THERE is no love lost between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the First Lady, Hajia Turai Umaru Yar'Adua. The gulf between the two preeminence citizens keeps widening every other day.
The once-upon a time chummy relationship between the former President and wife of the incumbent substantive president worsened as a result of the controversy surrounding Yar'Adua's ailment and Obasanjo's alleged Janus faced comments.

However, the most recent cause of friction is Obasanjo's alleged role in the nomination of Alhaji Murtala Yar'Adua for ministerial appointment in acting President Goodluck Jonathan's new cabinet. This perceived meddlesomeness is the threatening to tear entire Yar'Adua's family apart.
Murtala is the eldest son of President Umaru Yar'Adua's late elder brother, General Shehu Yar'Adua.

National Daily sources said that Turai and Murtala's section of the family have been quarreling over Turai's alleged maltreatment of Shehu's wife, Hajia Binta and her offsprings including Murtala, the ministerial nominee.

Turai was said to have hit the roof when she heard that Murtala has been nominated for ministerial appointment and that it was Obasanjo who recommended him to acting President Jonathan. Turai according to sources immediately set out to thwart Murtala's chances of scaling through the National Assembly and security hurdle.

“She contacted some influential politicians and northern leaders to pressurize Murtala to reject the offer” an informed source said.
Turai and pro-Yar'Adua group believe that the choice of Murtala was intended to further divide the Yar'Adua family and discourage any concerted agitation against alleged systematic dismantling of Umaru Yar'Adua's presidency.

“Turai also believe that Obasanjo and his allies wanted to spite her for perceived obstinate role in protecting her husband's presidency when he was on admission in a Saudi Arabian Hospital. She said that some people were not happy that she brought her husband back to Aso Rock.” Our source said.
It was learned that at the behest of Turai, certain Nigerians mounted pressure on Murtala to reject his nomination in the interest of family unity and his uncle, Umaru Yar'Adua's image.

But he was said to have remained recalcitrant saying instead that he cannot shirk his responsibility to his fatherland.
However, sources said Binta and her children were undaunted in their support for Murtala and have allegedly warned him not to capitulate to Turai and her cohort.

When Turai could not persuade Murtala to shun his nomination, she allegedly reached out to her mother in-law Hajia Habib Dada to call the “audacious young man to order”.

However Hajia Habib Dada was not swayed by the emotional issues that were raised by Turai through her emissary. She was said to have rather accused the First Lady of being the cause of the raging feud in the family. The old woman, our sources said, reasoned that Murtala is old enough to decide his preferences in life.

Another member of the Yar'Adua family, Alhaji Yusuf, allegedly advised Turai to calm down and allow the will of God to be done.
“However, the ministerial nominee (Murtala) shunned a pressure group led by a former minister, known to be very close to President Yar'Adua and some members of the family when they visited him to deliver the message from her sister-in-law to decline the offer of appointment by Jonathan.
“The ministerial nominee said he was not persuaded by the line of argument of the team that his appointment into Jonathan's government could create a wrong impression in the public that the Yar'Adua family had abandoned their son (President) and that the family had endorsed Jonathan presidency”, reports said.

The eldest son of the late Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, late Maj.-Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, told the team that he had accepted the offer and he had pledged his loyalty and support for the Acting President.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo reportedly influenced the nomination of Murtala, son of the late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, as minister.
Gen. Shehu Yar'Adua, who died in detention in 1997, was Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, when Obasanjo was military Head of State between 1976 and 1979.

The late general was the elder brother of President Umaru Yar'Adua. Sources said that Murtala Yar'Adua was nominated by the Presidency based on Obasanjo's recommendation, perhaps to weaken the Yar'Adua camp in the struggle for power.

His nomination allegedly caught the Yar'Adua family, Katsina Governor Ibrahim Shema and many political players in the state unawares.
The Presidency allegedly shopped for Murtala directly as part of its move to "divide the Yar'Adua group".

