Hajiya Turai and Hajiya
Hauwa Yar’Adua are
unhappy women. This is
because Nigeria has
forgotten the late former
president, like the dust and
silence of the upper shelf.
Turai’s heart bleeds like a
freshly bruised vein as you
read. And the reason is not
farfetched. Six years after
her beloved husband,
former President Umaru
Musa Yar’Adua, died after a
protracted ailment,
Nigerians seem to have
forgotten him. As the two
women in his life mark the
sixth anniversary of their
husband’s death, they
wonder if memories of
Yar’Adua and his legacies as
a former president and
governor of Katsina State
have eroded with the
passage of time.
Sources close to Hajia Turai
revealed that it was
heartrending for her to
note that memories of her
husband have faded from
the hearts of even his
trusted aides and political
associates while he was
Head of State. It was even
more heartbreaking to note
that no newspaper or
broadcast station
remembered the milestone
in the life of the Yar’Aduas.
There was no paid
advertorial in remembrance
of the late president who
was widely regarded as a
gentleman and
unpretentious statesman.
It was only the immediate
family members of the
former president who died
on May 5, 2010, that were
in London last week to hold
special prayers to mark the
sixth anniversary of his
demise. A source in the
family said they were led by
Yar’Adua’s widow, Hajiya
Turai and offered special
prayers for the repose of
the former Nigerian leader’s
soul. Yar’Adua’s former
wife, Hajiya Hauwa, who is
also in London, said they
also converged to
remember the former
president as part of
activities marking the
anniversary of his death.
