Man to earth, earth to dust, such is the solemn aftermath for Nigeria’s former military ruler turned civilian president, Muhammadu Buhari, who died at The London Clinic on Sunday, July 13, 2025, after a prolonged illness.

The leader tagged a man of few words but enforcer of thousand actions left the earth at the age of 82.

On Tuesday, 15 2025, The body arrived at Ummaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina at 2 PM and was received by President Bola Tinubu, who was accompanied by his son, Seyi Tinubu, and Yusuf Buhari, the son of the late President.

According to Muslim rites, the late President was buried after the funeral prayer, which took place at 4:56 PM at the Helipad near his residence. The prayer was led by Sheikh Hassan Yusuf, the Chief Imam of Daura.
Buhari’s lifeless body, brought out of a casket, draped in sparkling green-white-green Nigerian colours, was lowered into the grave at exactly 5:50 p.m. in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State, as family, dignitaries, and citizens paid their last respects to a man whose name shaped decades of Nigerian history.

Full military honours and other accompaniments, such as gun salutes and tuneful processions befitting a former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, were accorded to Buhari. Islamic rites also preceded the interment of the former Nigerian leader in Daura.

Military tradition earlier followed with citation of the late army general read by Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa.

Leading the roll call of mourners-in-chief was the former president’s widow, Aisha; Buhari’s successor, President Bola Tinubu; his vice, Kashim Shettima; Buhari’s former deputy, Yemi Osinbajo; former vice president Atiku Abubakar; billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote; serving and former governors, ministers, first-class traditional rulers, religious leaders, among others.

BUHARI, THE GENERAL

From his days in military fatigues to his return as a democratically elected president, Buhari’s legacy admired by some, criticized by others now belongs to the past, written in the dust of Daura.

Buhari, was one of two former military heads of state who were later elected as civilian presidents. Buhari was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985 and president from 2015 to 2023.

The other Nigerian politician to have been in both roles is former president Olusegun Obasanjo. He was a military ruler between 1976 and 1979 and elected president between 1999 and 2007.

The coup that truncated the Shagari government on 31 December 1983 saw the emergence of Buhari as Nigeria’s head of state.

Buhari headed the military government for just under two years. He was ousted in another coup on 27 August 1985.

Buhari led Nigeria cumulatively for nearly a decade. His time as military head of state was marked with a war against corruption but he couldn’t do as much during his time as president under democratic rule.

Buhari headed the military government for just under two years. He was ousted in another coup on 27 August 1985.

While at the helm he vowed that the government would not tolerate kick-backs, inflation of contracts and over-invoicing of imports. Nor would it condone forgery, fraud, embezzlement, misuse and abuse of office and illegal dealings in foreign exchange and smuggling.

Eighteen state governors were tried by military tribunals. Some of the accused received lengthy prison sentences, while others were acquitted or had their sentences commuted.

His government also enacted the notorious Decree 4 under which two journalists, Nduka Irabor and Dele Thompson, were jailed. The charges stemmed from three articles published on the reorganization of Nigeria’s diplomatic service.

Buhari alongside his second-in-command and alter ego, General Tunde Idiagbon, also instituted austerity measures and started a “War Against Indiscipline” which sought to promote positive values in the country. Authoritarian methods were sometimes used in its implementation. Soldiers forced Nigerians to queue, to be punctual and to obey traffic laws.

He also instituted restrictions on press and political freedoms. Labour unions were not spared either. Mass retrenchment of Nigerians in the public service was carried out with impunity.

Buharism, a socio-political and economic ideology attributed to him came for favouring neither communism nor capitalism.

While citizens initially welcomed some of these measures, growing discontent on the economic front made things tougher for the regime. However, the echoes of his military stint prompted a call for his leadership, a second time when Nigeria, under the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was at its lowest.

BUHARI, THE DEMOCRAT

Buhari’s dream to lead Nigeria again through the ballot box failed in 2003, 2007 and 2011. To his credit, he didn’t give up. An alliance of opposition parties succeeded in getting him elected in 2015.

His most famous line upon inauguration in 2015, “I BELONG TO EVERYBODY AND I BELONG TO NOBODY”, marked a strong statement about his commitment to serving the people without external influence. However, Buhari’s government deepened national disunity.

His appointments, often skewed in favour of the northern region and his Fulani kinsmen, fueled accusations of tribalism and marginalisation. His perceived affinity with Fulani herdsmen, despite widespread violence linked to some of them, further eroded public trust in his leadership.

Buhari oversaw a deterioration of Nigeria’s security landscape. Banditry, farmer-herder clashes, kidnapping and separatist agitations escalated. While he fought terrorism in the North-East Nigeria, it later transition to banditry in North-West Nigeria, with large scale kidnapping, large scale killing and even an attack on the railing infrastructure he built

His anti-corruption mantra largely did not succeed. While some high-profile recoveries were made, critics argue that his anti-corruption war was selective and heavily politicised.

Economically, Buhari inherited a troubled system. Though global downturns played a part, Nigeria experienced two recessions during his tenure. Inflation, unemployment, and a weakened naira posed hard questions for the administration. Yet, social investment programmes and agricultural reforms stood as part of his effort to stabilize the nation.

The #EndSARS protests of 2020, which began as youth-led calls to end police brutality, became a national moment. The government’s response and the subsequent Twitter ban left a sour note in public memory. Still, through highs and lows, Buhari retained a calm, unflustered persona rarely reacting to criticisms, often leaving his silence to speak for him.
Amidst all of these shortcomings, Buhari is responsible for some of the biggest infrastructure projects Nigeria has seen, from roads, to rails, to bridges.

THE FINAL DEATH

In life, Buhari embodied discipline, restraint, and a near-spartan personal ethic. He was not given to flamboyance or the politics of charisma. His style was measured sometimes to a fault and his public image, like the man himself, remained austere.

To his admirers, he was a statesman of rare integrity who offered a stabilizing presence. To his critics, he was distant, a leader who governed more from above than among the people.

But as his body returned to the red earth of Daura, there was something universal about the moment. Not just the end of a long political career, but the closure of a particular era in Nigeria; where khaki and democracy danced in the same figure.

In that grave lies a man who bore the weight of Nigeria’s expectations, lived through its turbulence, and became part of its unfinished story.

He has gone.
BUT how would Young Nigerians remember him?  The ENDSARS protest; the shooting by the military, Twitter Ban, the casualty, the CBN redesign Note/Cashless Policy in 2023. However, the older generation will recall him MR INTEGRITY; the man responsible for the payment of their arears, pension and gratuity at time when it appears forgotten.

The debates will continue, his “death”. But in the silence of Daura’s dust, history has taken its turn.