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Muhammadu Buhari
7th Head of State / President of Nigeria
In office 31 December 1983 – 27 August 1985
Preceded by	Shehu Shagari
Succeeded by	Ibrahim Babangida
Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
In office March 1976 – July 1978
President	Olusegun Obasanjo
Preceded by	Shehu Shagari
Succeeded by	Ibrahim Babangida
Governor of the Northeastern State
In office August 1975 – March 1976
Preceded by	Musa Usman
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1942-12-17) 17 December 1942 (age 82) Katsina, Nigeria
Political party	All Progressives Congress
Military service
Allegiance	Nigeria
Branch/service	Nigerian Army
Years of service	1962–1985
Rank	Major General

Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army who ruled Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power in a military coup d'etat. The term Buharism is ascribed to the Buhari military government. He also ran unsuccessfully for the office of President in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections. In December 2014, he emerged as the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, for the 2015 elections. A native of Daura in Katsina State, Buhari is of the Fulani ethnic background, and his fiath is Islam.

Marriage, family and personal life

Muhammadu Buhari was born on 17 December 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, to his father Adamu and his mother Zulaihat. He is the twenty-third child of his father, Adamu. Buhari was raised by his mother, as his father died when he was in his infancy.

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

In 1988, while Buhari was in prison following his ouster from power in a military coup d'etat, the marriage with Safinatu ended in divorce. 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, 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, after having a baby two days before at a Hospital in Kaduna.

Early career

Buhari joined the Nigerian Army in 1962, when he attended the Nigerian Military Training College (in February 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 (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 Defense 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 (class of 1980) attended the US Army War College (established in 1901) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States of America and gained a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies. Upon completion of the on-campus full-time resident program lasting ten months and the two-year-long, distance learning program, the United States Army War College (USAWC) college awards its graduate officers a master's degree in Strategic Studies.

Following his return from the United States, Buhari went on to become a General Officer commanding the 4th Infantry Division (from August 1980 to January 1981), the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Division (from January 1981 to October 1981) and the 3rd Armed Division Nigerian Army (from October 1981 to December 1983). 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 then President Shagari to withdraw.

Northern Counter Coup of July 1966

In July 1966 Lieutenant Muhammadu Buhari was one of the participants in a coup led by Lt-Col Murtala Muhammed that overthrew and assasinated Nigeria's first military Head of State General Aguiyi Ironsi. Other participants in the coup which became known as the Nigerian Counter-Coup of 1966 included 2nd Lieutenant Sani Abacha, Lieutenant Ibrahim Babangida , Lieutenant Theophilus Danjuma, Lieutenant Ibrahim Bako among others. The coup was a reaction to a failed coup d’etat on January 15, 1966, when a group of army officers, led by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu overthrew the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Northern soldiers were aggrieved by the murder of senior politicians, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, northern regional premier, Ahmadu Bello, and four senior officers, Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari, Colonel Kur Mohammed, Lt-Cols Abogo Largema and James Pam. The counter-coup was very bloody leading to the murder of mostly Igbo officers. Among the casualties were the first military head of state General Aguiyi Ironsi and Lt Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, the military governor of the Western Region.

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. During his tenure as Minister, $2,8 billion went missing from the accounts of the NNPC in Midlands Bank in the United Kingdom. Former President Ibrahim Babangida accused Buhari of being responsible for his fraud.

Head of State

Major-General Buhari led the military coup d'etat that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on 31 December 1983 and became Head of State and chairman of the Supreme Military Council of Nigeri (SMC). At the time, Buhari was head of the Third Armored Division of Jos. Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration). The coup ended Nigeria's short-lived Second Republic, a period of multiparty democracy started in 1979. According to the New York Times, the officers who took power argued that "a flawed democracy was worse than no democracy at all".

Buhari justified the military's seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt and promptly suspended Nigeria’s 1979 Constitution. His ruling style, marked by the use of presidential decrees, later earned the name of Buharism, a right-wing nationalist political ideology that shares common features with fascism.

At the same time, Buhari mounted an offensive against entrentched interests. About 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were jailed for corruption charges during his stewardship.

Human Rights Record

During Buhari’s 20 months in office, human rights and press freedoms were severly limited.

According to Decree Number 2 of 1984, the state security and the chief of staff were given the power to detain, without charges, individuals deemed to be a security risk to the state for up to three months. Strikes and popular demonstrations were banned and Nigeria’s secret police service, the National Security Organization (NSO) was entrusted with unprecedented powers. The NSO played a wide role in the cracking down of public dissent by intimidating, harassing and jailing individuals who broke the interdiction on strikes. By October 1984, about 200,000 civil servants were retrenched.

