Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua died today. According to the Nigerian constitution Goodluck Jonathan who has been acting president will formerly assume office as president of the federal republic. Mr. Yar’Adua had had problems with his kidneys going back to his days as governor of Katsina state. May he rest in peace.

Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian Nobel laureate had this to say about Mr. Yar’Adua’s passing on:

“What passes for the Nigerian nation is nothing more than a tragic arena, and Yar‘Adua is only the latest tragic figure. The vampires, including those within his own family, turned him into a mere inert resource for their diabolical schemes. They have a reckoning with their conscience, assuming they know what the word means. One can only hope that, while mouthing sanctimonious platitudes such as ‘Power belongs to God,’ they have now learnt that the politics of Do-or-Die cannot guarantee who does and who dies. They must stop playing God. I pray for the repose of the soul of their latest, much abused innocent victim.”