FELIX NWANERI writes on the life and times of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s 15th Head of State and sixth democratically elected President, who passed away Sunday at 82
Undeniably, former President Buhari was admired by many for his uprightness and anti-corruption stand, but the fame did not come that easy. The moral revolution anchored on the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), which he introduced as a military leader has remained a national phenomenon and reference point for decades.
Though military governments were aberration at the time he and the late Brig. General Tunde Idiagbon sacked the then government of President Shehu Shagari; history had been fair to him for the high level of discipline and patriotism, which he exhibited in leading the nation.
His regime (as military leader) was revered for its ability to keep the country afloat by making progress through sheer economic ingenuity even when it rejected the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan; refused to devalue the Naira; curbed imports of needless goods; curtailed oil theft and used a counter trade policy to barter seized illegally bunkered crude oil for needful goods like machineries. His administrative style and transparency was also lauded by many Nigerians, when he headed the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).
The agency (though scrapped) is still credited for impacting on the lives of the people through implementation of several developmental projects. Born in Daura, Katsina State, on December 17, 1942 to Adamu and Zulaihat Buhari, Buhari was the 23rd child of his father.
He was raised by his mother after his father died, when he was about four years old. He attended primary school in Daura and Mai’adua before proceeding to Katsina Model School in 1953, and Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College Katsina) from 1956 to 1961. He later joined the Nigerian Military Training School Kaduna in 1963 and also attended Officer’s Cadet School in Aldershot (United Kingdom), October 1963.
In 1964, he was at the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna for Platoon Commanders’ course and later attended Mechanical Transport Officer’s course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden (United Kingdom), 1965. He also studied at the Defence Services’ Staff College, Wellington (India), 1973 and the United States Army War College, 1979-1980.
He first came to limelight following his appointment as governor of the then newly created North-East State during General Murtala Muhammed’s regime and later to national focus in 1975, when he was appointed by the regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo as Minister (then Federal Commissioner) for Petroleum and Natural Resources.
He became the first chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at its creation in 1977. Among the several positions he held during his military career include Platoon Commander, 2nd Infantry battalion, 1963-1964; Mechanical Transport Officer, Lagos Garrison, 1964-1965; Transport Company Commander, 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1965-1966; Battalion Adjutant/Commander, 2nd Infantry Division, 1967- 1968 and Brigade Major, 2nd sector, 1st Infantry Division, 1967; Others are Brigade Major, 3rd Infantry Division, 1967-1968; Acting Commander, 4th Sector, 1st Division, 1968-1970; Commander, 31st Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, 1970-1971; Assistant Adjutant-General, 1st Infantry Division Headquarters, 1971-1972; Colonel, General Staff, 3rd Infantry Division Headquarters, 1974.
He was also Acting Director Supply and Transport, Nigerian Army Corps, Headquarters, 1974-1975; Military Secretary, Army Headquarters, 1978 – 1979; Member, Supreme Military Council, 1978- 1979; General Officer Commanding, 4th Infantry Division, 1980-1981; General Officer Commanding, 3rd Armoured Division, 1981-1983; Executive Chairman, Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), 1995-1999.
Buhari received several awards and medals including, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GCFR); Defence Service Medal (DSM); National Service Medal (NSM); General Service Medal (GSM) Loyal Service and Good Conduct Medal (LSGCM); Forces Service Star (FSS) and the Congo Medal (CM) among others.
Long walk to presidency
For Buhari, it was a long road to the presidency. The journey began in 2003, when he took the first shot on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), but was defeated by then President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was back in 2007, also on the platform of the ANPP, but was this time defeated by Umaru Yar’Adua, who hailed from Katsina State with him.
In March 2010, he left the ANPP to form the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC.) It was on this platform that he contested the 2011 presidential election against then President Goodluck Jonathan but lost for the third time.
The intrigues and power-play that characterised the election, especially the collapse of an alliance between the CPC and defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by a former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (now president), forced him to declare at the eve of the presidential election that he will not run for any elective office again.
I have done my best and I hope history will be kind to me
His words: “This campaign is the third and last one for me since after it I will not present myself again for election into the office of the president.” Buhari, however, made a detour in 2013, when he said: “I am still in active politics until the polity is sanitised and people enjoy the fruits of democracy at all levels of government.”
