President Muhammadu Buhari (1942-2025) And A Balanced Verdict Of History

GODKNOWS IGALI 

In what appeared like a whispering tale, the news of the death of Nigeria’s 15th President, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, which occurred on 13th July, 2025 in a London hospital, came to the entire world with surprise and flurry of reactions. Expectedly, from all over the globe, condolences and salutations over his service to Nigeria and the global community poured in. This is not unexpected, taking account of the fact that the man, Muhammadu Buhari had served Nigeria on two occasions as Head of State and on both outings, consistently raised Nigeria’s profile as the largest black nation in the world.

Indeed, just three years ago, when he celebrated his 80th birthday, all manners of salutations came from around the world. So at his ascend to that upper chamber of human existence, quite lavishly, one time President of neighbouring Republic of Benin, and current ECOWAS High Mediator in Guinea, Dr Thomas Boni Yayi, in a well serialized article, averred Buhari as one of Africa’s greatest leaders ever and “undisputed icon of democracy and anti-corruption.” Even more superlative, President of the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum, Shaykh Abdullahi Bin Bayyah described Buhari as a “symbol and icon of leadership and integrity who will remain an inspiration even after leaving office”.

At death, the greetings from some of his ilk in Nigeria as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, his erstwhile military boss who later became a sharp critic during his time of civilian presidency led the encore with the most flowery and benevolent greetings and salutations on his national service and uprightness. This was the same for former General Ibrahim Babangida who coincidentally overthrew him from power in 1985 as well as General Abdulsalami Abubakar, another military strongman that also held sway in Nigeria and former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, not the least.

Despite the hyperboles on Buhari’s life score card coming from the high political community and friends, for historians whose sacred duty is placing various issues in their proper historicity, this celebration of his life offers fresh opportunity on what should be objective chronicle of this twice leader of Africa’s largest democracy. This is in tandem with the duty and moral obligation of historians that compels accurate recording of society’s development. For an environment such as Nigeria, which is ethnically diverse and politically complex, such proper reckoning of history must be fair and only dictated by the force of objectivity.

So the critical question is, what is Buhari’s historical worth when placed in its proper context?

RIDING THE HIGH HORSE

The highest political position in any country is that of being the Head of State, which conjures on the occupant of that position a role as Chief Executive. This does not only make him or her the most powerful person within any given realm, but in actual fact, such person is defacto representative of supreme powers that are only next to God in most countries. It is for these reasons that the world’s 196 countries have a tiny fraction of the 8 billion citizens of the world as their respective Heads of State. Buhari happened to have been one amongst this tiny group of individuals.

As a matter of fact, since independence in 1960, only 16 individuals have been Heads of State in Nigeria. In Buhari’s case, he had a further privilege of having to serve the country twice in that capacity. Initially, through the illegal takeover of power from civilian authorities, emerging as 7th Head of State from 1983-1985. Next, through the ballot box, he became a democratically elected president and held power from 29 May 2015 to 29 May 2023.

For a country of over 200 million people, the mere fact of being a president makes him a prominent historical personality who, in the country’s 60 years of independence, would have ruled for a total of 10 years or one-sixth of the period as a sovereign nation. This is a rare feat that only one other Head of State of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo, can boast of. Like Buhari, former President Obasanjo ruled initially as a military Head of State from 1976-1979 and thereafter as pioneer post-military Head of State from 1999-2007.

In a wider context, heads of state, heads of government, and national political powers fundamentally affect the lives of citizens. While certain policies and actions may be disputed by diverse groups and individuals in the political equation, those who have ever ruled the countries always take actions which have either led to the stability of the country at the time, particularly advertising their break up or reduce human suffering. In Buhari’s case, his positive contributions in state building as Head of State have equally had its measure of positive impact.

PRIDE OF MILITARY SERVICE

Military service is often considered the epitome in the sense that those who find themselves in this branch of national duty are expected to place their lives on the line where necessary. This is often accompanied by a lot of high standards of personal commitment in terms of character, conduct, and sacrificial roles they play in the service.

For persons such as President Muhammadu Buhari, his enrolment saw him steadily rise to become a general. After joining the Nigerian Defense Academy at the age of 19, going through training in Nigeria Military Training College, Buhari was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1962. While benefitting from series of military trainings in Nigeria as well as in the United Kingdom from 1965-67, Buhari participated actively in the unfortunate Nigerian Civil War, defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria and leading various operations that brought the war to an early end. A tested military general, Buhari held several top positions as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 3rd Division, GOC 2nd Mechanized Division, GOC 3rd Armoured Division (1981-83).

