Lagos — Some people believe that presidential candidate of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua is too ill to steer the affairs of the nation. It's not true, says Yar'Adua, who added that he fainted only once throughout his over five decades on earth. The Katsina state governor spoke on this and many other issues recently in Lagos to a group of newsmen including Weekly Trust's reporter.
WT: How would you describe yourself?
Yar'Adua: Very interesting... You see when we were campaigning in Bauchi, Maiduguri, the governor's press secretary took such a long time - about 15 minutes - trying to define and describe me. Of course he said the normal things: the day I was born, the schools I attended, my qualifications, work experience, et cetera. Most of what he said was correct except for an impression I'd like to correct in the estimation of all Nigerians. I'd like to define myself in one sentence: I am a servant of God!
WT: How do you mean?
Yar'Adua: In his definition and description of me, he was 98 per cent correct, but there were some mistakes. But when I define myself as a servant of God, there is no mistake, one sentence answer, absolutely perfectly correct. The very essence of my existence is to serve God and humanity. I think people should know that you derive the greatest satisfaction from serving others rather than serving yourself. I would want more and more Nigerians to define themselves also in this light of service to the nation and service to humanity. That will exalt the concept of service to an extremely high level.
WT: What were your challenges as an adolescent?
Yar'Adua: My biggest self-imposed task was to do very well in school. I was exposed to great literature as well as great politics because I grew up in a politically active family. At that time, my kind of politics was revolutionary. Indeed as a sophomore in the university, I was so disgusted with the apartheid regime in South Africa, I wanted to go there and fight against it. Unfortunately then, I didn't know how to get to South Africa, but in my soul, I was greatly committed to the cause of the freedom fighters just from reading a lot of literature on the liberation struggles. So my first challenge was in school - to excel- and the second was on the world stage - to fight against oppression and bad governance. I was active in student activism and in the struggle for a progressive Nigeria. I am still very much inspired to do things right both in academics and politics, that is still my driving force.
WT: When did you get into active politics at the national level?
Yar'Adua: I had my first practical taste of national politics in the Second Republic and my sympathies then were with the People's Redemption Party. I wrote a poem entitled "What A Level did for me" because it was after my A Level that I started achieving a balance in my views about life. Although I am a devout Moslem, I recognised very early in life that Jesus did a lot for mankind, especially as represented in the things he preached. I realised that there were good and bad people in all creed, race and colour, whether black or white. Before then I used to think that all whites were symbols of oppression. Intellectually, my horizon widened and deepened very early in life.
WT: Are there any other profound insights that came with such a world outlook?
Yar'Adua: Yes, I realised that change isn't easy. It calls for patience, perseverance and hard work. I also realised that what you can achieve is always conditioned by your circumstances and environment, no matter how good you are or your intentions are or how hard you work. Any good leader must be aware of those circumstances. Otherwise if you push beyond the point your circumstances allow, you will crash because there are evil as well as good forces at play all the time. Recognising this and handling things right is all part of maturing.
WT: Did you ever suffer any near-death experience that has made you so profound in many things?
Yar'Adua: I have never suffered any near-death experience. In fact the only time I ever fainted was while I was in the Government College, Keffi. I was in Form 1 and I had very high fever. I had been bedridden a couple of days and on the day third when I tried to go to class like everyone else, somehow I collapsed, the college principal was called in and I just found myself waking up in hospital. That has happened only once in my life.
WT: How do you then react to speculations about your health being poor?
Yar'Adua: Such speculations in the media simply amuse me. It started in 2000 when I was a bit indisposed, went to the hospital, was treated and that was it. I mean, all normal people fall sick, get well and move on.
WT: So do you really play squash?
Yar'Adua: Well now that we are campaigning from state to state, there isn't anytime to play. But back in my state, Katsina, I play squash every evening to wind down and keep fit from about 8.00 pm till 12 midnight sometimes. I also play table tennis, lawn tennis, squash and fives, which is quite popular up north. You play fives by hitting a tennis ball with your palms around a court much similar to a squash court. You play lawn tennis by swinging and squash from the shoulder. So you see; I exercise my body all-round. Fives I have been playing since I was a kid. I took up tennis at Government College, Keffi. I started playing squash when I was the general manager of Sambo Farms in 1985 and then I gave up all the other games for squash.