The volte-face unsettled many Northern political elements, who had been on the standby to step into his shoes, but Buhari stuck to his gun and resolved not to quit politics, even when some of his contemporaries have taken the back stage. He hinged his resolution on two compelling objectives – need to sanitise the polity, and to ensure that Nigerians enjoy the dividends of democracy at all levels of government.
It is on record that he was among the first to declare for the 2015 presidency as early as in 2013, although many saw his quest then as another political gamble. The bid, however, gained momentum shortly after the formalisation of the merger of leading opposition parties – CPC, ACN, ANPP and a faction of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which led to the formation and registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on July 31, 2013.
Expectedly, Buhari’s aspiration received the endorsement of APC’s delegates at the party’s National Convention in Lagos between November 10 and 11, 2014. He defeated four other aspirants – former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; then Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Rochas Okorocha (Imo), and the publisher of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah to clinch the presidential ticket. Buhari polled 4,430 votes to beat Kwankwaso to the second position (974 votes).
Atiku, who many had thought would give the former military ruler a good run, came a distant third with 954 votes, while Okorocha came fourth with 624 votes. Nda-Isaiah had only 10 votes. The outcome of the primary election drew the battle line for the 2015 presidency between Buhari and Jonathan for a second time.
While the then APC national leadership was able to build formidable structures across the country between 2013 the party was registered and the 2015 elections, it is incontrovertible that Buhari rode on his popularity, particularly in the North, where he enjoys a kind of cult-followership, to power. The calculation paid off with the party’s victory.
Buhari polled 15.7 million votes to defeat the Jonathan, who had 12.8 million votes. His victory was the first time in Nigeria’s political history an incumbent would be defeated in an election and the second time a former military ruler would return to the presidency through the ballot.
Obasanjo is the first military leader to elected president in 1999 after relinquishing power in 1979. He had emerged in 1976 after the botched coup that claimed the life of the then Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed.
His promises
While Buhari’s victory in the March 28, 2015 presidential election and Jonathan’s consequent conceding of defeat was described as turning point in Nigeria’s electoral process, the Buhari presidency is however coming at a time high level dissatisfaction and discontent in the polity have compelled most Nigerians to seek for a new beginning.
The dynamism Buhari and the APC leadership introduced in the 2015 presidential campaign saw the former military ruler extending his campaign beyond the northern part of the country, perhaps for the first time since 2003. In the previous polls, he rarely campaigned outside his North-West home zone, apparently due to paucity of funds unlike his PDP counterparts, whose party were in power then and had structures across the country and enormous financial resources at their disposal.
The reason for the boost in Buhari’s campaign was not farfetched. The coming together of the various opposition parties and defection of some members of the then ruling PDP, particularly five of its governors to the APC, offered Buhari, not only a broader platform but resources to campaign across the country. Little wonder his campaign train, which took off from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on January 6, criss-crossed 35 out of the 36 states in the country and the Federal Capital Territory except Yobe due to the security situation in the North-East.
Adding colour to the rallies, Buhari appeared in the traditional attires of the respective states he visited, apparently to prove that he is at home with the locals. He made several promises, which he said will bring positive changes in the lives of Nigerians within two years as his desire for change has not diminished.
The promises revolve around three issues – fight against corruption, insecurity and job creation. According to his blueprint, part of his strategies and plans, especially in the area of corruption, was to draw a line to ensure that the cankerworm, which has remained bane of Nigeria’s development, is dealt with. His words: “Corruption has assumed such a high proportion. It stands for our culture in Nigeria. I have gone through so much to know this
If we say we are going to look back, we will never move forward. We will try and draw a line. What is in the courts, we will allow to go on.” He added: “Whoever has misappropriated public resources knows. He should also know how to cough them up because a line will be drawn from May 30. Henceforth, whoever is trusted with public office and betrays the trust would be dealt with.” On the economy, he said: “We have lined up programmes on how to tackle unemployment.
We are going to assemble a team of professionals for wealth creation and employment for our teeming youths. We will also put a mechanism in place to improve on the economy.
Our main objective is to make sure that agriculture and other non-oil sectors get priority to create opportunities for Nigerians, so that whether educated or not, they have gainful employment.” He also assured on security, saying: “Whatever we are going to do, we have to secure Nigeria first.
What we are witnessing in the North-East where people are being killed is not acceptable. We know that the Nigerian military is capable of bringing peace and stability to this country. They need to be given the leadership and that is what I promise, if elected.” He also promised to bring about positive changes in the lives of Nigerians within two years as his desire for change has not diminished.
