THE LIFE OF UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA SHOULD CHALLENGE BUHARI.

Late Yar'adua

Late President Umaru Yar'Adua was born Katsina State in 1951.
He started his primary education at Rafukka Primary School, Katsina in 1958. He left Rafukka for Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962 from where he completed his primary education in 1964.



Between 1965-1969, Umaru Yar’adua was at Government College, Keffi in present-day Nasarawa State for his secondary education. He then moved to the famous Barewa College Zaria for his Higher School Certificate between 1970-1971. For his university education, Yar’adua attended the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria from 1972-1975 where he obtained the B.Sc Education/Chemistry. He returned to the same University from 1978-1980 for his M.Sc Degree in Analytical Chemistry.
Umaru Yar’adua’s working career began at the Holy Child College, Lagos for the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) between 1975 and 1976. He was a Lecturer at the Katsina College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria between 1976 and 1979. He moved to Katsina Polytechnic, also as a Lecturer in 1979 and was there until 1983 when he left the public service.

Yar’adua’s movement to the private sector started at Sambo Farms Ltd in Funtua, Katsina State as its pioneer General Manager between 1983-1989. He served as a Board Member, Katsina State Farmers’ Supply Company between 1984-1985, Member Governing Council of both Katsina College of Arts, Science and Technology Zaria and Katsina Polytechnic between 1978-1983, Board Chairman of Katsina State Investment and Property Development Company (KIPDECO) between 1994-1996.

Umaru Yar’adua served as a Director of many companies, including Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd.
1995-1999; Lodigiani Nigeria Ltd. 1987-1999,
Hamada Holdings, 1983-1999; and Madara Ltd.Vom, Jos, 1987-1999.

He was Chairman, Nation House Press Ltd, Kaduna between 1995-1999.

He moved into politics, in the third republic. During his short time as president of Nigeria,  he achieved the following:

1. Yar'adua brought to end the militancy in the Niger Delta region when he invited the militants to Aso Rock and urged them to lay down their arms. He also kick-started the amnesty programme which re-absorbed the militants into the society and rehabilitated them ending the years of crisis in the region.
2. Yar'adua reversed the fraudulent sale of Nigeria's assets by the Olusegun Obasanjo government, which sold the assets to cronies of Obasanjo at give-away prices. The late
Nigerian leader discarded political loyalty for the sake of the nation and reversed the sales which could have mortgaged Nigeria's future into the hands of a few.
3. Yar'adua pioneered the policy of returning unspent funds to the national treasury at the end of the fiscal year. He is also the first president in the history of Nigeria to declare his assets before assuming office. These policies and actions endeared him to majority of Nigerians.
4. Yar'adua courageously released the N10 billion Lagos state local government council funds withheld by the Obasanjo administration because of political differences with then then governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
5. Yar'adua's government initiated the dredging of the River Niger bank, Abuja metro line, Abuja-Kaduna rail and the Abuja-Kano rail.
What a challenge to Buhari!