Ex president, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s Mother, Hajiya Aya, also known as Dada is dead.
Dada died at the age of 101 on Monday evening at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Katsina State.
The late Yar’ Adua served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010.
Dada was the wife of the late Musa Yar’Adua, a notable Nigerian administrator and politician who served as the Minister of Lagos Affairs during Nigeria’s First Republic. During his tenure as minister, Lagos Island and the capital territory were officially designated as the city of Lagos in 1963.
The late Hajiya was also the mother of Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, a Nigerian Army General who served as the de facto vice president of Nigeria as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters during the military rule from 1976 to 1979. He later became a prominent figure in the transition from military to civilian rule in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Another of her sons, Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua, is a politician and senator representing the Katsina Central Senatorial District. He is currently the chairman of the Senate Committee on Army.
Thousands of sympathizers from within and outside Katsina visited her residence to offer condolences to her family.
Among them were the Governor of Katsina State and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, who expressed his grief on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, stating;
“Innalillahi Wa’inna Ilaihir Raji’un. I am saddened by the passing of Hajia Aya Dada Yar’Adua, mother of my late mentor, Tafida Shehu Yar’Adua, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, among others. In the absence of my beloved mother, I adopted Hajiya Dada as a mother.”