He came, saw, but…
It is indisputable that Buhari’s quest for the presidency after three unsuccessful attempts was fired by the zeal to bring about positive changes in the lives of Nigerians, but some hold the view that the way his administration took off didn’t show that he was prepared for the job.
For example, it took him 166 days, before he constituted his cabinet of 36 ministers during his first term in office. While the ministers were named in two batches between September and October 2015, they were sworn in and assigned portfolios on November 11 – six months after the President’s inauguration.
The delay in the appointment of ministers made Buhari, Nigeria’s only president to take such an extensive period to constitute a cabinet since 1999. His predecessors – Obasanjo, Yar’adua and Jonathan spent less time in doing that. Obasanjo was sworn in as president in May 1999 and he chose almost all members of his cabinet the following month. In his second term as President in 2003, the cabinet was announced two months after his inauguration.
For Yar’adua, who was sworn in as president in May 2007, he announced his cabinet in July, just two months after his inauguration, while Jonathan, who succeeded him, followed the footsteps of his predecessors by announcing his cabinet in July after winning the 2011 election.
Expectedly, Buhari received knocks for the delayed take-off of his government but he linked it to Jonathan and the PDP’s unpreparedness for the outcome of the 2015 presidential election, saying they didn’t put in place structures that will make the transition seamless.
He maintained that had a system been in place, real-time information would have been available to assist him to quickly settle down, form cabinet and go about the business of governance.
He also insisted that the inadequacy of the handover notes from the immediate past administration contributed in no small measure to the delay in constituting his cabinet, stressing that he needed to have a clear idea of what his administration was inheriting. He also added that it took him much longer than expected before making ministerial appointments as he did background checks to ensure his first cabinet would reflect his central message of “change” and integrity.
However, not every appointment was a new face or completely without blemish. A majority of those who made the cabinet were known names, especially former governors with little space for technocrats.
Corruption has assumed such a high proportion. It stands for our culture in Nigeria. I have gone through so much to know this. If we say we are going to look back, we will never move forward
This, perhaps, dimmed the euphoria that greeted Buhari’s administration on May 29, 2015 after 16 years unbroken rule by the PDP was not unexpected. He had raised the hope of most Nigerians, when he defined the problems that the nation faced in his first inaugural address on May 29, 2015.
First, he said Nigeria was at war with insurgents ravaging the north eastern part of the country. Second, the economy was badly weakened and businesses shuttered, and thirdly, corruption was fast becoming a way of live, but he promised that he and his party would confront these challenges head on.
However, by the time he left office after serving two terms (2015-2019 and 2019-2023), many said he left the nation in a cloud of disappointment. The belief was that none of the “wars” he inherited, particularly that against corruption was not truly won.
Perhaps, the last time Nigerians witnessed a major probe of an administration by a succeeding one was in 1984, after the fall of the Second Republic. Interestingly, it was a Buhari-led military regime that arrested and put to trial, key actors in that dispensation. Some of those tried bagged jail terms running into hundreds of years.
It was against this backdrop that many did not express surprise when three decades after, Buhari probed the Jonathan administration, which he succeeded. In what seemed a break from the past, where a president comes to power and overlooks the actions and inactions of his predecessor, Buhari insisted on probing his predecessor “to ensure a proper take-off of his government.”
He gave a hint of the probe, when he told Nigerians in Diaspora during a visit to the United States shortly after his inauguration that his administration had begun receiving documents to prosecute Jonathan’s ministers and other government officials who stole “mind-boggling” oil funds. He also appealed to the then United States President, President Barack Obama, to help Nigeria recover and repatriate about $150 billion allegedly stolen by past government officials.
The Buhari administration marched its promise with action, when the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by then Vice President Yemi Osinbajo set up a four-member committee to scrutinize the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Excess Crude Account (ECA) under the Jonathan administration.
The probe was meant to unravel an alleged N3.8 trillion that was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC between 2012 and May 2015 as well as $2.1bn said to have been deducted from the ECA without approval.
What manifested was shocking, especially over how $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms to fight the Boko Haram insurgency was misappropriated by the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki. Consequently, some officials of the ousted PDP administration as well as former military top brass were quizzed to render account of their stewardship.
Jonathan’s wife and some ministers, who served in his administration, were also not left out. Sadly, allegations of corruption equally rocked the Buhari administration. The most alarming was an alleged N109 billion fraud against Ahmed Idris, who served as Accountant General of the Federation between 2015 and 2022.
