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Nigeria president Umaru Yar'Adua has died on Wednesday night at the age of 58. Under the terms of the constitution, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has been sworn in on Thursday morning as the new president.
Since his return to Nigeria from Saudi Arabia in February after months of treatment, Yar'Adua had not been seen in public, nor was any information released as to the state of his health.
But there was constant tension between his supporters and those of Jonathan. On March 17, Jonathan sacked the entire Yar'Adua-formed cabinet, and last month swore in his own team with less than half of its members drawn from the old government.
Reactions from world leaders are already pouring in. Barrack Obama expressed sadness, praising him as a man with a passionate belief in his nation's future. While Boni Yayi, president of neighbouring Benin said that he is very upset because his country has lost a great friend.
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I will do it after
I will do it after
Mixed feelings: Not one of grief nor sorrow, but relief and slight pity. Not that the man meant bad, but he couldn't have done any good (not the type needed for Nigeria) because he had a cabinet of monkeys and donkeys which the wife is head. Damn! his government was at snail speed, and so was his health. His wife, Turai owes Nigeria an apology for sacrilege, force imprisonment and murder. Shock? Well she's responsible for the man's death. Yar'adu got to a stage when he could no longer take decisions on his own because he was not aware of his own physical environment, so the wife remotely sat in his position and instead of let her husband honorably resign, she tried to bamboozle over 150 million people...(Don't point to Wilson Woodrow's wife here) because she was power crazy. As a south-southerner, I am happy that Jonathan has been made president by constitution. Although I cannot vouch for his political brilliance (of which luck has rather seen him climb the ladders) I think he shall deliver because he knows what's at stake......The main reason Yar'Adua was not allowed to resign was because there are a few monkeys who think that the country belongs to them and no south southerner can become president someday. God pass them
My reaction to Mr Yar'Adua's death was mixed: sorrow and relief. I was sad and sorry because I believed he was a man who meant well but was incapacitated by ill-health and selfish friends and family members. If Yar'Adua had resigned, say in 2008, the national goodwill he had would not have frittered away the way it did. On the other hand, I was relieved because the nation can now truly move forward. Goodluck Jonathan can now (hopefully) face up to governance without entertaining the fear that his boss might show up at the next Jumat service and in the office the following Monday. I truly hope we can now move forward.
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