The former First Lady said her late husband never liked politics and only became president by destiny. Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua, the widow of the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, has opened up about her husband’s disposition towards politics and how fate decided to make him Nigerian president.
The former First Lady made the disclosure during a special interview with the BBC Hausa Service on the occasion of the 13th death anniversary of the late president.
Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, about three years into his reign as Nigeria’s 13th president. The election that brought him to power in 2007 was dubbed the most controversial in the democratic history of the country and even he admitted as much himself.
It was widely believed at the time that his predecessor, President Olusegun Obasanjo, single-handedly chose Yar’Adua to succeed him and he pulled all the stops to ensure his emergence.
Now, Turai has confirmed that notion by revealing that her husband never liked politics and never wanted to be president.
Yar’Adua came from a family with a rich political background as his father, Musa Yar’Adua, was a First Republic Federal Minister and a political powerbroker while his younger brother, Abdul Aziz Yar’Adua, is a senator-elect in Katsina State.
But surprisingly, his widow said the late President only became a politician by accident as he never wanted to join politics and the presidency only fell into his lap as predestined.
Turai said, “All his life, all he ever wanted was to be a teacher, come home from school, sit with his family, and crack jokes till dusk. He wanted no politics or governance but as Allah wills, he joined politics and became the president.”
On how she has been dealing with the absence of her husband, especially on the anniversaries of his death, she said: “I think about Yar’Adua every day, and it’s the same for me, anniversary or no anniversary – I think about him and miss him every single day.
“But I am happy on such anniversary days because the nation talks about him, and people across the country come together to say good things about him and pray for him. That truly gladdens my heart”.
Recalling the day he died, Turai narrates, “After he fell sick, I started fasting every day, and on that faithful May 5, 2010, at about iftaar time, I held his hands and told him, I am stepping out for iftar and he nodded.
“A few minutes into my iftaar somewhere close, I was called back and I came back and met him gone. I still think I shouldn’t have gone for that iftaar. I should have stayed.
“But I thank the Almighty Allah for honoring me with Yar’Adua as a husband. It is the biggest privilege of my life and I am forever grateful to have spent a reasonable part of my life with this honorable man.
“Yar’Adua is a very simple man. He is humble and down to earth; he almost doesn’t care about comfort or luxury. Even as a governor, I remember he wore a particular wristwatch for months until the leather of the watch tore up. Yar’Adua is like that.
“He is a very good family man and he treats me and the children like royalties. I remember my first trip after his death. I got to my destination and kept staring at my phone but there was no call from him or anyone to ask how I landed. I cried no end that night,” the widow explained.
On the family’s relationship with his political associates and friends after his death, Turai said, “I have a very cordial relationship with all of them; there is no problem at all. We hardly meet but when we do, we joke and respect each other a lot.”
The former First Lady also has some tips for Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on how she can successfully manage her husband when he’s eventually sworn in as the president.
“When some people realized how good my husband was and how much he wanted to develop the nation, they made me the scapegoat of the administration. Even when he was sick, I was attacked and all sorts of lies were said about me.
“Only a wife can tell her husband the truth; most people around the President tell him what he wants to hear. As a wife, first lady, and mother of the nation, you have to keep your husband on the path of development, growth, and selfless sacrifice,” she concluded.
