On this day, May 6 in 2010, Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as Nigerian president today following the death of Umaru Yar’Adua after a long illness.
According to reports, Jonathan wore his customary wide-brimmed hat, put on a sash bearing the national colours of green, yellow and white, which signified that he had formally taken office.
Jonathan said his priorities would be peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta, electoral reform and the fight against corruption.
Before his death, Yar’Adua had long-standing kidney problems and was admitted to a Saudi Arabian hospital for heart inflammation.
His home state of Katsina held a Muslim ceremony for his burial.
Barack Obama led the tributes from foreign leaders, praising Yar’Adua’s “profound personal decency and integrity” and his “passionate belief in the vast potential and bright future of Nigeria’s 150 million people”.
Nigeria’s main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said it was saddened by Yar’Adua’s death. “MEND considers the late president a genuine peacemaker whose initiatives, humility and respect began to bring confidence to the peace process,” the group said. “His death may leave a vacuum that may not be filled.”
