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President Buhari @ 80: Twelve Things Nigerians Need To Know

Published

3 years ago

December 17, 2022

By Garba Shehu

First thing to know is that President Muhammadu Buhari, retired General and former Military Head of State, was born in Daura on December 17, 1942. He lost his father at the early age of three years.

He was enlisted in primary school by the District Head of Daura, Waziri Alasan and fell under the guardianship of his older brother, Alhaji Dauda Daura, Malam Mamman’s father, then a Head Master at Mai Aduwa, from where the young Buhari went to the middle and secondary schools.

After his education at the now Government College Katsina, he went to the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna which is now known as the Nigerian Defence Academy. He trained at the Mons Officer Cadet School, a British Military training school in Aldershot and also attended the US Army War College (USAWC) Carlisle, Pennsylvania and the National Defence College, New Delhi, India.

Apparently, Muhammadu Buhari, as a young officer, had already been gifted with “wisdom and strength for the future,” the motto of the USAWC even before he got there.

The young Buhari was sent by his country to Congo (DRC) on a UN Peace Keeping mission assigned to command a battalion commander, but in carrying out his duty, he almost lost his life before earning his first salary.

Caught in a tricky and the dangerous situation of either protecting a prisoner to face the wrath of 5,000 armed natives and, possibly his losing his life and the relatively small number of 400 men under him, or finding another a solution to mollify the mob, he gathered the needed courage and wisdom to stop a major tragedy from happening.

By this, he saved his own life and the troops under him.

As a soldier, he fought in the 30 months Nigerian Civil War and did not take a single day off while the war lasted. He traversed the entire Eastern Region literally on foot and suffered a gunshot in the lower leg. He was the second in command in the battalion that fired the first shot in the war.

Two. He was a military Governor of the Northeast, now broken into six states as a young Colonel and thereafter, Federal Commissioner (Minister) and Chairman, Nigerian National Oil Corporation, now renamed NNPCL.

As a General, he had the record of commanding all four army divisions they had in their time. As Military Secretary, he did the meticulous work of the documenting the records of the entire officer corps.
That is why it baffled him to no end that some officers in Army Records Office, obviously playing politics with the issue in 2015, claimed that the army didn’t have his WAEC certificate, which was no more than a ploy to stop him as a candidate in the election.

Three. As a politician with more than four million followers on Twitter and an equally huge following on Facebook, Instagram and the others, President Buhari is one of the most popular politicians that this country has ever produced.

Four. He holds the record of being the first opposition candidate to defeat an incumbent in an election to take office as President of Nigeria. He is the only non-PDP President to win two consecutive terms of four years. He is a charismatic leader with the capability to sway the masses. In all five elections he ran as president, three of which were recorded as losses, there was none in which he got less than 12 million votes.

Five. The COVID-19 pandemic seized the world by its collar. COVID-19 lockdown shut all businesses and threw people out of their jobs all over the world. National economies slowed down and were in a recession in all countries but China. Nigerian government under President Buhari pulled out the country out of the COVID-induced recession at a global record time. No Nigerian bodies were picked on the streets from COVID deaths as the pundits projected. In fact, West Africa suffered the least number of casualties in the subregional grouping on the continent, thanks to the ECOWAS COVID-19 Champion, working with regional leadership, the AU and the UN.

Six. In seven-and-a-half years, he is credited with the introduction of some of the country’s long delayed reforms, among these is a most ambitious infrastructure push since the 1970s – delivering roads, rail, ports, power plants, airports etc; and deploying innovative financing mechanisms like the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), Executive Order 7, Sukuk Bonds, and Green Bonds.

Seven. He is presiding over the largest program of legislative reforms in Nigeria’s history: the Company and Allied Matters Act, CAMA revised for the first time in 30 years, Prisons Act for the first time in almost 50 years, Police Act for the first time in 70 years. And a surfeit of all the new Acts too – the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Climate Change, the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offenses, SPOMO, the Finance Acts, Electoral Amendment, the new Terrorism Act, among others.

Eight. The President is building the largest social investment program in Africa, and one of the largest in the world, serving tens of millions of Nigerians. The school feeding component, giving a free meal a day to 10 million children has increased school enrollment and lowered the distressing number of out-of-school children in our country.

Nine. The President is successful in rebuilding the confidence of the Nigerian military, and degrading Boko Haram/ISWAP. He has commenced the rebuilding of the Northeast; making the biggest investments made in military platforms and assets in more than 40 years; Police Reforms (New Police Act, Police Trust Fund, Community Policing, Police Recruitment of 10,000 men in uniform every year, community policing, New Police Salary Structure); Nigeria’s Coastal Waters (in the Gulf of Guinea) are the safest they have ever been in almost three decades.