"Murtala Yar'Adua wasn't the choice of the state government at all. But it is evident that the Presidency opted for him for strategic reasons.
So, he is a product of high-wire politics and intrigues in the Presidency. Obasanjo, T.Y Danjuma, some members of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) and a few associates of the late Shehu Musa Yar'Adua designed the strategy to prove a point that Jonathan has nothing against the family.

"But the message is clear that the Presidency has adopted a divide-and-rule policy for the Yar'Adua family. It is like breaking the back of the camel.

Murtala is said to have a strained relationship with the President. I think it is a tactical strategy.

"The Acting President has fully taken charge of the reins of government and he is living up to the billing of a politician now."

The source, however, added: "I think Murtala Yar'Adua was not consulted by the Presidency before the appointment was made."
Apart from Murtala Yar'Adua, the Presidency went for some nominees who have an axe to grind with the President.
The Presidency went for Senator Bala Mohammed who is leading the National Interest Group in the Senate which worked for the actualisation of Jonathan's acting presidency.

Muhammed does not enjoy cordial relationship with Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, the President's son-in-law.
Others dropped in the past by President Yar'Adua and re-nominated by Jonathan are Senator Sanusi Daggash and Adamu Maina Waziri.
A member of the Yar'Adua family, who spoke in confidence, said: "You can see that there is mischief in the cabinet list. The choice of Murtala Yar'Adua is meant to cause rift in this family.

"Some of us are not happy with the choice of Murtala Yar'Adua because there is more to it than meet the eye." A member of the pro-Yar'Adua group said.

Murtala's paternal grand-father, Musa Yar'Adua, was the first of the Yar'Adua family of Katsina to embrace political limelight. Mallam Musa Yar'Adua served as a member of the House of Representatives, in the first Republic Federal Minister for Establishment, Nigerianisation and Training and later Minister for Lagos Affairs. He was a very influential member of the Tafawa Balewa administration. He held the title of Mutawallin Katsina, which made him a member of the Katsina Emirate Council. His eldest son, Shehu, was born in Katsina on March 5, 1943. The young Shehu was said to have been influenced by his father's strength of character and leadership. He was educated at Katsina Provincial Secondary School and a strategic decision was taken that he should join the military. So, he proceeded to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, U.K. He returned from Sandhurst in 1964 as a Second Lieutenant. Three years after he returned to Nigeria, the Nigerian Civil War broke out. By then, he had become a Major in the Nigerian Army. He is credited with the capture of Onitsha in 1967, a development said to have been central to ending the bloody conflict that consumed millions of lives.

He served as Federal Commissioner of Transport as a Colonel in 1976. The assassination of the then Head of State, Murtala Mohammed, in 1977, saw Shehu being named Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters. He was also promoted Major-General. He was just 36 years of age.
The Obasanjo/ Yar'Adua administration handed over power to the civilians. Thereafter, Shehu embraced business. He veered into publishing, farming, manufacturing, oil servicing, shipping and banking.

But the military soon staged a come-back and uprooted the civilian government put in place by the military regime. This made Shehu, who was in April 1978 made the Tafidan Katsina (custodian of the treasury), a traditional title he inherited from his father, embrace politics.
Under the transition programme of the military administration of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Shehu aspired to be president under the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). At that same time, his younger brother, Umaru, now Nigeria's ailing president, also wanted to be governor of Katsina State. But Shehu was said to have opposed this move. He was said to have told a team, which went to appeal to him to support his younger brother: "Who do you want me to put in Government House? Is it Turai or Umaru?'' Without his brother's support, Umaru did not win the party's primaries. He lost to Saidu Barda, the candidate of the National Republican Convention, NRC, who was an ally of Babangida. Shehu too was disqualified when it was almost clear that the ticket was his for picking. And later events threw up the late M.K.O Abiola as the presidential candidate of SDP.