I have never suffered any near-death experience. In fact the only time I ever fainted was while I was in the Government College, Keffi. I was in Form 1 and I had very high fever. I had been bedridden a couple of days and on the day third when I tried to go to class like everyone else, somehow I collapsed, the college principal was called in and I just found myself waking up in hospital. That has happened only once in my life.
WT: What exactly is your relationship with late General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua?
Yar'Adua: He was the first child of my mother and after him were three daughters before I was born as her next male child.
WT: Did your politics differ from his?
Yar'Adua: Not as such. When I joined the PRP in the Second Republic, he was the Chief of Staff to General Obasanjo and as such he was not a politician even though I knew he had sympathies for the NPN. I was lecturing in Zaria and was a card-carrying member of PRP. But I used to sit and discuss politics with him and we would both debate why one party was better than the other. We never quarrelled over such issues of politics. Our late father, Musa Yar'Adua, was one of those in the vanguard of the formation of NPN in the then Kaduna Central and he was the national vice-chairman of the NPN. My father was aware that while he was helping NPN, I was busy helping PRP. But that never led to any friction in our family.
WT: So how then did you both merge your political philosophies?
Yar'Adua: In 1987 when my brother started his own party politics, he invited me and together we started PF. His political philosophy was closer to that of PRP than NPN. We made PF the progressive party in the north. When only two parties were formed, SDP and NRC, my late brother took PF to join SDP, co-opting also PSP from the Southwest. This was the period when I became the most active in politics and we both played our politics the same way in the same party. From that time on, I never played politics different from my late brother, Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. Then I became the SDP gubernatorial candidate in Katsina state. I lost the election to NRC. Just two weeks to the election, my brother was arrested and you know what happened, especially until his untimely death. With my late brother and Baba (President Olusegun Obasanjo) in prison, I did not participate at all in Abacha's transition.
WT: As a scion of the popular Yar'Adua family, why did you study Chemistry and not Political Science, for instance?
Yar'Adua: I believe that has been my destiny. In Form IV, I joined the school cadets and together with two of my closest friends, we agreed that we would make the army our career. In Form V, I was introduced to Organic Chemistry and for me it was so exciting to study the bonding of atoms and other natural laws. My interest became so intense that I decided that the army was out and I preferred a career in Chemistry. I really thirsted for greater knowledge about nature and the forces around us. When I finished HSC, close family friends and elders wanted me to study medicine because I was more than qualified to do that. The only argument I had with my late brother was not about politics but academics. He thought I would do better in medicine, but I said no, I wanted my degrees in Chemistry and that I wanted to teach.
WT: With the benefit of hindsight, do you have any regrets about your choice?
Yar'Adua: This is one choice I have never regretted in my life; the thirst to study how nature works. It has broadened my horizon and guided my world outlook. If you listen to me and you find my thoughts and words deep, as you said, it is not because of any near-death experience, but the impact of my studies in Chemistry and Physics made my views and action so profound. Here we are on earth, only one of nine planets in the universe (though new studies are pointing at the existence of 11 planets in all) with a very small sun, which is a star. While our earth goes around the sun in one year, the moon goes round the earth in a month. The same sun has a galaxy it goes around once in 200 million years. The galaxy we belong to has over 100 billion stars - called the Milky Way - and each one has its own array of planets. Meanwhile there are over 200 billion galaxies in the universe. So when you look at this universe, where do you place yourself? I think we all should be humbled as human beings in the face of this staggering reality. Nobody should therefore think himself so important that he becomes arrogant when he compares himself to the rest of creation. Some stars that shine at night have been like that for more than fifteen billion years and for their light to shine towards us. The more knowledgeable you are about the nature of the universe and that of man, the more humble you become when you understand your place in the universe. So I am a totally humble man and consider myself greatly privileged to be where I am today. I owe it all to God.