Ten. In the sphere of foreign affairs, the President has distinguished himself as a global leader respected by the world. He has enhanced Nigeria’s standing in the International Community. At the African Union, AU he is the outgoing Anti-Corruption Champion; at the ECOWAS, he has performed wonderfully as Covid-19 Champion; His leadership of the Lake Chad Basin Commission has come to an end with a lot of benefits, not least the degradation of Boko Haram terrorism. His recent inauguration as the Chairman of the committee of of Heads of State of the African Great Green Wall Agency is to fortify the continent against harmful effects of the climate change.

Under his leadership Nigeria presented Ambassador (Professor) Mohammed Bande, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative as the President of the UN General Assembly, and Mrs Amina Mohammed got appointed and reappointed as the Deputy Secretary General of the UN. He spearheaded the campaign for the election of Dr. Ngozi Okwonjo-Iweala, NOI as the World Trade Organization, WTO DG- the first for an African and the female gender, and promoted the election and reelection of Akin Adesina for the Second Term in AfDB – in the face of concerted opposition. He sealed the very helpful military deals with the US Government; made bold interventions to restore stability in Gambia and Guinea Bissau and Nigerians have been pushed into holding leadership positions in recent years at the International Criminal Court, African Civil Aviation Commission, and several others.

Eleven. Muhammadu Buhari as a young army Colonel and Federal Commissioner for Petroleum Resources was convinced by science, not geopolitics or native instinct that oil and other hydrocarbons were plenty in existence in the Northern States as well as the Southwest and knew that the political stability of the nation will be helped by the sense psychological equality or balancing its discovery could help to bring.

He fought hard for this as Federal Commissioner Petroleum Resources and Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation until his very last day in office but it didn’t work.

When he found himself in office as elected President 30 years after leaving oil, he resumed his passions as oil finder at the Lake Chad Basin area, considered a low hanging fruit until kidnapping and killings by the Boko Haram terrorist group spoiled things up.

Explorations shifted to the Benue trough map and his vindication came by way of the unveiling of the Kolmani Oil Well straddling Bauchi and Gombe states, promising more than a billion barrels of crude oil an over 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The project has already attracted over USD 3 billion in investment. For doing the most work to discover the new oil fields, President Buhari deserves a gold medal, and the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, an easy ride to power for the promise he made to take the explorations further afield.

Twelve. While the work of nation-building under his incomparable hardwork, dedication and creativity continues to advance the country in many ways, the same cannot be said of some follow country who put all manner of obstacles in the way to accomplishing two major projects about which he very passionate: completing and commissioning of the Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill and construction of the 3, 500 megawatts Mambila Electricity Power Project. Thankfully, the long-drawn legal tussle on Ajaokuta just got ended and the Minister, Solid Minerals Development Arch. Olamilekan Adegbite has already hit the road running, hoping to achieve what is possible before the administration ends its term.

While the legal contestation for Ajaokuta was ongoing, the country under President Buhari has begun to record progress in the production of liquid steel through the private sector.

Same, however, cannot be said of Mambila Power Project where the problems have defied solutions. ChinaExim has withheld funding to Mambila as did the Qatari Sovereign Wealth Fund due to the challenges by one man claiming to have a contract that doesn’t exist anywhere. We are hearing that he wants to be paid on the basis of this improperly awarded contract to be paid money in hundreds of million of US Dollars to cover the cost of his litigation. President Buhari is not one to give anyone free money from the treasury.

As he marks this milestone by attaining the age of 80, in extraordinarily state of high physical and mental fitness, Muhammadu Buhari’s life continues to symbolize service to the nation and humanity as well as dedication and commitment to the building of of a secure, stronger and prosperous Nigeria.

• Garba Shehu is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.

Headline

British Family Accused Of Boarding Dead Grandmother On EasyJet Flight

Published

3 days ago

December 20, 2025

Editor

A British family has been accused of trying to board a dead relative onto an EasyJet flight from Málaga, Spain, to London Gatwick on Thursday, passengers said.

The woman, reportedly 89 years old, was wheeled onto the plane by five family members, who told airline staff she was unwell and had fallen asleep.

Witnesses said the woman was pushed in a wheelchair to the rear of the plane and lifted into her seat. Some claimed they overheard a family member tell a boarding clerk, “It’s OK, she’s just tired,” adding, “It’s OK, we’re doctors.”

Just before takeoff, the cabin crew realized the woman had died, and the plane was turned around, delaying the flight by 12 hours.

