Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has expressed that the death of Hajiya Dada Yar’Adua, mother of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, is a personal loss for him, emphasizing that she played a significant role in shaping who he is today.
Jonathan made this statement during a condolence visit to the Yar’adua family in Katsina on September 7.
This woman technically made me who I am”. Her death is really touching to me. It was her son who brought me as his running mate and without this woman, you wouldn’t have known my name. So she was like my mother and this is like the death of my mother. It is a very sad moment for all of us. I travelled on Monday because I was going to Kigali. When I arrived at Adiss Ababa, our head of mission there told me about the sad news. On behalf of myself, my team, my community and my state, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the Yar’Adua family and indeed to the good people of Katsina State. She was a mother that we lost, but Allah has blessed her. To live that long shows that Allah has accepted her. She was a good woman, she was a blessed woman, she brought children that contributed significantly to the development of our great nation,” Jonathan said
Jonathan assumed the presidency in May 2010 following the death of Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
The late Hajiya Dada was also the mother of the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and Senator Abdul Aziz Musa Yar’Adua, who represents Katsina Central Constituency and serves as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army. She passed away after a brief illness at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Katsina on Monday, September 2.
She has been laid to rest according to Islamic customs.