By Ayo Kehinde
Nigeria’s former President, Muhammadu Buhari, who died in a London clinic on Sunday at the age of 82, was on Tuesday laid to rest in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State.
The late leader was buried according to Islamic rites in front of his personal residence, with Vice President Kashim Shettima and other dignitaries assisting in lowering his body into the grave at exactly 5:50 p.m.
Shettima and a delegation of government officials had been in London on Monday to oversee the repatriation of Buhari’s remains.
On Tuesday, his body was flown aboard a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft to Katsina, where it was received by President Bola Tinubu at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport around 2 p.m.
The casket bearing Buhari’s remains was received with solemnity and full military honours as top government officials, family members, and dignitaries gathered on the tarmac to pay their respects. From there, the body was transported by road to Daura.
In Daura, a large crowd of mourners had gathered at his residence by the time the former President’s body arrived at 4:33 p.m. Prayers were held for the repose of his soul, including recitations from the Holy Quran and Janazah prayers before his final interment.
The Federal Government declared Tuesday a public holiday in honour of the former leader, while President Tinubu also constituted an inter-ministerial committee for the state funeral.
Buhari, a former military ruler who first came to power following a coup in the 1980s, later returned to democratic politics and made history in 2015 by becoming the first Nigerian to defeat a sitting president at the polls.
He was re-elected for a second term in 2019 and handed over to President Tinubu on May 29, 2023.
Following his exit from office, Buhari spent most of his time in Daura, keeping a low profile and staying out of the public eye.
Tinubu inherited a country facing significant challenges, including double-digit inflation, foreign exchange shortages, insecurity, low oil production, and widespread economic hardship.
To his supporters, Buhari was regarded as a symbol of integrity—a man who shunned the lavish lifestyle and corruption often associated with the Nigerian political elite.
However, critics described him as an “absentee landlord,” a leader who governed by delegation, spent long periods abroad—often for medical reasons—and whose detachment left many feeling abandoned.
Several serving and former political office holders, as well as prominent traditional rulers, were in Daura to pay their final respects. Among them were President Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu; Prime Minister of Niger Republic, Ali Lamine Zeine; Vice President Kashim Shettima; Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar; Emir of Kazaure, Ahmad Dangiwa; former Vice Presidents Atiku Abubakar and Yemi Osinbajo.
Others are; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda; Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; former Governors Aminu Masari (Katsina), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun); former Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami; and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
