The Man Who Will Become President

Profile of General Mohammadu Buhari 

Mohammadu Buhari is a Nigerian politician and a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army who was the military ruler of Nigeria from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985. The term Buharism is ascribed to the Buhari military government. He also ran unsuccessfully for the office of the President of Nigeria in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections. In December 2014, he emerged as the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the 2015 elections. His ethnic background is Fulani, and his faith is Islam; he is a native of Daura in Katsina State of Nigeria.

Marriage, Family and Personal Life

In 1971, Buhari got married to his first wife, the former first lady of Nigeria, Safinatu (née Yusuf) Buhari. They had five children together, four girls and one boy. Their first daughter, was Zulaihat (Zulai) named after Buhari’s mother. The other children are Fatima, Musa (deceased), Hadiza, and Safinatu named after her mother, Buhari's first wife.

In 1988, Buhari and his first wife Safinatu got divorced. In December 1989, Buhari got married to his second and current wife Aisha (née Halilu) Buhari. They also have five children together. One boy and four girls. They are Aisha, Halima, Yusuf, Zarah and Amina.

On 14 January 2006, Safinatu Buhari, the former first lady of Nigeria and Buhari's first wife, 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.

Early Career

Buhari joined the Nigerian Army in 1962, when he attended the Nigerian Military Training College (in 1964 it was renamed the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA) in Kaduna. From 1962-1963, he underwent Officer Cadets training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot in England, United Kingdom (Mons OCS was officially closed down in 1972).

In January 1963, Buhari was commissioned as second lieutenant, and appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta, Nigeria. From November 1963- January 1964, Buhari attended the Platoon Commanders’ Course at the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna. In 1964, he facilitated his military training by attending the Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, United Kingdom.

From 1965-1967, Buhari served as Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion. He was appointed Brigade Major, Second Sector, First Infantry Division, April 1967 to July 1967.

Buhari was made Brigade Major of the Third Infantry Brigade, July 1967 to October 1968 and Brigade Major/Commandant, Thirty-first Infantry Brigade, 1970-1971.

Buhari served as the Assistant Adjutant-General, First Infantry Division Headquarters, 1971-1972. He also attended the Defence Services’ Staff College, Wellington, India, in 1973.

From 1974-1975 Buhari was appointed Acting Director, Transport and Supply, Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport Headquarters.

He was also made Military Secretary, Army Headquarters,1978-1979, and was a member of the Supreme Military Council, 1978-1979.

From 1979 -1980, at the rank of colonel, Buhari attended the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States of America and gained a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies.

Other roles include:

• General Officer Commanding, 4th Infantry Division, Aug. 1980 – Jan. 1981
• General Officer Commanding, 2nd Mechanized Infantry Division, Jan. 1981 – October 1981
• General Officer Commanding, 3rd Armed Division Nigerian Army, October 1981 – December 1983

Governor of North Eastern State

In August 1975, after General Murtala Mohammed took power that year, he appointed Buhari as Governor of the North-Eastern State, to oversee social, economic and political improvements in the state.

In February 1976, the North Eastern state was divided by the then Military Government into Bauchi, Borno and Gongola states. In August 1991, Yobe state was created from Borno state, while Gongola state was split into two states, Taraba and Adamawa. In October 1996, Gombe State was created from Bauchi State.

Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources

In March 1976, the then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Buhari as the Federal Commissioner (position now called Minister) for Petroleum and Natural Resources. When the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was created in 1976, Buhari was also appointed as its Chairman, a position he held until 1978.

Head of State

Major-General Buhari was selected as Head of State to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup d'etat that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983. At the time, Buhari was head of the Third Armored Division of Jos. Buhari was appointed Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration). Buhari justified the military's seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt, and his administration subsequently initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as "War Against Indiscipline" (WAI). This policy won him national and universal applause, as a result of its effectiveness.