Critics of the regime were also thrown in jail, as was the case of Nigeria’s most popular artist and one time presidential contender, afro-beat singer Fela Kuti. He was arrested on September 4, 1984 at the airport as he was about to embark on an American tour. Amnesty International described the charges brought against him for illegally exporting foreign currency as “spurious” Using the wide powers bestowed upon it by Decree Number 2, the government sentenced Fela to 10 years in prison. He was released after 18 months, when the Buhari government was toppled in a coup d’etat.

In 1984, Buhari passed Decree Number 4, the Protection Againts False Accusations Decree, considered by scholars as the most repressive press law ever enacted in Nigeria. Section 1 of the law provided that “Any person who publishes in any form, whether written or otherwise, any message, rumour, report or statement which is false in any material particular or which brings or is calculated to bring the Federal Military Government or the Government of a state or public officer to ridicule or disrepute, shall be guilty of an offense under this Decree”. The law further stated that offending journalists and publishers will be tried by a military tribunal, whose ruling would be final and unappealable in any court and those found guilty would be eligible for a fine not less than 10,000 naira and a jail sentence of up to two years. Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of The Guardian were among the journalists who were tried under the decree.

Decree 20 on illegal ship bunkering and drug trafficking was another example of Buhari’s tough approach to crime. Section 3 (2) (K) provided that “any person who, without lawful authority deals in, sells, smokes or inhales the drug known as cocaine or other similar drugs, shall be guilty under section 6 (3) (K) of an offence and liable on conviction to suffer death sentence by firing squad.” In the case of Bernard Ogedengebe, the Decree was applied retroactively. He was executed even if at the time of his arrest the crime did not mandate the capital punishment, but had carried a sentence of six months imprisonment.

In another prominent case of April 1985, six Nigerians were condemned to death under the same decree: Sidikatu Tairi, Sola Oguntayo, Oladele Omosebi, Lasunkanmi Awolola, Jimi Adebayo and Gladys Iyamah.

In 1985, prompted by economic uncertainties and a rising crime rate, the government of Buhari opened the borders (closed since April 1984) with Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon to speed up the expulsion of 700,000 foreigners and migrant workers. Buhari is today known for his gestion this crises, there even is a famine in the east of Niger that have been named "El Buhari".

One of the most enduring legacy of the Buhari government has been the War Against Indiscipline (WAI). Launched on March 20, 1984, the policy tried to address the perceived lack of public morality and civic responsibility of Nigerian society. Unruly Nigerians were ordered to form neat queues at bust stops, under the eyes of whip-wielding soldiers. Civil servants who failed to show up on time at work were humiliated and forced to do “frog jumps”. Minor offences carried long sentences. Any student over the age of 17 caught cheating on an exam would get 21 years in prison. Counterfiting and arson could lead to the death penalty.

His regime drew the critics of many, including Nigeria’s first Nobel Prize winner Wole Syinka, who worte in 2007 a piece called “The Crimes of Buhari” which outlined many of the abuses conducted under his military rule.

The Umaru Dikko Affair was another defining moment in Buhari’s presidency. Umaru Dikko, a former Minister of Transportation under the previous cvilian administration of President Shagari who fled the country shortly after the coup, was accused of embezzling $1 billion in oil profits. With the help of the Mossad, the NSO traced him to London where operatives from Nigeria and Israel drugged and kidnapped him. They placed him in a plastic bag, which was subsequently hidden inside a crate labelled as “Diplomatic Baggage” .The purpose of this secret operation was to ship Dikko off to Nigeria on an empty Nigerian Airways Boeing 707. The plot was foiled by British airport officers.

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.

Immediately after taking offce, Buhari broke ties with the International Monetary Fund, when the fund asked the government to devalue the naira by 60%. To pay for the debt incurred by the previous administration, Buhari entered into a $2 billion barter trade agreement with four countries, trading 200,000 barrels of oil for capital goods, raw materials and equipment. This policy led to job losses and closure of businesses as prices rose and living standards slumped.

On 7 May 1984, Buhari announced the country's 1984 National Budget. The budget came with a series of complementary measures:

• A temporary ban on recruiting federal public sector workers
• Raising of Interest rates
• Halting Capital Projects
• Prohibition of borrowing by State governments
• 15 percent 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.

In order to keep public finances in check, the government of Buhari instituted a ceiling on the maximum amount of nairas (20) that could be legally taken in or out of the country.In this context, the Buhari administration was embroiled in a scandal concerning the fate of 53 suitacases, allegedly containing $700 million, owned by the Emir of Gwandu that were cleared through customs without inspection on his return flight from Saudi Arabia.

Foreign policy

Buhari's military government continued largely with the foreign policy it 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.

In the wake of the Dikko Affair, diplomatic relatison with the UK were broken off two years.