His military service is known to have been unblemished, which saw his rise, steadily, through the ranks, ultimately benefitting from military coups, which placed him as Commander in Chief.

It is therefore incontrovertible that in his professional days, Muhammadu Buhari proved himself to be a war-tested and well decorated military general, comparable to other persons of his type around the world. When the occasion demanded, especially during the war years, he had placed his life at the disposal of the nation through active duty, with selflessness, strong values, and loyalty. From accounts of younger officers in the military, he showed great skills and was ready to share his training and experience with younger officers.

CONTINUOUS ROLES IN STATE BUILDING

Buhari’s military service unwittingly made him gain opportunities to serve the nation in other capacities. Having had his main specialization in transport and logistics, it is known that his own Corps had at various times been involved in specialized duties that pertained to emergency reliefs in times of need. More than that, his uncharitable involvement in military coups, which were the order of the day at the time, also led to his benefitting from the spoils of war as it were. Buhari got appointed as a military administrator of the old North East and later Borno State. In that capacity, it is on record of his playing a major role in stabilizing political administration in that flank of the country, which had a series of delicate insecurity and civil strife overflows coming from Nigeria’s neighbours. Eventually, this area, which is the largest in terms of land mass in Nigeria, was subsequently split into Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Taraba, and Adamawa states.

After another military coup of February 19, 1976, this time bloody, which took place and General Olusegun Obasanjo became the Military Head of State, Buhari was appointed Federal Commissioner (Minister) of Petroleum, a position he held until 1978. Buhari, then a Colonel, was given a lucrative job as Minister of Petroleum, being a very close associate of the assassinated General Murtala Mohammed. This underscores his rating in the inner circle of the power brokers in Nigeria at the time. This was a tall order, as the petroleum sector was the backbone of the Nigerian economy, and it was during his tenure that the Nigerian National Oil Company (now NNPC) had a proper fledging and takeoff. To his credit, the NNPC and its supervising Ministry of Petroleum Resources built several petrol storage depots all over the country. Additionally, it was also during his tenure that the largest amount of pipeline network connected to the Bonny Export Terminal was built. Similarly, work commenced on the construction of the Kaduna Refinery and pipeline to the Escravos Terminal.

During the regime of General Sani Abacha, who ruled from 1993-1998, Buhari was brought back to public service to head the mega buck development establishment, the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). The work of PTF around the country remains well appreciated, and he is known to have left unscathed from the reign of corruption around the public sector, which remains unabated.

PLUNGE INTO PARTISAN POLITICS

Beyond the facts that Buhari served meritoriously in the Nigerian Army from 1961 to 1985 and became a 3-Star General, he was also a critical part of Nigeria’s recent history in terms of politics and statesmanship. Being an arrowhead in a major coup, not surprisingly, he himself became a victim of a coup which routed him out of power on 27 August 1985. Thereafter, he had a period of licking his wound by being incarcerated for three years in a bungalow in the historic city of Benin. Life after his release in 1985, save for his brief stint at PTF, gave him enough time for convalescing and strategizing the next political move when the country returned to civilian rule.

He was quick to jump into the political arena, joining the political group known as All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) which was formed in 1978; same time as Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), both of which also came to limelight. Expectedly, Buhari, as a key party figure adopted centre, left conservatism as a political mantra. The party soon consolidated itself in the North West and North Central of the country and became second in terms of followership; next in that part was the PDP which took away the reins of power at the national level.

The ANPP provided a platform for Buhari’s seeming transformation from a military authoritarian to a civilian political actor. By 2003, his maturisation had thrown him into full glare to become the presidential flag bearer of that political party. Unfortunately, the party scored 32.1%, which was too weak to enable him to clinch the leadership of the country. Beyond that, Buhari contested against former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a serving president who sometime in the past was his boss. Undeterred, and riding on integrity and ultraconservatism which actually attracted more sympathy from the north, he contested again in 2007, but, this time lost to his fellow Katsina candidate, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a younger brother of his one-time military associate and boss, Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. Unfortunately, Buhari recorded another major defeat with only 18.66% votes.

