Nigeria’s ex-President Muhammadu Buhari dies in London aged 82

Buhari, remembered for an anti-corruption thrust and faltering economy, leaves down a contentious legacy.

Nigeria’s erstwhile President Muhammadu Buhari has died successful London astatine the property of 82 pursuing a agelong illness.

“President Buhari died contiguous successful London astatine astir 4:30pm (15:30 GMT) pursuing a prolonged illness,” President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson announced connected Sunday via the societal media level X.

Buhari made past successful 2015 erstwhile helium became the archetypal absorption campaigner successful Nigeria’s modern epoch to decision a sitting president astatine the polls, unseating Goodluck Jonathan successful what was wide praised arsenic the country’s astir credible election.

A retired large general, Buhari archetypal ruled Nigeria successful the 1980s aft taking powerfulness successful a subject coup. He aboriginal rebranded himself arsenic a civilian politician, adopting a softer representation successful flowing kaftans and declaring himself a “converted democrat”.

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.

A mixed legacy

Buhari is being remembered arsenic some a pivotal fig successful the country’s antiauthoritarian improvement and a profoundly flawed person erstwhile it came to economical absorption and security.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from London, Alexis Akwagyiram, managing exertion astatine Semafor 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.

“His handling of the system wasn’t great,” Akwagyiram noted, pointing to his fallout with erstwhile Niger Delta insurgents that led to renewed attacks connected lipid infrastructure. Combined with debased planetary lipid prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, these factors pushed Nigeria – erstwhile Africa’s largest system – down to 4th place.

On security, Buhari’s grounds was arsenic disappointing, Akwagyiram said. Although elected with a committedness to ace down connected Boko Haram, an insurgency successful Nigeria’s northeast lone expanded nether his leadership. A rival faction, the ISIL affiliate successful West Africa Province (ISWAP), besides emerged and spread, portion equipped kidnapping gangs flourished successful the northwest.

“All that happened was Boko Haram and ISWAP some proliferated nether his tenure,” Akwagyiram said. “The equipped forces were dispersed bladed crossed the state and became weakened overall.”

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