By Ejiroghene Barrett
He was probably one of the most defining figures in Nigeria’s political space; unyielding, but an unblemished spirit to his devotees. A soldier-turned-reformer, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s former president and former military ruler who died on July 13, became the embodiment of Nigeria’s yearning for austere discipline, his name was a rallying cry for those who believed iron fists could forge a better nation.
Buhari’s life was a paradox of some sort. Behind that tough and uncompromising exterior that the Nigerian media usually chose to project was a warmth and quiet humour that easily disarmed the unsuspecting, his admirers say. He gave some of the finest and most memorable repartees of any leader Nigeria ever had.
One instance that captured this simple but sharp wit was when he confronted a journalist at the Presidential Villa, insisting the she warned her publication’s cartoonist. The lady was taken aback by the seemingly stern rebuke, then he added, “my chin is not as long as he makes it!”
His reformist and disciplined image were the major forces that propelled him back to power in 2015 as the first opposition figure in Nigeria’s history to unseat an incumbent, after an initial run as military head between 1984 and 85.
His reinvention as a Democrat saw him transform into a staunch defender of the democratic principle in West Africa. When former Gambian leader, Yahya Jammeh, refused to accept his election defeat by Adama Barrow. Buhari’s threat of military action quickly forced him out.
This also showed his commitment to regional stability, and he was respected for that by regional leaders. In his tribute, former Liberian Ambassador to Nigeria and former Deputy Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and Dean of the ECOWAS Permanent Representatives while in Nigeria, Ambassador Alhassan Conteh, described Buhari as “a calm and altruistic leader,” noting that his efforts “significantly shaped the relations between Nigeria and Liberia, as well as Nigeria’s role in advancing the development and integration programs of ECOWAS.”
One of the most popular faces in his cabinet, his minister of Works and former governor of Nigeria’s economic powerhouse, Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola, had this to say; “He was perhaps the most punctual public servant I ever encountered, never late to cabinet meetings, always respecting the time of others. It may seem a small thing, but in governance, it is everything. It sets a tone.”
Another aide remembers one of his meetings with King Charles when he was asked whether he owned a house in the UK. “With characteristic honesty,” the aid remembers, Buhari “replied that he did not. He explained that even in Nigeria whatever properties he ever had were acquired before he came into power and that he felt much freer when he had nothing.”
His health was always a cause for concern. Less than a year into his presidency, he flew out for medical treatment, initially staying for two weeks before travelling again for an extended seven weeks stay in London. when he eventually returned to Nigeria in March, 2017, his gaunt frame left no one in doubt about the severity of his health condition. He managed to regain good health but made regular trips abroad for check-ups.
Buhari’s run as a democratically elected president was one of the most controversial in the country’s history as it seemed to coincide with a period when the country, faced with a major insurgency, struggled with an identity crisis that spurred a major political split along ethnic, religious and ideological lines. Many saw him, quite erroneously, as the instigator of a struggle for ethnic dominance of the country’s political space, even as his team struggled to correct the narrative with evidence of his nationalist bent.
Assuming office, Buhari’s popularity, which had also grown in some parts of the south, faced a serious hurdle when, in his first year in office, a previously unknown group, IPOB, emerged seeking the break-away of the Igbo people in the southeast. This campaign would largely define Buhari’s leadership in that part of the country.
He also faced a major political pushback when he launched what many described as Nigeria’s “Night of the long Knives,” with raids on top members of his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet in a seeming political witch-hunt.
Even as he projected the image of a tough anti-graft campaigner, he had become a shadow of the old tough-talking military leader many expected to re-emerge on the political scene. His new leadership style was more conciliatory. Many felt he showed less zeal in addressing allegations of graft levelled against some appointees in his government and in addressing the deepening security and economic challenges that the country faced because of the strange bedfellows in his political reinvention.
With a stalled growth at 1.8 percent in 2018 in a region where several countries recorded 7 to 8 percent growth rate at the time within the same period, hopes of an economic revival under his leadership were quickly dashed as the country suffered two recessions, in 2016 and 2020.
His term in office was not all gloom though. Many public commentators admit that he recorded several successes. A large segment of the country’s public service workers and pensioners will not forget in a hurry that he cleared pension backlogs, paid gratuities, settled pensions of former soldiers who fought on the Biafran side during the 1967 to 70 Nigerian civil war, bailed out states that could not pay salaries, never owed salaries to federal workers, and even paid salaries for staff in some private establishments during COVID-19 pandemic through the MSME Survival Fund.
Even in his reinvention as a Democrat, many felt history was repeating itself. Buhari’s battle against corruption, the same old menace he fought against as Military Head of State in the eighties, provoked similar reactions as it did then. After he came to power through a Coup D’état in January 1984 that overthrew Nigeria’s Second democratically elected government, led by Shehu Shagari, there were suggestions that the anti- corruption campaign then was less focused on strengthening institutional organs and more concentrated on mass incarceration that seemed driven by a personal vendetta against officials of the Shagari government. Many felt he was carrying out same persecution against the Jonathan government.
There was a media backlash against the and long incarceration, of Jonathan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki. Many argued that his persecution was the result of his unrivalled influence within Jonathan’s government and his attempts to derail Buhari’s 2015 election bid.
The paradox that was Buhari’s leadership showed itself again when he strongly advocated for some of Jonathan’s former cabinet members to secure prominent positions in global institutions, even as he hounded other members of the team. He was obviously selective in this purge.
One major event that lost him a lot of support among the youth was his government’s response to nationwide riots popularly known as the “Endsars” protests calling for an end to a notorious unit of the Nigerian Police Force known for its brutal intimidation tactics. The aftermath of a confrontation between protesters and military personnel in Lagos has spawned numerous contradictory accounts, many of which reflected poorly on his leadership.
A lot unravelled at the tail end of Buhari’s tenure. His controversial Naira policy and the many corruption allegations against the governor of the Central Bank at the time, Godwin Emefiele, was further proof that he had very little hold on the government he managed.
His legacy is a mix of discipline, reform, and contradictions. His Spartan ways inspired an almost religious following but also sharp criticism.It must worry his teeming supporters that his time in office will likely be remembered for the many challenges the country faced rather than his other undeniable imprints on its history.
