Honour only when and to whom due

BY WOLE AMEYAN

So the General died. General Muhammadu Buhari — soldier, politician, family man and statesman died on Sunday, July 13, 2025, after a checkered professional and political career filled with ups and downs but ultimately climaxing in his election as a democratically elected president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for two terms of eight years. He was a soldier whom the appellation of General fitted like well-measured clothes. He was taciturn, and when he spoke, his words suggested someone who meant what he said and said what he meant – a weakness of many.

As a politician, he lived very simply and out of power, his life suggested someone averse to materialism and extravagance – a weakness of many. His lean frame suggested someone who would not overindulge in food – a weakness of many. In a country where the average Nigerian thinks ALL politicians and office holders are thieves, here is one we could say almost to a decimal point that he never and would never put his hands in the public till.

You could imagine my utter sadness and disappointment when I took a cursory glance at social media, only to be greeted by some of the most foul and shocking diatribes against the General. Some celebrating his passing negatively, others raining invectives on him. The commentary of some of these fellow Nigerians on social media indicates how chronically debased and hideously superficial we are as a people. Indeed, we have so much to do to make sure ordinary people get educated the right way.

Passing through the four walls of a school in Nigeria is no longer a guarantee for coherence, commonsense and rational thinking and interpretation. We now have a ticking time bomb of Nigerians who simply yield to superficial logic and mob-like consensus on social media to make their minds up, and when they do, are not shy of spilling. Bearing in mind that social media is not a real place in the real sense of the word, it is quite concerning how gullible we have become as a country.

General Muhammadu Buhari has to be regarded, to all intents and purposes and using any available and credible measurement parameter, local or international, as one of the most honest, corruption-free, spartan politicians that Nigeria, nay the world, has ever produced. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to people to people of some integrity who have known him. Listen to global leaders who have written glowing tributes, all pointing to the same conclusion: here was a man who lived for others.

Does that mean he had no shortcomings? Of course not. As it is for all authentic and honest-to-goodness people, his strengths were his weaknesses. Perhaps the most disastrous policy he bequeathed was the naira redesign policy in 2022. Here, the buck stops at his table, but he, of course, relied on advice from technocrats who played on his strength – a passion for piousness and anti-corruption.

In 1984, the Buhari military administration, with the sole aim of targeting corrupt politicians hoarding tons of naira acquired from the national coffers, devised a policy of changing old currency notes into new ones, with a fortnight grace period to catch the culprits unawares. In 2022, leading up to the elections, corrupt technocrats seized on General Buhari’s known previous and his clear stance on corruption to sell him a well-coordinated and convoluted dummy – they proposed a hasty policy to redesign the naira which would seal and cement Buhari’s anticorruption legacy to Nigeria on two fronts: First, it would expose criminals and corrupt persons keeping their naira cash in their houses to bring it forward and therefore be questioned and interrogated on source of and motive for hoarding cash.

Second, and this was unofficial, as elections were approaching, the redesign and subsequent shortage of the naira in circulation in such a short space of time would make it difficult for politicians to buy votes on a scale that would render the election uncredible. The second of two fronts was largely achieved but not without causing untold suffering and anxiety to Nigerians for weeks, with the effects still reverberating today.

Nigerians hold that and a few other allegations of insecurity and nepotism against him. It is fair to criticise one’s leaders – alive or dead. What I find disturbing is the nonsense of deifying some politicians and loathing others, even to the point of death, forgetting that almost all successful politicians at the apex or near apex of Nigeria’s political ladder have similar combined traits of brazen daredevilry, utter corruption and sheer cutthroatedness.

There are good men with great intentions, but there are no saints in this game. General Muhammadu Buhari was one of the better men. Some Nigerians need to wake up and not sacrifice the future on the basis of unbridled naivety, unrestrained gullibility and misplaced aggression. The more a politician looks great on social media, the more caution should be applied in trusting, believing and following them.

Beyond the fake social media world, I am delighted that the General got a burial befitting of his greatness in the real world. Much respect to President Bola Tinubu, who has demonstrated the capacity to separate the wheat from the chaff and give such a classy honour to whom it is truly due. To all good people at heart who are politicians, despite your massive shortcomings, daredevilry and cutthroatedness, please know that there is still a place for honour to whom honour is due. There is still a place for appreciation and reward from Nigerians who know and can still see through the dust. And the majority of Nigerians still do.

There are many prominent Nigerians whom we know enough about to celebrate or humiliate. In doing so, I encourage right-thinking Nigerians to be less swayed by social media theatrics and turn away from people who mince words and play to the gallery. Indeed, the more angelic you appear as a prominent Nigerian on social media, the more one should apply caution.

The General was indeed pro-poor. He was incorruptible and did things by the book. His strengths were taken advantage of by people who seemed more knowledgeable but took deadly advantage. He was human, but absolutely had his heart in the right place. This was a gentleman soldier deserving and due of honour. He got that honour from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His country, his political party, former First Lady Hajia Aisha Buhari, his children and family should raise their heads high and be proud. The world is again in deficit of a good person.

Dr. Wole Ameyan works for the World Health Organisation in Geneva and writes as a Nigerian living in Switzerland. He can be reached at [email protected]