With such a record of woeful defeats, many would have expected that he would have given up. Instead, Buhari again went on to form a new political party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), to contest in 2011, this time against a serving president, Dr. Goodluck Johnathan and again lost the election, having secured a mere 31.92% of the votes. After this, frustrated and paled due to numerous defeats, Buhari, at the time, hinted possible disinterest in further contesting. However, as the country prepared for the 2015 election, he again went into an alliance with the political establishment of the south west, forming on 6th February 2013, an amalgam known as the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The new party became a major opposition mouthpiece. In the December 2014 primaries, as the party prepared for the election, Buhari was nominated as the incumbent flag bearer, riding on the crest of sloganism for “change”, fight against corruption and promise of restoration of security from terrorist groups like Boko Haram. According to the official results released, he obtained 15.42 million votes or 54% above then President Goodluck Jonathan who obtained only 12.85 million votes (45%) as officially declared by the electoral umpire – Independent National Electoral Commission.

PRESIDENTIAL FOOTPRINT OUTSIDE UNIFORM

The ride to become the 15th President of Nigeria was the zenith of Buhari’s untiring efforts to rule and transform Nigeria under a democratic order. At his inauguration on 29th May 2015 as president, he expressed his planned programmes to include his fight against corruption and terror in the country and the economic development of the country.

As will be expected, on each of these counts, the scorecard by public commentators has been mixed. For example, the fight against corruption started out on an edgy note as it was focused more on persons connected with the opposition PDP government. There was also a reign of ‘media trial’ even before pursuing investigations. That notwithstanding, some results were achieved as a fair amount of convictions and recovery of public assets had been achieved. The overall public assessment remained doubtful as a reasonable amount of lack of probity was perceived to exist in the public sector. On the issue of security, the military recorded good results under Buhari to retake the parts of the country’s northeast where Boko Haram insurgence had declared as their territories. Sadly, however, this spate of insecurity snowballed into uncontrollable and high dreaded dimensions, including waves of kidnapping and killings in many parts of the country.

On Economic Development, the nation’s economy initially picked up, resulting in GDP growth of 3% as compared to 2.25% during much of the period in which the government was in power. The President’s erstwhile image maker, Femi Adesina, as would be expected, had often given the highest scores to his principal on virtually every front. Among other things, he had averred that under this administration “Nigeria has seen the most ambitious legislative programme in its history”. In these, he included the passage of the Electoral Act 2022, the Money Laundering Act 2022, Terrorism Prevention Act 2022, the Not Too Young to Run Bill 2018 and the “Bill to Grant Financial Autonomy to State Houses of Assembly 2018 as well as the Law Prohibiting Discrimination Against People Living with Disabilities of 2018. According to him, in addition to these are 15 other major pieces of legislation which is in addition to a number of Executive Orders on major national issues, all of which are quasi legislative in character and meant to fill the gap in areas where outright legislative actions could be delayed.

Perhaps the area Adesina and previous government officials had spoken loudest are President Buhari’s achievements pertaining to his effort in infrastructural development which had been facilitated by the establishment of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Infracom) 2008 as a vehicle to accelerate investment in infrastructural development. Added to this is the establishment of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, for which the sum of $1 billion was earmarked. The outcome of these interventions and robust investment in railway, especially the Lagos-Ibadan corridor and the Abuja-Kaduna, as well as the extensive Itakpe-Warri line Further to this was the Kaduna-Kano, Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, and a rather controversial line, Kano-Maradi (Niger Republic) line. With respect to terrestrial transport, government officials of the Buhari era had equally doled out information on such measures as construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, 2nd Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway, the Bodo-Bonny Road, Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki-Ojota Road, among others.

President Buhari’s media team did not leave out the air transportation sector in which they listed such projects as completion of terminals and runways in the country’s international airports in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt, as well as approvals for the upgrading of these airports as special economic zones. In the marine sector is the commissioning of the Dry Port in Kaduna and commencement of similar projects in Kano and Katsina. The list goes on and on, covering such areas as the power sector where the landmark projects such as Zungeru Hydro Plant, Kashimbilla Hydro Plant and the Kaduna Power Plant, all started by previous governments that were advanced to completion.

In the petroleum sector, the major highlight has been the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill in August 2021, bringing an end to over 21 years of legislative imbroglio and the progress made in ongoing construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna gas pipeline and remarkable achievement made in the local content development. Other achievements have also been listed in agriculture and water resources, among several other sectors.

In the world of diplomacy, they argue that the country’s strident position and interventions helped to douse post-coup situations in such places as Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso. These remain a big credit to the Buhari government.

