Reactions have continued to trail the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who died on Sunday at a London hospital after battling an undisclosed illness. Though the nature of the illness was not disclosed, the former president had been in London in the last couple of days undergoing treatment.
President Bola Tinubu, who announced the death of his predecessor in a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to proceed to London to accompany his body home for burial on Tuesday in Daura.
“He was, like all of us, a flawed man, and was criticised for his transgressions. But his watch is over. So, to describe as punishment the long life of someone who lived into his eighties, especially by those half or a quarter his age, is an exercise in irony. It suggests that those of us who might die younger were the less favoured by God.
“This is not to gaslight those who feel they have something to say. Every citizen reserves the right to remember a public figure in a manner shaped by their experience. But just as we cannot dictate memory, neither can we impose empathy. Some people were raised on a different moral code, one that allows families the space to grieve, one that recognises that death, no matter how polarising the life that preceded it, is a pause that invites us to reflect on our own impermanence.
“The choice to show kindness, even to those with whom we once disagreed, is not hypocrisy. It is what defines our humanity. It is what separates us from lesser creatures, a moral sense of duty to honour life, even in its silence. May Allah forgive his shortcoming, and repose his soul.”
Activist Omoyele Sowore in a post via X, described the late Buhari as a tyrant.
He said: “Muhammadu Buhari slaughtered hundreds of Shiites, men, women, and even children
“He ordered soldiers of the @HQNigerianArmy to open fire on peaceful #EndSARS protesters waving the Nigerian flag.
“He “disappeared” Dadiyata.
“He ordered the massacre of young Southeasterners he branded IPOB.
“He disobeyed court orders, jailed critics arbitrarily, destroyed the economy, and ruined everything he touched.
Maryam Shetty, a former ministerial nominee, while recounting her last encounter with the late president, said his death has left Nigeria visibly shaken.
“I remember my last encounter with you earlier this year. We visited you in Daura. I met you in your small, austere living room—just a bookshelf, a tea table, a blue sofa, and two guest chairs. Naturally, I sat on the floor, like I always have… I knew I wouldn’t be there for long, as you gently chided us for it, like you always did,” she wrote on X.
“What a shy, humble person you’ve always been. With a soft smile, you walked up to the shelf and picked out a book, casually dusting it off—though I wasn’t entirely sure there was any dust at all. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to know its title now.
“The first words that came out of my mouth were, ‘Baba, what kind of courage did it take to rule Nigeria?’ You simply smiled and shook your head. We chatted for a few minutes, and then it was time to go. We reluctantly took our leave, not knowing it would be the last time we’d ever set our eyes on the revered Baba Buhari again.
“Your passing has left Nigeria visibly shaken. The news spread through the length and breadth of the nation you once led; the nation that revered you.”
Bashir Ahmad, digital media aide to late president, said: “There is hardly any individual, dead or alive, friend or foe, who has ever encountered former President Muhammadu Buhari, whether during his days in the Nigerian Army or as a civilian leader and walked away with a bad memory of him.
Reactions
Reacting, some Nigerians expressed happiness, while others prayed for his soul to rest in paradise.
Gimba Kakanda, senior special assistant to the President on Research and Analytics, Office of the Vice President, in a post on X, tackled those celebrating over the former president’s death.
He wrote: Former President Muhammadu Buhari was arguably the luckiest Nigerian of our time, perhaps of all time. While former President Olusegun Obasanjo holds the record for the longest opportunity ever given to a Nigerian to lead the nation, closely followed by Buhari, what the latter enjoyed was a peculiar form of affection that will continue to intrigue generations of historians. That adoration did not come by accident.
“Even Buhari’s critics recognised that his popularity was no myth. He stood apart because he differed from others who held the same office or even lesser ones. He was demonstrably frugal. If he had pursued the primitive accumulation of wealth that defined many of his peers, he would easily have been among the wealthiest of them all.
“We are all humans and prone to mistakes so seeking forgiveness for the dead is a way to beseech Allah to bestow his mercy on them for his forgiveness. We all believe that it is not entirely the deeds of a Muslim that would take them to Al jannah but through the Mercy of Allah. So it is important that we seek for forgiveness for the dead.”
He went on to state that except from the non-payment of debt, the Prophet has already said Allah has the power to forgive anyone no he wills.
DAILY TRUST.
