MAJOR-GENERAL Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd),
Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria (GCFR) was born on December 17, 1942,
in the town of Daura in the former Katsina
province of the then Northern Nigeria.
He is happily married to Aisha Muhammadu
Buhari and has eight children.
He attended primary school in Daura and
Mai’adua from 1948 to 1952, before proceeding
to Katsina Middle School in 1953.
He also attended the Katsina Provincial
Secondary School (now Government College,
Katsina) from 1956 to 1961 and then moved to
the Nigerian Military Training School, Kaduna in
1963.
In October of the same year, he was sent to the
officers’ Cadet School in Aldershot in the United
Kingdom and was thereafter commissioned a
Second Lieutenant in 1963 and posted to the 2nd
Infantry Battalion, Abeokuta as Platoon
Commander in 1963.
From 1963 to 1964, he was sent for further
training on the Platoon Commanders’ Course at
the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna.
In 1965, he went for the Mechanical Transport
Officers’ Course at the Army Mechanical
Transport School in Borden, England and in 1973,
he went to the Defence Services’ Staff College,
Wellington, India before he proceeded to the
United States Army War College from June 1979
to June 1980.
Muhammadu Buhari was Military Governor,
North Eastern State of Nigeria, from August 1975
to March 1976, Federal Commissioner for
Petroleum Resources from March 1976 to June
1978 and the Chairman, Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation from June 1978 to July
1979.
He became a Member of the Supreme Military
Council from March 1976 to June 1979 and the
Military Secretary, Army Headquarters from July
1978 to June 1979, before he assumed the
highest office of Head of State and Commander-
in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces from
December 1983 to August 1985.
He later became The Executive Chairman,
Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund in 1994.
It was during Buhar’s tenure that the Nigerian
National Oil Corporation and the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources were reorganised to form
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC), and he became its first Chairman, a job
he performed without blemish.
He masterminded and spearheaded the
construction of 20 oil depots throughout the
country, a project involving over 3,200 kilometres
of pipelines.
Under his leadership, both Warri and Kaduna
Refineries were built. He also drew up the
blueprint for the country’s petrochemical and
liquefied natural gas programmes — all without a
hint of scandal.
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari launched the War
Against Indiscipline (WAI) as a Head of State and
the policy won him national and universal
applause, as a result of its effectiveness.
He became a renowned anti-corruption Czar, as
a result of his zero tolerance to corruption, which
reduced the menace to its barest minimum while
he was Head of State.
His practical economic policies reduced inflation
from 23 per cent to 4 per cent within 20 months
and kept the Naira stronger than the Dollar with
an exchange rate of N1 to $1.4.
In 2002, Buhari founded a democratic and
political movement — The Buhari Organisation,
otherwise known as Project Nigeria, which
introduced a new concept into Nigerian politics:
Service to the people.
His thirst for true service to Nigeria dragged him
into government, as he registered as a member of
the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP)
In 2003, he emerged the presidential candidate
of the ANPP and picked former Senate President,
the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo as his running
mate.
It was at the party’s national convention in
Abuja that Okadigbo, who was also an ANPP
presidential aspirant, made the statement that “it
takes political sagacity to understand political
arithmetic.”
Buhari contested the presidential election in
2003 and lost to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In 2007, the ANPP was factionalised following
the battle of supremacy among the major party
stakeholders. Even at that, Buhari emerged the
presidential candidate of the party in 2007 and he
picked the late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke as his
running mate.
He lost the election to the late Alhaji Umaru
Musa Yar’Adua of the PDP.
Following the crisis that decimated the ANPP
ahead of the 2011 general elections, Buhari and
his supporters hurriedly founded the Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC).
He said that he had supported the foundation of
the CPC “as a solution to the debilitating, ethical
and ideological conflicts in my former party, the
ANPP.”
Attempts by the opposition parties, namely —
the ANPP, CPC and Action Congress of Nigeria
(ACN) to merge before the 2011 general elections
failed woefully.
Thus, Buhari contested the 2011 presidential
elections on the platform of the CPC and lost to
President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, but not
without a good fight, as he won election in 12
states and gathered over 12 million votes.
Following the move for the merger of the major
opposition parties — ANPP, ACN, CPC and a
faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance
(APGA) — Buhari was among the major
stakeholders that contributed to the
establishment of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) — the first-ever successful political party
merger in the history of the country since
Independence.
Ahead of the APC Third National Convention and
Presidential Primaries held in Lagos between
December 11 and 12, it was obvious to political
observers that Buhari was the man to beat in the
race.
What counted for him is his perceived
acceptability at the grassroots, and penchant for
integrity and transparency — a virtue that is
lacking in most Nigerian politicians today.
Although he has no strong financial base, which
is a major factor in politics, Buhari enjoys the
support of the party governors and other major
stakeholders, who saw him as the right choice for
the party in the 2015 presidential elections.
They worked tirelessly for his victory at the
primaries and many believe that if the party
leaders replicate the same feat in the presidential
election, it may be difficult for the PDP to have an
easy ride, if at all.
No doubt, Buhari has always constituted the
most potent and virile opposition to the ruling
PDP in all the elections he contested, and came
second to the candidate of PDP. This experience
will be an advantage to him in 2015.
In recognition of his numerous and enviable
contributions towards the development of the
country, Buhari has been conferred with a number
of national and international awards.
He is the recipient of the following: Grand
Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR),
Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR),
Defence Service Medal (DSM), National Service
Medal (NSM), General Service Medal (GSM), Loyal
Service and Good Conduct Medal (LSGCM), Force
Service Staff (FSS) and The Congo Medal (CD),
among others.
Buhari, a man with a high level of discipline, who
shuns materialism, has zero tolerance for
corruption.
Hence, he beats his chest publicly that he has
never stolen a kobo of public funds in all the
positions he has occupied and challenged anyone,
who has evidence to the contrary, to unveil so.
Indeed, he is a man with a passion for selfless
service, which he has promised to discharge to
the good people of Nigeria if given the mandate in
2015.