However, the 2015 election did have its own share of controversies and moral recriminations. Nigerian public commentator and political philosopher, Prof. Femi Aribisala renounced the election as two of Africa’s largest ethnic groups conniving to oust a serving president from a minority group. Despite the victory, the post-election violence, strangely from the north where Buhari had obtained most of the votes raised concerns. One other factor that others agreed and was acknowledged by Buhari himself was that his opponent Dr. Johnathan’s character and fealty to his much popularized dictum that “my political ambition is not enough for the exchange of blood from any Nigerian.” Despite his upper hand, Dr. Johnathan made the historic phone call to candidate Buhari, congratulating him even before the final results were officially announced by INEC. In shock, Buhari, at the time, only responded to Dr. Johnathan with the words “my respect sir.”

BUHARI, ME AND THE REST OF “US”.

As then Permanent Secretary in one of the most critical sectors of national economy, i.e. power, and quite senior at number 6 amongst about 40 esteemed then colleagues, I had to relate with the President-Elect at the time on at least several occasions at Defense House, Maitama. Despite the hawkish and unjustifiably anti-Jonathan sentiments and posturing of some of his top political handlers, he was particularly civil and nice to me.

Thereafter, from March until November 2015, when I exited service, I related closely with him in the absence of ministers and saw in him a very humane and paternalistic figure. It was particularly touching that despite the inveigled surly attitude of few of the political class around him towards me, being a Jonathan man, Buhari’s attitude was far from that. On each occasion that he had the opportunity to travel out of the country, he always insisted on my being taken along. I, therefore, traveled with him to France, India, even to the United States of America, and joined his most important meetings at the State Department and the White House.

His likeness for me also stemmed from the fact that I had proved to him my mettle and integrity following an incident of honour that need not be elaborated here. He personally told me on one occasion – “you are a very honest man”.

Generally, then President Buhari was so pro-civil service that he averred his interest to allow Permanent Secretaries to hold sway unceasing in different Ministries, Departments and Agencies, but for constitutional provision, which tied his hands. Then came the day of Armageddon with a phone call from the then newly appointed Head of Civil Service of the Federation who was virtually in tears to inform that I and some other 20 colleagues have been penciled for retirement. On getting to the presidential villa at 3.00p.m on the fateful day in November 2015, the then Head of Service tersely rushed a few words about reforms which were carried out under the chairmanship of the Vice President in which some people “are affected ”. In turn, then Vice President who was equally seated, remarked that the exercise was based on the fact that “some of them can not have clear roles in the new arrangement”.

At the end of the drama, the seemingly surprised President, amidst interrupting echoes of “Alhamdulillah” from my late delectable younger colleague, Taye Haruna who was also prematurely retired, simply enquired, “all of them?” To this, those who had summoned the meeting answered “yes.” He then said “I thank you for your national service” but summoned courage to insist that the four women in the group be excluded, again reconfirming the fact that he was somehow not fully cognisant. Indeed, there and then, he ordered one of the female colleagues, now Vice Chancellor of a high brow university, to immediately return to her desk. That was how 17 of the most senior, experienced, well-trained, largely unblemished Permanent Secretaries in their prime were sent out of service.

But the greatest shock of my interaction with the man Buhari and his bent on fairness was the fact that on my birthday, 4th of April, 2020, he conveyed felicitations broadcasted in major television networks, using the most superlative words to describe my person and national service. Shocked and confused, I called Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant, to the President on what happened. He simply said that “Mr. President saw it on social media and asked me to salute you”. On that occasion, President Buhari also endorsed me as his candidate for Bayelsa Central Senatorial election under his party, APC, to which I did not even belong. Not believing, I sought an audience at the Villa who confirmed the same and was received by late Alhaji Abba Kyari, then Chief of Staff, and was later re-confirmed by Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, latter-day Chief of Staff.

Shortly afterward, President Buhari, without my solicitation, approved my chairmanship of the Presidential Visitation Committee to the Federal University, Lokoja, for the period of 2011 – 20142015 – 2020. To crown it all, a few weeks later, I was invited by Prof. Abdullahi Rasheed, then National Universities Commission Executive Secretary , informed that President Buhari had directed that I be assigned as Pro-Chancellor of one of the very important universities in the country. At the occasion, Prof. Rasheed also told me that Oga PMB had directed him to assemble the best that the country could put together. So, I was among such mighy stately persons as Alhaji Adamu Fika, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, Dr. Sunny Kuku, Alhaji Bashir Tafida, Prof. Nimi Briggs, Dr. Udo Udoma, SAN, Sen. Chris Adighige, Prof. Olu Obafemi, Prof. Jibril Munzali, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Prof. Ahmed Modibbo, Prof. Funmi Bicky, Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, Senator Andrew Uchendu, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, Sen. Lanre Tejuosho, and Dr. Tony Awuka-Dozie, as new Pro-Chancellors.

