Born in Katsina on March 5, 1943 to the late Mutawallin Katsina, Mallam Musa Yar'Adua, young Shehu was greatly influenced by his father's strength of character and capacity for leadership. A member of the Katsina Emirate Council, Mallam Musa Yar'Adua was one of the leading lights of Nigerian political development and a pillar of political wisdom.

During the First Republic, Mutawalli served as a member of the House of Representatives, Federal Minister for Establishment, Nigerianisation and Training and later as Minister for Abuja Affairs. Shehu Yar'Adua was educated at Katsina Provincial Secondary School and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, U.K. He returned from Sandhurst in 1964 as a young second lieutenant not long before the Nigerian Civil War broke out.

Major Yar'Adua's capture of Onitsha in 1967 is regarded as the decisive battle that led to the end of the bloody conflict that consumed millions of lives. The Civil War had a tremendous impact on Lt. Col. Shehu Yar'Adua. Disheartened by the devastation he witnessed, he recognised the futility of disunity based on ethnicity, region and religion. He understood that a united Nigeria was perquisite for the nation's growth and development.

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