EncyclopediaYar'Adua, Umaru Musa
Yar'Adua, Umaru Musa (OOmä'rOO mOO'sä yär ädOO'ä) [key], Nigerian politician, president of Nigeria (2007–). Born into a family active in Nigerian political and military affairs, he was trained as a chemist at Ahmadu Bello Univ., Zello (B.Sc, 1975; M.Sc. 1980). He then taught chemistry and later managed (1983–89) the large family farm. Yar'Adua entered political life in the late 1970s as a member of the leftist People's Redemption party and later joined the Social Democratic party. As a member of the People's Democratic party (PDP), he was elected governor of the state of Katsina in 1999 and reelected in 2003. During his tenure, the state saw economic gains as well as improvements in its medical system, agriculture, and electrification. It also adopted (2000) Islamic law (sharia). Yar'Adua, who had not previously been prominent in national Nigerian politics, became the PDP's presidential candidate in 2006 when President Olusegun Obasanjo engineered his selection. He won the presidency in 2007 after an election that was almost universally condemned as fraudulent. Despite that, his administration appeared, at least initially, to be marked by a greater respect for the law than his predecessor's.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
