of equity and justice.
“I will continue to remember President Yar’Adua as a colleague and boss who became my brother and friend,” Jonthan, the first Nigerian president of Niger Delta extraction concluded.
Ibori, another strong Niger Delta political leader and a close political ally and friend of Yar’Adua, tweeted on Monday night in honour of the late president.
He wrote: “President Umar Musa Yar’Adua; 10 years in mind: Mr President, We remember you today… as an agent of change.
“You constituted a government of national unity. You gave opposition a sense of belonging and the latitude to vent.
“You cherished the independence the constitution guaranteed the other Arms of Government. You were wholeheartedly committed to electoral reforms.
“You exhibited in the exercise of power the knowledge that it flows from the electorate and must not be used recklessly.
“You granted amnesty to the Militants in the Niger Delta region. You strengthened our hands to negotiate peace.
“We will forever remember you in the Niger Delta. Nigeria will forever remember you as a gentleman President and an intellectual.”
Ibori further thanked Yar’Adua for his “impactful and exemplary service” and prayed Allah to “forgive your shortcomings, ease your account before Him, and admit you to Al-Jannah Firdaus.”