Condolences have started pouring in from parts of the world over the passing of former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari with the latest being from the Prime Minister of India, Narenda Modi.
In a Monday post on X (formerly Twitter), Modi lionised the wisdom and commitment of the late ex-president leader to India-Nigeria relationship during his eight-year administration.
“Deeply saddened by the passing of former President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari, Modi wrote.
“I fondly recall our meetings and conversations on various occasions. His wisdom, warmth and unwavering commitment to India–Nigeria friendship stood out.
“I join the 1.4 billion people of India in extending our heartfelt condolences to his family, the people and the government of Nigeria.”
Buhari, whose ramrod-straight posture endeared him to many, died in London on Sunday at about 4.30 pm, following a prolonged illness, though the nature of the illness was not disclosed. Buhari had fell ill in 2017 and was flown to the UK sometimes early in May of that year and returned later in August of the same year.
Buhari, who hailed from Daura, Katsina State, in Nigeria’s North-West zone served as the country’s military head of state between January 1984 and August 1985.
Known as ‘Baba Buhari’ on the streets of northern Nigeria where he enjoined an unparallel, cult-like following, the late president was a political force that many of his colleagues couldn’t disregard.
With the country’s return to democracy in 1999, Buhari contested for president in 2003, 2007 and 2011 but he lost despite having 12 million votes in each of the elections.
In 2013, his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) joined forces with Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), some factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to birth the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In the 2015 election, riding on their ‘Change’ mantra, Buhari with his running mate Yemi Osinbajo ousted then-incumbent Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP and got themselves the much-coveted Aso Villa spot.
Both Buhari and Osinbajo were sworn in on May 29, 2015 and returned elected on May 29, 2019. Their victory was the first time in the Fourth Republic that an opposition defeated an incumbent president and the party in power. Both men handed over to their partymen Tinubu and Shettima on May 29, 2023.
Buhari championed an anti-corruption war but his eight-year administration was fraught with some of the nation’s biggest sleaze involving his appointees. There were also claims by some of his appointees that he didn’t exercise his oversight duty upon their activities but his spokesman Garba Shehu and other allies of the late president had faulted these claims.
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