Nigeria honours ex-President Buhari with state burial and tribute

The state bid farewell to Buhari with subject honours and honorific chants of ‘Sai Baba’.

Nigeria’s erstwhile President Muhammadu Buhari was buried successful the backyard of his location successful Daura, a municipality successful the bluish Katsina state, arsenic supporters climbed trees and shouted “Sai Baba” to bid farewell to the 82-year-old.

A subject parade and 21-gun salute honoured the erstwhile president connected Tuesday astatine the airdrome earlier his assemblage was transported 80km (50 miles) to Daura, wherever crowds surged to drawback a last glimpse arsenic the casket was lowered into the ground.

Buhari died connected Sunday successful a London hospital pursuing an undisclosed illness. His coffin, wrapped successful Nigeria’s greenish and achromatic flag, was flown into Katsina and met by President Bola Tinubu, elder authorities officials, and mourners.

Buhari, who archetypal seized powerfulness successful a 1983 subject coup and ruled for little than 2 years, returned to pb Africa’s astir populous state arsenic a civilian aft defeating Goodluck Jonathan successful the 2015 statesmanlike election. He served 2 presumption until stepping down successful 2023.

President Tinubu declared 7 days of nationalist mourning and a nationalist vacation to honour Buhari’s legacy.

While Buhari’s presidency saw immoderate achievements successful infrastructure and anti-corruption efforts, his clip successful bureau was besides marked by economical downturns, worsening insecurity, and a prolonged situation successful Nigeria’s lipid sector.

Still, galore successful bluish Nigeria viewed him arsenic a principled and austere person who tried to steer the state done turbulent times.

Supporters, immoderate successful tears, chanted arsenic the casket disappeared from view, marking the extremity of an epoch for a antheral some revered and criticised.

Buhari leaves down a mixed legacy

Known for his austere benignant and fiery rhetoric against corruption, Buhari was seen by his supporters arsenic a reformer. “I beryllium to everybody and I beryllium to nobody,” helium often declared, seeking to presumption himself supra Nigeria’s entrenched governmental factions.

Yet his presidency struggled to incorporate rising insecurity. While helium promised to decision Boko Haram and reconstruct order, equipped unit dispersed acold beyond the northeast. Gunmen, separatists, and transgression groups operated with impunity crossed ample parts of the state by the extremity of his tenure.

Still, Buhari leaves down a bequest arsenic a awesome of antiauthoritarian alteration successful Nigeria, adjacent if the translation helium promised remained incomplete.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from London pursuing Buhari’s decease implicit the weekend, Alexis Akwagyiram, managing exertion astatine Semafor Africa and a longtime perceiver of Nigerian politics, said Buhari volition beryllium remembered for achieving what galore thought impossible: winning powerfulness arsenic an absorption candidate.

“He was the archetypal absorption campaigner since the instrumentality to civilian regularisation to triumph astatine the ballot box,” Akwagyiram said, referencing Buhari’s 2015 triumph implicit Jonathan. “History volition retrieve him favourably for that.”

Yet Akwagyiram was blunt astir the failings that marked Buhari’s clip successful office. He described the erstwhile wide arsenic “very ineffective” successful managing Nigeria’s economy, citing his insistence connected maintaining a beardown naira, which led to a convoluted strategy of aggregate speech rates and 2 recessions during his tenure.

Despite the criticisms, Akwagyiram highlighted wherefore Buhari resonated truthful powerfully with galore Nigerians. “He had the idiosyncratic marque of integrity and honesty,” helium said. “In a governmental clime renowned for corruption, that was appealing.”

Buhari’s austere representation and bluish enactment basal helped him physique a nationalist conjugation that doubly propelled him to the presidency, a uncommon feat successful Nigerian politics.

“He didn’t effort to enrich himself,” Akwagyiram said. “That’s thing past volition look connected favourably.”

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies