A Leader with Genuine Decency
Remembering Muhammadu Buhari
By Terence Fane-Saunders
Executive Chairman
I was truly sorry to hear of the death in London of former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. I was originally introduced to him by a Nigerian friend, himself the Governor of a Northern state who felt I might be able to help General Buhari with his campaign for the Presidential election. So, we lunched together at a Chinese restaurant in London and talked about his plans. Over lunch I noticed several traits that became even more evident as I came to know him better.
At his invitation I spent a week in Nigeria with him and his campaign team as they pulled together the structure and strategies for his campaign for the Presidency. Perhaps my greatest surprise was the unassertive, almost shy formality which seemed to be his style of communication, even with his closest colleagues. Most of my Nigerian friends could never be described as shy! For a former military ruler, that unassertive style seemed particularly surprising. It also led to some surprisingly disorganised and unproductive strategy meetings with his campaign team. Too often the agenda was barely half completed before the meeting ended.
But there was nothing shy or unassertive about his absolute insistence that rampant corruption was poisoning the very fabric of Nigerian political life and would be unacceptable in his presidency. Allied to this, there was an unshakeable belief that the presidency was his destiny, and no amount of failures or setbacks would be allowed to distract or deter him from that goal.
Muhammadu Buhari‘s presidency reflected many of the characteristics I had seen in that week together. A leader with genuine decency and a true antipathy to corruption. But perhaps lacking the intellectual or personality characteristics that might have enabled him to drive the government and his country forward to a place which its scale, its people and its natural resources deserved.
May he rest in peace.
