Rent-Free in My Memory: The President Who Eased the Burden

Almost every country has had more than one leader, and regardless of if these leaders are good or terrible at their job, one thing is certain, and it's the fact that people will definitely remember them for at least one thing, although that thing could be something bad at times, and in other situations it could be something amazing, but in a nutshell, just like every human, our lifestyle and actions will create memories that others will think of when they think about us, and in light of that, I'll be writing about what comes to my memory whenever I think about one of the previous presidents of my country, Nigeria.

Like I said, we've had lots of presidents in Nigeria, and the few ones I witnessed had their own traits that left a rent-free memory of them in my mind. Take, for instance, Abacha, who is remembered for being a brutal and ruthless leader. Abubakar, on the other hand, is someone I remember to be a president who brought about normalcy back to the land and paved the way for democracy. Although his time as leader was just about a year, Obasanjo, on the other hand, paved the way for telecommunications in the country. Since his time, we've had Yaradua, Jonathan, Buhari, and now Tinubu.

One of the presidents whose memory lives rent-free in my heart is the late President Umar Musa Yar'Adua. One of the things that usually comes to my memory each time I think about him is how he's a man with great empathy for the people, a man who genuinely cares about the people and is ready to do all it takes to ease the burden on the lives of the citizens. The act that I always remembered about him is how he came into power and splashed the price of petrol down to 65 naira from the ridiculous amount it was being sold for in his predecessor Obasanjo's regime.

Although I know it would have been better if he fixed the electricity issue in our country, even though that wasn't fixed, I appreciate the fact that he could work on the alternative and make sure it's cheap for citizens to buy. That was a commendable act that many citizens at that time rejoiced about, and had he not died during his first year in office, many would have voted for him to come back to power for the next tenure, because we're already anticipating the other great positive changes he'll implement if given more time.

I can vividly remember once using 500 naira to buy 5 liters of petrol during the Obasanjo days; to see someone come in hand and cut down the value that much to the point where you can literally buy 10 liters of fuel for just 650 naira is amazing and a boost for everyone, but business owners and normal people who use petrol for various things, be it for work or at home. This is one thing that I have in my memory about the late President Yar'Adua.

All photos are taken and edited on canva.