RIP President Yar'Adua

When bad things happen, it usually takes a little while for it to sink in for me. When they announced the news four hours ago, I barely batted an eyelid. I retweeted a tweet from a friend about it, but I wasn't ready to commit an opinion just yet. Until I realized, five minutes ago, that this is the second Nigerian president that has died while "in office" during my lifetime. The first was Abacha, and we all know how we felt when that happened (PAAAAARRRTAY!!!). But today, the atmosphere, at least on the internet, seems a lot more solemn. His passing is sad, and yet, not because we lost a great leader - a lot of people hold the opinion that Yar'Adua's presidency did not live up to expectations, and even disappointed in a number of areas. It's more sad in the general "a life was lost" vein. At least, that's how it feels for me. It's sad that he died, but what's sadder is that he failed to leave behind a legacy that people could consider inspiring or even emulable. As Peter Parker always says, "With great power comes great responsibility." I don't think Yar'Adua ever read a Spiderman comic. Maybe if he did, he might have decided to become a different kind of leader, one that creates positive change as opposed to little or no change.
May his soul rest in peace. The next few months are going to be an interesting one for our beloved country, Nigeria. Let's just hope we come out better, as opposed to worse for wear.