Petra Boddington, a passenger, said: “easyJet, when did you start letting dead people onto planes? Seriously!” Another, Tracy-Ann Kitching, added: “I saw her being wheeled onto the plane; someone was holding her head as they passed me! A doctor on board confirmed that was already dead when they sat her down.”

EasyJet has denied that a deceased person boarded the plane. The airline said the passenger had a fit-to-fly certificate and was alive when she boarded.

“The flight returned to the stand prior to take-off due to a customer on board requiring urgent medical assistance. The flight was met by emergency services, but sadly the customer passed away,” a spokesperson said.

The Guardia Civil in Málaga confirmed officers attended the aircraft, and the woman was declared dead on board. No arrests have been made.

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Russian Strike On Odesa Region Kills Eight, Injures 27

Published

3 days ago

December 20, 2025

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Ukraine’s State Emergency Service has reported at least eight people killed and 27 others injured on Friday night after a Russian ballistic missile strike hit the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa.

According to Ukrainian authorities, the attack targeted port infrastructure facilities in the town of Pivdenne, near Odesa, and damaged nearby civilian vehicles.

The strike came one week after much of Odesa was left without power, heat, and water following a “severe” aerial assault.

“Some of the injured were on a bus that was at the epicenter of the shelling. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot, and cars were also damaged,” the State Emergency Service said.

Emergency officials said the deaths occurred at a port infrastructure facility. Medical teams and first responders were deployed after the strike, but their work was disrupted by “ongoing air raid alerts,” according to Oleh Kiper, head of Odesa’s regional administration.

Russia has carried out repeated attacks on Odesa in recent days, damaging port facilities, civilian vessels, and key infrastructure.

Two major bridges linking the northern and southern parts of the Odesa region have also been hit, with repairs under way, Kiper said.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported a “massive” drone attack on the southern Mykolayiv region, which damaged civilian infrastructure and vehicles. No casualties were reported.

Odesa, Ukraine’s largest seaport and a major hub in the Black Sea region, has been a frequent target since the start of the war.

Last week, civilian, energy, and industrial sites in the city suffered extensive damage after what regional officials described as “one of the enemy’s most severe airstrikes,” leaving many areas without power and water.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has not commented on the attack.

Speaking hours before the strike during his annual Direct Line call-in show, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was yet to “see Ukraine’s readiness for peace”.

“[Russia] is ready for negotiations and for ending the conflict via peaceful means,” Putin said, adding that it was up to Russia’s “Western opponents” to end the war.

(CNN)

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Aircraft Crashes In Owerri With Four Persons Onboard

Published

6 days ago

December 17, 2025

Editor

Photo: File copy

A Cessna 172 aircraft with registration number 5N-ASR, operated by Skypower Express, has crashed at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, Imo State.

The aircraft had departed Kaduna International Airport en route to Port Harcourt International Airport before diverting to Owerri after the crew declared an emergency.

The crash occurred at about 8:00 pm on the airport premises, with four passengers and crew members onboard.

Confirming the incident, the Director, Public Affairs and Family Assistance of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Mrs. Bimbo Oladeji, said the agency had been notified of the crash.

According to the NSIB, the aircraft crashed on the approach area of Runway 17, but no fatalities have been recorded so far.

The statement said: “Following the occurrence, airport emergency services were successfully activated and arrived on site promptly. Reports indicate that there was no post-crash fire, and the runway remains active for flight operations, with other aircraft taking off safely after the incident.

“Efforts are currently underway to coordinate the recovery and evacuation of the distressed aircraft from the crash site to allow for a detailed wreckage examination.”

The NSIB said it has officially activated its investigation protocols in line with its statutory mandate

The Director-General of NSIB, Capt. Alex Badeh Jr., sympathised with the management of Skypower Express over the incident and expressed relief that no lives were lost.

Badeh Jr. added that the Bureau’s investigation team is already coordinating with relevant authorities to secure the crash site and commence a detailed investigation into the cause of the accident.

Two days ago, 11 persons narrowly escaped death as a private jet crash-landed at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Sunday morning.

The occupants, including passengers and cabin crew, were safely evacuated amid an intense atmosphere, eyewitnesses told The Guardian.

The private jet, owned by Flybird Aviation, crash-landed at about 9:30 a.m. while approaching Kano Airport en route to Abuja.

The incident attracted urgent attention, with emergency staff and other stakeholders converging at the runway to render rescue operations.

The management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is yet to release an official statement on the incident. Unofficial sources disclosed that the passengers have been taken to an unknown destination.

Several aircraft incidents have occurred at Kano Airport, with several lives lost.

The last incident occurred in May 2002, when an EAS Airline aircraft departed the runway at Aminu Kano International Airport at 1:29 p.m. local time en route to Lagos.