Our personality of the week
Muhammadu Buhari GCFR (born 17 December 1942) is the President of Nigeria , in office since 29 May 2015. He is a retired Nigerian Army major general and was Head of State of Nigeria 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 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".
Muhammadu Buhari was born on 17 December 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, to his father Adamu 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.
He attended primary school in Daura and Mai'adua before proceeding to Katsina Model School in 1953, and to Katsina
Provincial Secondary School (now Government College Katsina) from 1956 to 1961.
Buhari served as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), a body created by the government of General 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.
In December 2014, Muhammadu Buhari went on the record to say he would abolish, scrap or ban the office of the First Lady if he was elected as President, saying that it was unconstitutional
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which endorsed Buhari for the 2015 general elections,
commended Buhari for his plans, when elected as President, to scrap the so-called ‘Office of the First Lady’. MEND went on to say that the office of the first lady is obviously an irrelevant, fraudulent and unconstitutional office, whose only purpose is to further plunder the resources of the country.
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), Hadiza, and Safinatu.
In 1988, Buhari and his first wife Safinatu were divorced. In December 1989, Buhari married his second and current wife Aisha Buhari (née Halilu). They also have five children together, a boy and four girls. They are Aisha, Halima, Yusuf, Zarah 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.
Awards
Major-General Buhari (Rtd.) has received several awards and medals. In alphabetical order they include:
Congo Medal (CM)
Defence Service Medal (DSM)
Forces Service Star (FSS)
General Service Medal (GSM)
Global Seal of Integrity (GSOI)
Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GCFR)
Loyal Service and Good Conduct Medal (LSGCM)
National Service Medal (NSM)
What has he done since assumed office?
ReplyDeleteWhat has done since assumed office
ReplyDeleteIts well Fatai, God to judge
DeleteHmmm
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