Muhammadu Buhari is a Nigerian politician currently serving as the President of Nigeria, in office since 2015.
Background
Muhammadu Buhari was born to a Fulani family on 17 December 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, to his father Hardo Adamu, a Fulani chief, and mother Zulaihat. He is the twenty-third child of his father. Buhari was raised by his mother after his father died when he was about four years old.
Education
Buhari enrolled at age 19 in the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) in 1962. In February 1964, the college was upgraded to an officer commissioning unit of the Nigerian Army and renamed the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) (prior to 1964, the Nigerian government sent cadets who had completed their NMTC preliminary training to mostly Commonwealth military academies for officer cadet training). From 1962 to 1963, Buhari underwent officer cadet training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot in England.
Career
He was appointed a federal commissioner for petroleum resources by Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who became military head of state when Gowon’s successor, Murtala Mohammed, was assassinated in 1976. By 1977 Buhari had become the military secretary at Supreme Military Headquarters, which was the seat of government. By September 1979 he had returned to regular army duties and commanded a division based in Kaduna. Although the civilian government had returned to Nigeria in 1979 with the election of Shehu Shagari, dissatisfaction with dismal economic conditions and what the military perceived as corrupt politicians led to another military coup on December 31, 1983, and Buhari was chosen unanimously to be the new head of state.
Many of the economic problems that had existed under the Shagari administration also plagued the Buhari regime, and Buhari instituted austerity measures. He took a tough stance on corruption: during his tenure, hundreds of politicians and business officials were tried and convicted or awaited trial on corruption-related charges. His regime launched the “War Against Indiscipline,” a program which sought to promote positive values in Nigerian society, although authoritarian methods were sometimes used in the program’s implementation. In an effort to stop dissent against his policies, Buhari instituted restrictions on the press, political freedoms, and trade unionists.
Although many Nigerian citizens had initially welcomed Buhari’s efforts to root out corruption and improve societal values, the repressive measures employed by his regime, against a backdrop of continuing economic troubles, led to discontent. By August 1985 even the military had had enough and on August 27 Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida took control of the government. Buhari was detained in Benin City but was released at the end of 1988.
In 2003 Buhari ran for president and was defeated by the incumbent, Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Buhari ran again in 2007 but was defeated by the PDP’s candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua, in an election that was strongly criticized by international observers as being marred by voting irregularities. Buhari also stood in the 2011 presidential election, which was praised for largely being transparent, free, and fair, but he again lost to the PDP’s candidate, incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.
In 2014 the All Progressives Congress (APC) party nominated Buhari to stand as its candidate in the 2015 presidential election. His reputation for being incorruptible and his military background made him an attractive candidate, whom many Nigerians hoped might be able to more effectively handle the threat posed by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, whose violent acts had terrorized parts of the country in recent years. The March 28 presidential election had 14 candidates, although the real contest was seen as being between Buhari and Jonathan, who was again the PDP’s candidate. In what was Nigeria’s most closely fought election ever, Buhari garnered the most votes - some 2.5 million more than Jonathan, his closest competitor—and was declared the winner. His win marked the first time that the incumbent president had been defeated in Nigeria. Buhari was inaugurated on May 29, 2015.
Achievements
Religion
On 4 January 2015, while campaigning for the 2015 general election, Buhari stated that he favoured freedom of religion, that every Nigerian should be free and secure to practice their different religions. Buhari said, "Religion must never be used as an excuse to divide us, oppress others or gain unfair advantage. All my life I have expressed the belief that all Nigerians must worship God according to their wish."
Politics
He is a retired major general in the Nigerian Army and previously served as the nation's head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power in a military coup d'état. The term Buharism is ascribed to the Buhari military government.
He unsuccessfully ran for the office of president of Nigeria in the 2003, 2007, and 2011 general elections. In December 2014, he emerged as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the March 2015 general elections. Buhari won the election, defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. This marked the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent president lost to an opposition candidate in a general election. He was sworn in on 29 May 2015.
Buhari has stated that he takes responsibility for anything over which he presided during his military rule, and that he cannot change the past. He has described himself as a "converted democrat".
Views
In 1983, when Chadian forces invaded Nigeria in the Borno State, Buhari used the forces under his command to chase them out of the country, crossing into Chadian territory in spite of an order given by President Shagari to withdraw. This 1983 Chadian military affair led to more than 100 victims and "prisoners of war".
In 2012, Buhari's name was included on a list published by Boko Haram of individuals it would trust to mediate between the group and the Federal Government. However, Buhari strongly objected and declined to mediate between the government and Boko Haram. In 2013, Muhammadu Buhari made a series of statements, when he asked the Federal Government to stop the killing of Boko Haram members and blamed the rise of the terrorist group on the prevalence of Niger Delta militants in the South. Buhari stated that "what is responsible for the security situation in the country is caused by the activities of Niger Delta militants [...] The Niger Delta militants started it all". He also questioned the special treatment including close to $500 million a year paid to 30,000 militants under the amnesty programme since 2013 by the Federal Government and deplored the fact that Boko Haram members were killed and their houses destroyed.
In May 2014, in the wake of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, Buhari strongly denounced the Boko Haram insurgency. He "urged Nigerians to put aside religion, politics and all other divisions to crush the insurgency he said is fanned by mindless bigots masquerading as Muslims".
In December 2014, Buhari pledged to enhance security in Nigeria, if he wins the general elections on 14 February 2015, which were later rescheduled for 28 March 2015. Since this announcement, Buhari's approval ratings reportedly have skyrocketed amongst the Nigerian people (largely due to the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan's apparent inability to fight Boko Haram's brutal insurgency). Buhari made internal security and wiping out the militant group one of the key pillars of his campaigning.
Quotations:
Previously, Buhari gave his support for the total implementation of Sharia in the country. He was quoted in 2001 as saying, "I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria", he then added: "God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country."
Buhari has denied all allegations that he has a radical Islamist agenda. On 6 January 2015, Buhari said: "Because they can't attack our record, they accuse me falsely of ethnic jingoism; they accuse me falsely of religious fundamentalism. Because they cannot attack our record, they accuse us falsely of calling for election violence – when we have only insisted on peace. Even as Head of State, we never imposed Sha'riah."
Membership
From 1978 to 1979, he was Military Secretary at the Army Headquarters and was a member of the Supreme Military Council from 1978 to 1979.
Supreme Military Council
1978 - 1979
Connections
In 1971, Buhari married his first wife, Safinatu (née Yusuf) Buhari (First lady of Nigeria December 1983 – August 1985). They had five children together, four girls and one boy. Their first daughter, Zulaihat (Zulai) was named after Buhari's mother. Their other children are Fatima, Musa (deceased son), Hadiza, and Safinatu.
In 1988, Buhari and his first wife Safinatu divorced. In December 1989, Buhari married his second and current wife Aisha Buhari (née Halilu). They also had five children together, a boy and four girls: Aisha, Halima, Yusuf, Zahra and Amina.
On 14 January 2006, Safinatu Buhari, the former first lady, died from complications of diabetes. She was buried at Unguwar Rimi cemetery in accordance with Islamic rites.
In November 2012, Buhari's first daughter, Zulaihat (née Buhari) Junaid died from sickle cell anaemia, two days after having a baby at a hospital in Kaduna.