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

Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund

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.

According to a report written in 1999 under the aegis of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the sum of 25,7 billion naira was found to have been mismanagened by the Afri-Project Consortium, a company contracted by the PTT under Buhari’s watch.Several consulting firms inflated their bills by 2 billion naira and billions were lost when the PTT overpaid for services and products. Although no link could be found to Buhari, the individuals overseeing the flawed deals were appointed by him and served under his command. The report raised question as to Buhari’s management skills.

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 for 40 months 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. Others have argued that declining living standards, attacks on political freedoms and the War against Intolerance were to blame. General Babangida claimed that Buhari failed to deal with the country’s economic problems and promised “to rejuvenate the economy ravaged by decades of government mismanagement and corruption”.

Return to politics and presidential runs

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.

The elections were marred by widespread sectarian violence, which claimed the lives of 800 people across the country, as Buhari’s supporters attacked Christian settlements in the country’s center regions. The three day uprising wasblamed in part on Buhari’s inflammatory comments. In spite of assurances from Human Rights Watch, who had judged the elections as “among the fairest in Nigeria’s history”, Buhari claimed that the poll was flawed and warned that "If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood".

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.

In the run up to the 2015 Presidential elections, the campaign team of incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan asked for the disqualification of General Buhari from the race, claiming that he is in breach of the Constitution. According to the fundamental document, in order to qualify for election to the office of the President, an individual must be “educated up to at least School certificate level or its equivalent”. Buhari has failed to submit any such evidence, claiming that he has lost the original copies of his diplomas when his house was raided following his overthrow from power in 1985.

Buhari is running in the 2015 Presidential election, as a candidate from the All Progressives Congress party. His platform is built around his image as a staunch anti-corruption fighter and his incorruptible and honest reputation. However, Buhari stated in an interview that he will not probe past corrupt leaders and that he would give officials who stole in the past amnesty, insofar as they repent.

Security challenges

In 2012, Buhari’s name was included on a list published by Boko Haram of of individuals it would trust to mediate between the group and the Federal Government. In 2013, Muhammadu Buhari made a series of contentious 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 Christian 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 those militants received from the Federal Government and deplored the fact that Boko Haram members were killed and their houses destroyed.The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, reacted to the statements made by the retired general and called for his arrest.

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, Buhari pledged to enhance security in Nigeria if he wins the general elections on 14 February 2015.

In January 2015, the insurgent group The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) endorsed Buhari in the Presidential race, saying he is the best candidate to lead the country.

Freedom of religion

Buhari has given 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 that; “God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country”. At the same time, he had called on Muslims to vote for Muslim candidates and never vote for Christian presidents in previous elections. Buhari has denied all allegations that he has a radical Islamist agenda. On 4 January 2015, Buhari stated that he favoured freedom of religion, 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”.

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”.

Awards

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

• Congo Medal (CM)
• Defense 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)

See also

• All Nigeria Peoples Party
• Congress for Progressive Change
• Nigerian Presidential Election 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015.

References

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External links

• Official Site of the Buhari/Bakare Presidential Election Campaign 2011
• Muhammadu Buhari - In a HARDtalk interview on 21 January 2004

v t e Heads of state of Nigeria
Queen (1960–1963)	Elizabeth II
President of the First Republic (1963–1966)	Azikiwe
Military regime (1966–1979)	Aguiyi-Ironsi Gowon Mohammed Obasanjo
President of the Second Republic (1979–1983)	Shagari
Military regime (1983–1999)	Buhari Babangida Shonekan (interim)* Abacha Abubakar
President of the Fourth Republic (from 1999)	Obasanjo Yar'Adua Jonathan Buhari Tinubu
*Civilian; headed transition to abortive Third Republic

v t e Candidates in the 2007 Nigerian presidential election
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Muhammadu Buhari Atiku Abubakar Orji Uzor Kalu Attahiru Bafarawa Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Pere Ajuwa Chris Okotie Patrick Utomi Ambrose Owuru Emmanuel Okereke Lawrence Adedoyin Habu Fari Maxi Okwu Bartholomew Nnaji Emmanuel Obayuwana Olapade Agoro Mojisola Obasanjo

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• 1942 births
• All Nigeria Peoples Party politicians
• Candidates for President of Nigeria
• Governors of states in Nigeria
• Heads of state of Nigeria
• Leaders ousted by a coup
• Leaders who took power by coup
• Living people
• Nigerian Fula people
• Nigerian Army officers
• Nigerian Counter-Coup of 1966 Participants
• Nigerian Military Coup of 1983 Participants
• Participants of coups in Nigeria
• Nigerian generals
• Nigerian Muslims
• People from Katsina State
• Recipients of Nigeria Centenary Awards