While a lot of convictions were recorded under Buhari’s anti-graft war, issues were, however, raised over its politicization by the opposition political parties. Also, the suspension of Ibrahim Magu, a former acting head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on corruption charges further raised doubt over the anti-corruption battle under Buhari.
There is also no denying the fact that most of Buhari’s appointments were skewed in favour of the North against South. This further eroded the goodwill earned by his party from across the country upon coming to power. Out of the 30 major appointments he made in his first term, 23 were from the North, while seven were from the South and it was not different during his second term.
Critics of Buhari reasoned that his mode of appointments negated the Federal Character Principle as well as contrary of his oath office to serve as president to all Nigerians. Others went to the extreme by accusing him of promoting a Northern agenda aimed at Islamising Nigeria even when he promised to run an all-inclusive government during his inauguration.
However, members of another political school who were not surprised with Buhari’s mode of appointments made reference to a statement credited to him during an interactive session with journalists in the United States on July 22, 2015. He was quoted to have said: “Going by election results, constituencies that gave me 95 per cent cannot in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me five per cent. I think these are political realities.
While, certainly there will be justice for everybody but the people who voted, and made their votes count, they must feel the government has appreciated the effort they put in putting the government in place.” Nigeria was also ravaged by poverty under Buhari. In 2022, for instance, the number of Nigerians, who lived in poverty stood at over 133 million.
The figure represented 63 per cent of the nation’s population of about 220 million. The disclosure contained in “Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index’’ released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in November 2022, added that over half of the population, who are poor cook with dung, wood or charcoal, rather than cleaner energy.
The survey was a collaborative effort between the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the National Social SafetyNets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).
Achievements
Despite the myriads of challenges Nigerians faced under the Buhari administration, there is no doubt that his government made some appreciable progress in the area of infrastructural development. Critical infrastructure, particularly roads, was accorded utmost priority.
In 2015, such critical infrastructure as the Second Niger Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano expressway were either totally non-existent or in deteriorated state but the Buhari administration demonstrated the needed political will to break the jinx on these historically most difficult projects. The railway system also received a boost.
The 156kilometre Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail was completed; the 186kilometre Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge Rail Line was also completed likewise the 327kilometre Itakpe-Warri Standard Gauge Rail Line was completed and commissioned, 33 years after construction began by other governments.
Also, the Abuja light rail was completed in 2018, while work has commenced on the Kaduna-Kano Standard Gauge Rail Line and Port HarcourtMaiduguri Narrow Gauge Rail. Aside from other completed projects, there have been many productive capacity development programmes in the sector.
The nation’s airports and seaports also recorded some highs under the Buhari administration. Some of the most remarkable ones include the completion of new terminals for international air ports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt. Also completed are new runways for the Abuja and Enugu International Airports.
The Lekki Deep Seaport, the first new seaport in Nigeria in decades, has been completed and commissioned. In the area of agriculture, the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank, launched by President Buhari in 2015, was able to disburse hundreds of billions of naira to more than four million smallholder farmers of 23 different commodities.
The government has also created numerous initiatives to boost the sector, such as Presidential Fertiliser Initiative, Special Agro Industrial Processing Zones, Agriculture for Food and Jobs Programme, National Livestock Transformation Programme and The Green Imperative, among others.
The Buhari administration also recorded appreciable progress in the war against terror in the North-East. His administration succeeded in galvanizing Nigeria’s immediate neighbours and the global community, including major powers against the insurgents. The success recorded in the insurgency war spurred the international community to partner with the Nigerian government in rebuilding the devastated geopolitical zone.
But banditry and kidnapping in the North-West, farmers/ herders clash in the North Central, oil theft in the South-South and agitation for self-determination in the South-East and South-West at a time, whittled the gains of the war against insurgency. These existential threats portrayed Nigeria as a nation at war with itself.
Besides claiming thousands of lives and property worth billions of naira destroyed, the security challenges turned millions of Nigerians to refugees in their own country.
However, despite these odds, Nigeria remained a united entity, which perhaps, in what could be described as self-assessment, Buhari said he will be remembered positively for his achievements while in office. “I have done my best and I hope history will be kind to me,” he said January 2023, during a working visit to his home state, Katsina.
He had before then said he will not miss the Aso Rock Villa much due to constant harassment from some Nigerians, who have belittled his efforts to make the country better. “We are big in size and population, facing many challenges, but in many areas, we are trying. In sevenand-a-half years, I have done my best.”
