Umaru Musa Yar'Adua

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 1951 – 5 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010.

He started his education at Rafukka Primary School in 1958, and moved to Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962.

He attended the Government College at Keffi from 1965 until 1969.

In 1971 he received a Higher School Certificate from Barewa College.

He attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria from 1972 to 1975, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Education and Chemistry, and then returned in 1978 to pursue a master's degree in Analytical Chemistry.

Yar'Adua married Turai Yar'Adua of Katsina state in 1975; they had seven children (five daughters and two sons) and several grandchildren.

Their daughter, Zainab, is married to the former Kebbi state governor, Usman Dakingari.

Another daughter, Nafisa is married to Isa Yuguda, a former governor of Bauchi state.

Her sister Maryam is married to Ibrahim Shema, Yar'Adua's successor as Katsina state governor.

Yar'Adua's first employment was at Holy Child College in Lagos (1975–76).

He later served as a lecturer at the College of Arts, Science, and Technology in Zaria, Kaduna state, between 1976 and 1979.

In 1979, he began working as a lecturer at College of Art Science, remaining in this position until 1983, when he began working in the corporate sector.

During the Second Republic (1979–83), Yar'Adua was a member of the leftist People's Redemption Party, while his father was briefly the National Vice Chairman of the National Party of Nigeria.

During the transition programme of General Ibrahim Babangida to the Third Republic, Yar'Adua was one of the foundation members of the Peoples Front of Nigeria with other members such as Atiku Abubakar, Baba Gana Kingibe, Bola Tinubu, Sabo Bakin Zuwo, Wada Abubakar, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Abubakar Koko and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a political association under the leadership of his elder brother, the late Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua.

That association later formed the Social Democratic Party.

Yar'Adua worked at Sambo Farms Ltd. in Funtua, Katsina state, as its pioneer General Manager, between 1983 and 1989.

He served as a board member of Katsina State Farmers' Supply Company between 1984 and 1985, Member of the Governing Council of Katsina College of Arts, Science and Technology Zaria and Katsina Polytechnic, between 1978 and 1983, board chairman of Katsina State Investment and Property Development Company between 1994 and 1996.

Yar'Adua was a member of the 1988 Constituent Assembly.

He was a member of the party's National Caucus and the Nigerian Social Democratic Party's (SDP) State Secretary in Katsina.

He contested for the governorship position in the 1991 election, but lost to Saidu Barda, the candidate of the National Republican Convention and an ally of Ibrahim Babangida.

Yar'Adua was also married to Hauwa Umar Radda from 1992 to 1997, and they had two children.

He also served as a director of many companies, including Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd, 1995–99; Lodigiani Nigeria Ltd., 1987–99, Hamada Holdings, 1983–99; and Madara Ltd., Vom, Jos, 1987–99.

He was Chairman of Nation House Press Ltd., Kaduna, from 1995 to 1999.

He previously served as the governor of Katsina State from 1999 to 2007; and was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In 1999, Yar'Adua won the Katsina state governorship election.

He was the first governor to publicly declare his assets.

Yar'Adua's administration saw various developments in the state.

Katsina became the fifth northern Nigerian state to adopt sharia, or Islamic law.

Education was prioritised and several schools were built in local areas.

Yar'Adua also delivered on his promise of running an efficient public administration, with corruption significantly hampered.

In 2003, he was re-elected for a second term in office and his successor was Ibrahim Shema.

Between 16–17 December 2006, Yar'Adua was chosen as the presidential candidate of the ruling People's Democratic Party for the April 2007 election, receiving 3,024 votes from party delegates; his closest rival, Rochas Okorocha, received 372 votes.

Yar'Adua's success in the primary election was attributed to the support of incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo; At the time of his nomination, he was an obscure figure on the national stage, and has been described as a "puppet" of Obasanjo, who could not have won the nomination under fair circumstances.

Shortly after his nomination, Yar'Adua chose Goodluck Jonathan, governor of Bayelsa state, as his vice-presidential candidate.

He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007.

In 2009, Yar'Adua left for Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for pericarditis.

He returned to Nigeria on 24 February 2010, but died on 5 May.

Yar'adua was born in Katsina state, Nigeria.

His father, Musa Yar'Adua, was a Minister for Lagos in the First Republic and held the chieftaincy title of Matawalle (custodian of the royal treasury) of the Katsina Emirate, a title which Yar'Adua inherited.

His paternal grandfather, Malam Umaru, had also held the title of Matawallen Katsina, while his paternal grandmother, Binta, a Fulani from the Sullubawa clan, was a princess of the Katsina Emirate and a sister of Emir Muhammadu Dikko.