Pat Utomi, professor of political economy, says Nigeria would have been a “different place” if former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had not died in office.

Speaking in an interview programme titled: ‘Csuite Cafe’, Utomi described late Yar’Adua as a “committed patriot” who desired to see Nigeria move forward.

Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, and was succeeded by his then vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Utomi said Yar’Adua once invited him to the Presidential Villa and tried to persuade him to join his cabinet as a minister.

The professor said he told the late president that he would prefer to offer advice when consulted rather than serve as a minister.

Utomi said Yar’Adua insisted that he could do more for the country as a minister than by working from outside the government.

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