Economic Policy

In order to reform the economy, as Head of State, Buhari started to rebuild the nation's social-political and economic systems, along the realities of Nigeria's austere economic conditions. The rebuilding included removing or cutting back the excesses in national expenditure, obliterate or remove completely corruption from the nation's social ethics, shifting from mainly public sector employment to self employment. Buhari also encouraged import substitution industrialisation based to a great extent on the use of local materials and he tightened importation.

On 7 May 1984, Buhari announce publicly for the first time his administration's 1984 National Budget. The budget had in it::

• A temporary ban on recruiting federal public sector workers
• Raising of Interest rates
• Halting Capital Projects
• Prohibition of borrowing by State governments
• 15% cut from Shagari's 1983 Budget
• Realignment of import duties
• Reducing the balance of payment deficit by cutting imports
• It also gave priority to the importation of raw materials and spare parts that were needed for agriculture and industry.

Other economic measures by Buhari took the form of counter trade, currency change, price reduction of goods and services.

Foreign Policy

Buhari's Military government continued largely with the foreign policy they inherited from Shehu Shagari. In January 1984, in his new year broadcast speech, Buhari stated that he would maintain and enhance diplomatic relations with all countries and international organisations such as the OAU, UN, OPEC, ECOWAS and the Commonwealth of Nations. He also stated that he would honour all treaty obligations entered into by previous governments, which he did.

Buhari's foreign policy also focused on Africa, mostly Nigeria's Neighbours due to financial commitments.

1985 coup and detention

In August 1985, Major General Buhari was himself overthrown in a coup led by General Ibrahim Babangida and other members of the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC). Babangida brought many of Buhari's most vocal critics into his administration, including Fela Kuti's brother Olukoye Ransome-Kuti, a doctor who had led a strike against Buhari to protest declining health care services. Buhari was then detained in Benin City until 1988.

Buhari's admirers believe that he was overthrown by corrupt elements in his government who were afraid of being brought to justice as his policies were beginning to yield tangible dividends in terms of public discipline, curbing corruption, lowering inflation, enhancing workforce and improving productivity.

Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund

Buhari served as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), a body created by the government of Genera Sani Abacha, and funded from the revenue generated by the increase in price of petroleum products, to pursue developmental projects around the country. A 1998 report in New African praised the PTF under Buhari for its transparency, calling it a rare "success story". However, the same report also noted that critics had questioned the PTF's allocation of 20% of its resources to the military, which the critics feared would not be accountable for the revenue.

Politics

In 2003, Buhari contested the presidential election as the candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP). He was defeated by the People's Democratic Party nominee, President Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, by a margin of more than eleven million votes.

On 18 December 2006, Gen. Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party. His main challenger in the April 2007 polls was the ruling PDP candidate, Umaru Yar'Adua, who hailed from the same home state of Katsina. In the election, Buhari officially took 18% of the vote against 70% for Yar'Adua, but Buhari rejected these results. After Yar'Adua took office, the ANPP agreed to join his government, but Buhari denounced this agreement.

In March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a party that he had helped to found. He said that he had supported foundation of the CPC "as a solution to the debilitating, ethical and ideological conflicts in my former party the ANPP".

Buhari was the CPC Presidential candidate in the 16 April 2011 general election, running against incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP. They were the major contenders among 20 contestants. He was running on an anti-corruption platform and pledged to remove immunity protections from government officials. He also gave support to enforcement of Sharia law in Nigeria's northern states, which had previously caused him political difficulties among Christian voters in the country's south. However, he remains a "folk hero" to some for his vocal opposition to corruption. Buhari won 12,214,853 votes, coming second to the incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, who polled 22,495,187 votes and was declared the winner.

Security Challenges

In May 2014, in the wake of the 2014 Chibok 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, Major-General Buhari (rtd) pledged to enhance security in Nigeria, if he won the general elections on 14 February 2015.

Awards

Major-General Buhari (rtd) has received several awards and medals. In alphabetical order they include:

• Defence Service Medal (DSM)
• Forces Service Star (FSS)
• General Service Medal (GSM)
• Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GCFR)
• Loyal Service and Good Conduct Medal (LSGCM)
• National Service Medal (NSM)