By Akeem Oyetunji:

Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (1951 – 2010)

• FG declares one-week mourning
• Today is public holiday
• Who becomes Vice-President?
• Those who couldn’t ‘save’ Yar’Adua

AFTER 163 days on the sick bed, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died last night.
Yar’Adua, who was the country’s 13th Commander-in-Chief, lost his long battle with acute pericarditis about 9 p.m.

The death was confirmed by Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, about 11:20p.m yesterday.

He said that the President died in his Aso Rock Villa and would be buried in Katsina today.

The late Yar’Adua was with his wife, Turai, and two of his children when he passed on.

The Nigerian Compass learnt that trouble started about 4p.m.  yesterday when doctors attending to Yar’Adua started a spirited battle to save his life.

Then, movement of the Presidential guards was noticed shortly after amid a flurry of activities.

The doctors were reportedly flown in from Saudi Arabia on Saturday, when the President’s health started worsening.

A source at the villa said that at a point, one of the doctors said that the time was up.

They, however, continued to battle because they felt the President could still hold on for  a few hours longer.

Yar’Adua’s death has ended a seemingly endless political intrigue that began on November 23, 2009, when the President became ill and was flown to a hospital in Saudi Arabia where he spent three months before he was brought home on February 24.  The Federal Government yesterday declared a seven-day mourning.

A statement signed by Ima Niboro, spokesman of the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, also declared today a public holiday to mourn Yar’Adua. Jonathan  also cancelled his three-day official visit to Rivers State scheduled to begin today.

The statement reads: “As a mark of respect for our departed leader, the Acting President has cancelled all official engagements.

“He has also declared a national mourning for seven days. During this period, the Nigerian flag will fly at half mast.

“The remains of the President will be laid to rest in Katsina on Thursday, 6th May, 2010, at 2pm. Nigerians are to observe the day as a work free day.”

Early callers at the Presidential Villa last night were Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) and Chief Tony Anenih, former Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Reacting to the incident yesterday night, Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel commiserated with Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua and the entire nation and prayed that God would give all the fortitude to bear “this monumental loss”.

According to Daniel, the death was “a monumental loss at this critical time in our nation’s history. Yar’Adua was a humane and patriotic leader, who in spite of the challenges of his health, worked assiduously for the growth and development of Nigeria.”

He also prayed for the repose of the soul of the departed statesman.
Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola also described the death as a very painful national loss.

Oyinlola, while praying for the repose of the soul of the departed said Yar’Adua lived a godly life of a good Muslim and would be missed by the entire nation.

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