The June 12 election won by Abiola was annulled by Babangida, who put in place an Interim National Government (ING) led by Chief Ernest Shonekan. The ING was later overthrown by the late Gen. Sani Abacha, who clamped Shehu into detention for allegedly plotting to overthrow his administration. Shehu died in Abakaliki prison where he was imprisoned.

The return to democratic rule in 1999 saw Umaru realising his ambition to rule Katsina, which Shehu was allegedly against in 1991. It also saw Obasanjo returning as civilian Head of State and President. For eight years, Umaru ruled the state, spending several months abroad treating kidney disease.

As his tenure was rounding up, Obasanjo, who his brother served as second-in-command, beckoned on him to come and be president. Stronger candidates were made to quit the race and support him. At the time of his nomination, he was an obscure figure on the national stage. He eventually emerged president, amid controversy over his health status, especially regarding whether or not he was strong enough to face the rigours of the office of president.

Umaru is the first ever university graduate to lead the country. He started his education at Rafukka Primary School in 1958, and moved to Dutsinma Boarding Primary School in 1962. He attended the Government College at Keffi from 1965 until 1969. By 1971, he had earned a Higher School Certificate from Barewa College and subsequently proceeded to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he was from 1972 to 1975. He obtained a BSc in Education and Chemistry. In 1978, he returned to ABU to bag an M.Sc Degree in Analytical Chemistry.

Umaru Yar'Adua was flown to Germany for medical treatment on March 6, 2007. This was during the presidential election campaigns. He returned and was sworn in. But not long after assuming office, he travelled overseas for treatment again. But the last straw that broke the camel's back was when he travelled to Saudi Arabia last November and stayed for 93 days. Even when he was reported to have returned to the country, he has not been seen in public.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. His deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, who was also taken away from his dream of running as Bayelsa State governor, has been pronounced Acting President by the National Assembly, which had to rely on the Doctrine of Necessity in the face of a constitutional confusion. Jonathan has gone ahead to make changes, which included disbanding Yar'Adua's ministers and in the process of constituting a new one.

In the making of the new cabinet, the intriguing Yar'Adua clan has featured again. This time also, Obasanjo, who in the height the Yar'Adua Presidency crisis advised him to resign, is also playing a major part. By his grace, Murtala, Shehu's first son who inherited Tafidan Katsina from his father, is set to become a minister. This has thrown the President Yar'Adua clan into confusion. A report indicated that Yar'Adua's nephew has been under pressure to reject his nomination as minister. Hawks loyal to the ailing President were said to have made attempts to persuade Murtala Yar'Adua, not to accept the offer of ministerial appointment from the Acting President.

Yar'Adua's wife, Hajia Turai, and some former ministers in the kitchen cabinet of the ailing president, said a source tried frantically to prevail on Murtala not to take up the appointment. They were said to have told Murtala that his nomination was aimed at causing disaffection within the Yar'Adua family and create the impression that the President had been abandoned by his kinsmen. But Murtala was said to have insisted there was no going back.

Murtala was not the choice of the state government. But it is evident that The Presidency opted for him for strategic reasons.
Really, these are not the best of times for the Yar'Adua clan. Umaru's illness has opened its flanks, with Hajia Turai accused of keeping him to herself. His mother, Dada, at one point, claimed not to have seen him. Recently, some siblings of the President also complained that they were not allowed to see their brother. The siblings came to Abuja in company of the President's mother, Hajia Dada and were unable to see the ailing President.

Link:

http://www.nationaldailyngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=789:obasanjo-tears-yaraduas-family-apart&catid=98:nationwide&Itemid=484

Family politics.Same set of people ruling a country 4 50yrs.

wales:

THERE is no love lost between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the First Lady, Hajia Turai Umaru Yar'Adua.
The gulf between the two preeminence citizens keeps widening every other day.

What figure of speech is the bolded.
Nigeria journalism at its best indeed!!!