Nigeria would have been a different place if Yar’Adua had not died – Pat Utomi

Professor of political economy Pat Utomi says Nigeria would have been a “different place” if former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had not died in office. Speaking during an interview programme titled C-Suite Cafe, Utomi described Yar’Adua as a “committed patriot” who wanted to see Nigeria move forward.

Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, and was succeeded by his then vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan. Utomi recalled that Yar’Adua once invited him to the Presidential Villa in an attempt to persuade him to join his cabinet as a minister. According to Utomi, he told the late president that he would rather offer advice when consulted than serve as a minister.

Utomi said Yar’Adua, however, insisted that he could have a greater impact from within government. “Nigeria would have been a different place had Yar Adua lived. He was really and truly a committed patriot as president,” Utomi said.

“He may have made a mistake here and there but he was a committed patriot who wanted Nigeria to move forward. One Friday, he invited me over to the villa to try and persuade me to join his cabinet. We met in his office. He was in the meeting with the economic team. He made the pitch on why I should join his government. I said to him that the thing is not joining but impact and I don’t think I can have impact in this kind of PDP environment.

“The best I can do as a patriot is to give advice anytime of the day. He said that is not good enough, inside you can make a difference more than what you can say outside.” Utomi said that after several minutes of persuasion, he told Yar’Adua it would be difficult for him to join the cabinet after having formed what he described as a shadow government.

According to him, Yar’Adua offered to speak with members of the shadow government and persuade them to join his administration. “He said he was willing to talk to all of them and say to them that they can come and join his government to build the country together. That is a spirit of leadership that this country needs desperately,” Utomi said.

Utomi said he subsequently suggested giving Yar’Adua a list of seven people from across Nigeria whom he believed had the capacity to help move the country forward. “I went back and wrote the names of seven people across Nigeria who I thought have capacity and could make a difference,” he said.

Utomi said he sent the list to Yar’Adua through Stephen Oronsaye, a former head of the civil service of the federation. “I gave it to Steve Oronsaye to give him. He took ill around that time and went abroad. The rest is history.”

Utomi said he was later told that Yar’Adua did not receive the list and may have died believing that the professor had declined his invitation. “Someone later told me that Yar’Adua did not get the list and that he must have died thinking he was snubbed,” Utomi said.