President Goodluck Jonathan today lamented that the stories around the illness and eventual death of late President Yar’Adua had done great injustice to the memory of his late boss, suppressing the remarkable successes recorded by his administration.
Speaking today at the State House, Mr. Jonathan said the health ordeals of Mr. Yar’Adua took the shine off the successes recorded by his administration.
He said issues around the late president’s health have become prominent while the achievements of his administration have been reduced to mere footnotes in the history of the country.
The president spoke when the spokesperson to the late Yar’Adua, Olusegun Adeniyi, presented him an advance copy of his book, “Power, Politics and Death” due for public presentation Tuesday, at the State House.
The book is Mr. Adeniyi’s account of the events of the Yar’Adua/Jonathan presidency.
An apparently emotional Jonathan decried the situation where rather than note his good works; all Nigerians tend to remember about Mr. Yar’Adua were the events leading to his death.
Admitting that the late president’s death was badly handled, Mr. Jonathan said his former boss’ death should have been handled better, because all human beings are destined to die.
He expressed the hope that Mr. Adeniyi’s book would generate reaction and rouse other actors in the administration to document their experiences.
Mr. Jonathan said, “I believe this book will attract a lot of interest. I believe journalists will want to read it quickly. It makes me to remember the accounts of the civil war. The first account that came out was ‘My command’ written by Obasanjo.
“The second came out by Ojukwu, ‘Because I was involved’, an account from his own perspective.
“I know that when people read this book, maybe some of the key actors will also come out with their accounts because they were involved.”
In his speech, the author said he decided to write the book because the story of the Yar’Adua administration had been reduced to his illness and death.
“I believe that there is more to the Yar’Adua presidency of which you (Jonathan) were an integral part than his illness and death.
“There were a couple of things that were done and I feel I should document them.
“Even the narrative on his illness and death because of the politics involved, I don’t believe the accounts have been accurate. I decided to put the records straight as somebody who witnessed some of the drama.”
