Utomi: Nigeria would have been different if Yar’Adua had lived

PROFESSOR of Political Economy, Pat Utomi, has said that Nigeria would have taken a different path if former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had lived longer and completed his tenure.

Utomi, speaking on the ‘Csuite Cafe’ interview programme, described Yar’Adua as a committed patriot who genuinely wanted to see the country progress.

Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, after which his then Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan, assumed the presidency.

According to Utomi, Yar’Adua once invited him to the Presidential Villa in an effort to convince him to join his cabinet as a minister.

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Utomi said he declined the offer, explaining that he believed he could contribute more effectively by providing advice from outside government whenever the president needed it.

However, he said Yar’Adua disagreed, arguing that joining the government would give him a greater opportunity to influence the country’s direction.

“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.”

Utomi recalled that Yar’Adua made the proposal during a meeting at the Presidential Villa while members of the economic team were present.

He said he told the president that his concern was not about holding office but making an impact, adding that he did not believe he could achieve that within the Peoples Democratic Party-led administration.

Utomi said he offered to remain available to advise the president whenever necessary, but Yar’Adua maintained that he could make a greater difference from within government.

After several minutes of discussion, Utomi said he told Yar’Adua that joining the cabinet would be difficult because he had already established what he described as a ‘shadow government.’

According to him, Yar’Adua offered to personally engage members of the group and persuade them to join his administration so they could work together to develop the country.

“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.

He subsequently proposed providing the president with the names of seven Nigerians he believed had the capacity to contribute meaningfully to the administration.

Utomi said he compiled the list and sent it to Yar’Adua through Stephen Oronsaye, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

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“I went back and wrote the names of seven people across Nigeria who I thought have capacity and could make a difference,” he said.

However, he said Oronsaye fell ill around that period and travelled abroad, leaving uncertainty over whether the list ever reached the president.

Utomi added that he was later informed that Yar’Adua might not have received the names and could have died believing that he had ignored his request to join the government.