Late Umaru Musa Ya’Adua was the first Nigerian president who had a university degree. Those who occupied the seat of presidency before him were not university graduate.
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, born on 16 August 1951 was Nigeria president from 2007 to 2010. He was sworn in on 29 May 2007 after been declared as the winner of April 21, 2007 presidential election. He was a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Before he became the president, he was Katsina state governor from 1999 to 2007.
In 2009, Yar’Adua left for Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment for an acute illness. He returned to Nigeria in the last week of February 2010 and died on 5 May, 2010.
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.
In 1971 he received a Higher School Certificate from Barewa College. He attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria from 1972 to 1975, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Education and Chemistry, and then returned in 1978 to pursue a master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry.