Other Pro-Chancellors of the time were Senator Ibrahim Ida, Prof Peter Okebukola, Prof Arc. Lawrence Ngubani, Amb. Usman Sarki, Dr. Chidinma Uwajumogu, Sen. Barigha Amange, Senator Jack Tilley-Gyado, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Chief Oscar Udoji, Prof. Sulyman Kuranga, Iyom Omema, Dr. Ahmed Umar, Yakubu Ruba, SAN, and so many other prominent Nigerians of that ilk. Three days later, my name was announced as the 13th Pro-Chancellor of Federal University of Technology Akure, and few months later, I got picked by my very distinguished colleagues as the Alternate Chairman, Committee of Pro-Chancellors (CPC) of Nigerian Universities, a position which I held until 2023.

What else can I talk about, President Buhari and I, at my personal level? So, despite all the spurious instigations by overzealous public officers of the day against a close Jonathan friend, a few months later, I gained back my full honour, unscathed.

CONTROVERSIES AND UNDERCURRENTS

Despite my personal pleasant reminiscences, President Buhari was sufficiently buffeted by criticisms. Critics of the administration under a democratic setting, even not forgetting his military excesses have continued to insist that despite the supposed achievements, the fact that Nigeria under his presidency got listed for the first time as one of the poorest countries in the world remains a big black spot. This casts a very negative shadow on whatever achievements Buhari had made. In particular, there were concerns over increased insecurity. Although Boko Haram was chased away from the territories which it claimed to have brought under its control in the north east, the fact that extreme violence and terror moved to every part of the country, resulting in high levels of kidnappings, brigandage and rise in the number of extremist groups.

On the economic level, the snowballing of the country’s debt profile from $12 billion when he came to power and then approaching $30billion according to the Debt Management Office when he left office are not easily forgotten.

Another major criticism of the Buhari government, from critics, remains the manner in which appointments into the public service, as made at the political level, especially. The laws of the country require the president to appoint one person as Minister from each state of the federation and to ensure that the government of the federation has far-spread; touching all parts. But then, the Buhari’s government had been strongly criticised for lopsidedness and nepotism in terms of persons appointed to fill strategic positions, favouring only one section of the country above others. However, others argue that the Buhari’s record on this now seems like a child’s play.

For seasoned public administrators, Buhari was censored for the whopping compulsory retirement of the country’s most intelligent Permanent Secretaries, even though he showed surprise and self exculpated by exempting some. In their place, his government brought people who didn’t go through the normal compulsory qualifying examination.

A final critique of President Buhari’s legacy is the fact that his government had been adjudged to have seen a higher level of corruption despite the fact that he maintained a high level of personal integrity and probity. On the contrary, still at various levels of legal hurdles, some of those who served closely under him stand accused of of sleaze and corruption, which is a major blight on his overall scorecard of fight against corruption. In fact, it was pointed out that during his time, a lot of the proceeds of corruption recovered were again looted.

FINAL POINT

The only Nigerian whose life’s odyssey resembles that of Buhari is his erstwhile boss, former President Obasanjo, who left office in 1979 and went into full-scale tilling of the land at his Otta Farms. However, nearly 30 years later, when he left office again as a civilian in 2007, his cropping activities seemed left to employees, while he now focuses on state building and world scene activism. On his leaving office on 29th May 2023, the question was, what will Buhari do going forward? Expectedly, he returned to his hometown of Daura, considered by historians as the oldest Hausa settlement, as a full-blown elderly man, an Octogenarian. Similar to the indefatigable Baba OBJ, he returned to look after his cattle and farm animals.

Beyond that, he returned home as one of the most outstanding citizens of his part of the country, thereby turning hitherto sleepy Daura into a beehive of political favour seekers. In another sense, he joined the ranks of the likes of Obasanjo, Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and not the least, Jonathan, the small cliqué of privileged Nigerians and strategic influencers, perhaps to carry out global statesmanly activities. Unfortunately, ill health, which had buffeted him, protractedly, spared him little time to live.

One of the greatest men in human history and America’s 16th President once stated, “character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it. The tree is the real thing.” As a whole, despite his human shortcomings, history wouldOh praise the lord for His mercies endure forever. Good morning. I celebrate and thank God with you for this great gift of life, safety and well-being. Congratulations and happy birthday. May many, many greater and memorable days be ahead of you in Jesus name. Amen shine more sunny on Muhammadu Buhari.

Rest in peace, Mr. President.

Dr. Igali, an Ambassador is a retired Federal Permanent Secretary.