WT: What would you consider your most significant achievement as the two-term governor of Katsina State?
Yar'Adua: I have demonstrated in Katsina that things can work. Now everything is working fairly well. If you are working for the state, you will get your salary at the right time. If you retire, you will get your gratuity, pension and all your entitlements. If you give notice of retirement today, a week before your final departure, you will receive a cheque for all your entitlements without lobbying or begging anybody. And the following month, you will start receiving your pension. So in Katsina, everything that a man is entitled to, we make sure he gets it on time. Contractors, suppliers and all those who go into a covenant with the Katsina State Government will testify that the state would always fulfil its own part of the agreement, precisely and exactly. Every project my administration started is virtually completed plus-minus 10 per cent. So the system is working and this is very significant. Now investors, business people have great confidence in the system that works in Katsina. Our government has absolute credibility and the people trust government.
WT: What does your leadership style portend for the nation?
Yar'Adua: It demonstrates that in order to really succeed, every government must be able to command moral authority by fulfilling all its covenants and agreements and contracts with the people. This has happened in Katsina State and by the special grace of God, if elected in April, we will make it happen also all over Nigeria from the centre by showing leadership by example. In Katsina we do not have any abandoned project because planning is very well done and payments are made by government on time.
Whatever we start, we finish! Ask a lot of banks in Nigeria, when they see evidence that your project contract is with the Katsina State Government, they quickly offer good funding for the project because they know that our government has integrity. Whereas with other state governments, they are reluctant to take the risk by approving loans for contractors working for such states. My greatest achievement as a governor therefore is to have restored confidence, integrity and trust between government and the people.
WT: So what distinction are you making between politics and morality?
Yar'Adua: Katsina State Government right now commands good moral authority and that is the only way you can govern effectively. Of course there is the political authority with which you can govern once you receive a mandate through an election you have won. But that is more often exercised through coercion and official muscle, whereas moral authority must be earned by a leader because it calls for a willingness by the people to submit themselves to your leadership without coercion. I believe nobody can effectively govern no matter the amount of political authority he has unless he cultivates moral authority.
WT: If you become president, how would you tackle problems of decayed public educational system, collapsed infrastructure, etc?
Yar'Adua: The reforms that are already taking place are geared towards permanent solutions to these problems and many more. You see, these problems take time to solve. The President Obasanjo-led government has already activated a project which we hope by the end of this year, when the gas project comes on stream, would cause to be generated additional 3000 megawatts of electricity. You see when this PDP-led government came into power in 1999, Nigeria was only generating 1500 megawatts with all the power generating machinery in the country virtually collapsed without proper maintenance. Honestly, it is a great feat that this administration has successfully salvaged the sector from collapsing. Not only that, it has increased power generation to about 3500 megawatts and according to laid down plans our country would soon be enjoying additional 5000 megawatts in no distant future.
WT: So why does it look like nobody is working and the nation is either retrogressing or is at a standstill?
Yar'Adua: You see the problem is that people think that problems can be solved magically. Power isn't generated by magic or just by saying "Let there be power!" These things take time. Now the federal government has signed a contract with the Chinese to generate 2000 megawatts of hydro-electric power from the Mambila Plateau worth $1.5 billion, which will take approximately four years to complete. So it can only come on stream to ease our power problems in 2011. These things take time and without constant power, it is very difficult to build a modern economy. We must be honest with ourselves because such contracts that would improve the well being of all Nigerians are being signed in virtually all the key sectors of the economy and it will take only a government that will earnestly ensure continuance of these projects for all of us to enjoy the dividends of enduring leadership. These achievements are phenomenal. It is just that too many people with loud voices like to condemn and condemn in order to undermine the achievements of this PDP-led government. But with patience, we will all get there.
WT: What are you telling people to be patient for?
