Diaspora (Commonwealth Union) _The death of Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria‘s former military dictator and later civilian president, has exposed the tangled contradictions of a leader who was both the promise and the danger of Africa’s most populous country. His death in London at 81 brings to a close one chapter on one of Nigeria’s most impactful, but also most divisive, figures—a man who initially grabbed power by coup in 1983 before amazingly returning through democratic election 32 years later.
Buhari’s presidential election victory in 2015 had initially generated hope on the ticket of crushing Boko Haram’s insurgency and putting an end to Nigeria’s culture of corruption. At the conclusion of his two-term civilian regime in 2023, however, the majority of Nigerians felt deceived. The crisis of security had widened, the economy had collapsed, and the once-general’s authoritarian tendency re-emerged through social media bans and deadly suppressions of protesters.
A Legacy of Contradictions
- Security Paradox: Released some Chibok schoolgirls safely but left thousands unaccounted for during his administration
- Economic Decline: Presided over recession, currency crisis, and inflation in the face of plenty of oil plenty
- Health Hypocrisy: Sought foreign, taxpayer-funded treatment while hospitals crumbled in Nigeria
- Democratic Evolution: He was elected president after serving as a military dictator, during which he stifled civil liberties.
Incumbent President Bola Tinubu‘s fulsome eulogy of Buhari as “a patriot to the core” is contrasted starkly with muted reactions across a nation still coming to terms with the problems he failed to address. The divided reaction mirrors Nigeria’s own: between north and south, between military past and democratic aspiration.
Buhari’s career is a reflection of the turbulent political journey of post-colonial Africa. His 1980s military dictatorship was characterized by stringent discipline (latecomers did squats, drug dealers were killed) and by unsettling human rights abuses. As elected president, he could not transition from barracks rule to democratic consensus-building.
Perhaps the last Buhari irony is this: a president who came to office vowing to reunify Nigeria leaves behind a more fractured nation than when he took the presidency. His death provokes not merely reflection on a man’s legacy but on Nigeria’s perpetual struggle to reconcile its limitless potential with its persistent failure to govern. As Abuja analyst Afolabi Adekaiyaoja notes, the uncertainty regarding Buhari’s death is a reflection of “how hard it is to hold a country together” – a barrier that outlasts any individual leader.