Yar'Adua: PDP has a road map of reforms that provides lasting solutions to our country's fundamental problems. That is how nations are developed. Planning is long term. For instance the last significant investment in our railway system was in the early 60s when the rail network was extended around major parts of the country. That was well over 40 years ago. It is only this administration that has drawn a strategic plan to modernise and upgrade our railway to the standard gauge for the entire national network. This will be done in phases and it will take 25 years to complete. This is what we didn't do as a nation but this government is now doing. A standard rail system will not happen overnight like magic. That is not possible, but in 25 years, yes, we can do it. If in 1982, government had done this 25-year plan, by now we would have been enjoying an efficient mass transit system all over Nigeria. To correct the mistakes of our past and then put this nation on the path of true progress, it will take time and hard work. I will be honest with you, these major steps that this government has taken have never been taken in the history of this country. Yet these long term reforms - which are in the PDP manifesto - are the things that will build up this dear country and establish us on the path of true progress. Nigerians would not need to wait for too long. Within the next three to four years, these reforms will begin to yield great results. You see if you plant the seed of a mango tree, you don't immediately expect to harvest mango fruits. It takes time to mature and produce fruits. For too long, we have been on the wrong path as a country, but now things are improving. Let us sustain these reforms.
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'I'd love to teach again'
WT: With two brilliant academics like you and your running mate, Governor Goodluck Jonathan, in the presidency what wands would you be waving over the ailing educational sector?
Yar'Adua: I have been involved in the educational reforms in Katsina State and for the last seven and half years, I have been at it. So I know what is needed to revamp education across our great country. In most schools in Katsina there has been no major investment in education in the last 30 years or so until we came in. Existing facilities are completely dilapidated yet the number children that need education has really escalated.
We don't have a state university in Katsina, so my responsibility was mostly for primary and secondary schools where decaying facilities like classrooms meant for 40 students are being shared by as much as 250 to 350 students in some instances. No meaningful learning could go on in such an environment. Laboratories and workshops were none existent. The living conditions I saw in some boarding houses were unfit for human beings, yet a dormitory meant for 20 students would house 120 students.
WT: How did you approach the problem?
Yar'Adua: It took us the first four years to restore and upgrade the existing facilities, build laboratories and workshops where there were none. Gradually, we restored sanity in those schools and reduced the number of students per classroom to about 40. In some schools, we spent as much as N300 to 700 million for this cause of revamping education in Katsina; building new facilities where there were none, furnishing and equipping them. To complete this process and properly reposition education in Katsina, it would take the best part of another four years if this PDP style of governance is sustained. There are six core subject areas; Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, Mathematics and Geography where we needed 3000 teachers to drive our reforms. We looked everywhere, but we could only find 420 teachers. Now it means we need to set up a university to produce the kind of teachers we need in Katsina. The university just took off from its temporary site in January 2007 and we will complete its permanent site before the year ends, yet it will take at least five years for the first set of graduate teachers to emerge from the university. So you see, the education reforms which we started in Katsina in 1999 will take another 10 years to fully redress and establish the state on a sure path of educational progress.
WT: What kind of man would be governor of Katsina for eight years and all he wants to do is go back to school and teach?
Yar'Adua: Well, that's me. Going back into the academia would give me something to do what really satisfies me and there is nothing wrong with that. You see, once you are providing service the right way, it gives you satisfaction. Teaching gives me great pleasure. True governance is about serving others, not yourself and that I also derive in teaching.
WT: So what would you like to teach Nigerians?
Yar'Adua: I would like to teach them patience, perseverance and hard work.
WT: Many say the Obasanjo administration has given more to women empowerment than any other government has done. If you are voted into power, how would Nigerian women fare?
Yar'Adua: The effort to encourage women in governance has been on in the last six to seven years. The PDP manifesto already provides for 30 per cent participation of women in aspiring to elective positions in governance and political appointment and we will follow that to the letter.
WT: Why have you settled for only one wife when Islam allows you to marry up to four wives?
Yar'Adua: At one time I was married to two wives, but I later divorced the second one. Now I am married only to the first woman I married when I finished from the university. You see, although Islam allows a man to marry up to four wives, provided that you can be equitable to all the wives. If you fear that you cannot be equitable, then one is better for you.
