Yesterday he was returned to Mother Earth where we all come from. We all will at some point. What is more important though is the impact our sojourn on earth leaves on our fellow men, on humanity and on Mother Earth. President Mohammadu Buhari certainly left his mark on these three constituencies.
As a General he left his mark of discipline and prowess and rose to the leadership of that revered institution and constituency.
He ruled Nigeria twice; once for 20 months, as Military Head of State, and the other for eight years, as a civilian President. He reached the pinnacle of political leadership in Nigeria.
As a mystic he amassed a rare unpredictable reputation, and that reputation was the backbone of his audacious popularity amongst both his supporters and non admirers.
He held on to that cult personality to the end, brushing off, and largely remaining directly untainted by the sort of scandals or ratings that have dimmed the image of some leaders before him. And this was so even when in some cases close associates and appointees were being scandalized.
It is probably not surprising that he died before much time was spent evaluating his time on the saddle of this country and before his enemies had time to wreck havoc on his reputation. That way, he left on a high note and escaped the vicious evaluations past Nigerian leaders have faced. Nigeria can be a vicious theatre and an acebic place for past leaders. And public service throws us all on the alters of intense public scrutiny so much so that many who have held public office never really recover from the vitriolic reputational bombshell thrown at them.
I too have been a victim. But my attitude is to look at such experiences positively and if it raises the bar for public servants, why not?
Like every leader and public servant, President Buhari got some things right and made his fair share of mistakes. But no one can take away from this lanky gangling Mystical General and Leader, his integrity, his sincerity, and his commitment to genuine national service.
He probably realised down the track of leadership service that Nigeria and Nigerians’ expectations overwhelm their leaders and chose to do just his best. And that he did.
He was an amazing protector to those close to him and,like a lioness would give her all to protect her cubs, Buhari would do so even when sometimes that did not make sense.
He was a General looking after his troops and always prepared to leave no soldier behind. He was a man of heart. If your mistakes were honest, he took the heat for you. But if your mistakes had ulterior motives, then his vicious pangs came for you.
Even to those not his immediate constituency, he was a Father.
He spoke little, meditated a lot and often had clear opinion of his directional actions. He was not given to too much intellectualism, he called those ‘turenchi’.
He was more ready to listen to his natural and common sense intelligence and intuition and ofcourse his gut evaluation of the originator of an idea.
I knew him as my BOSS of four years 2015 -2019, and as an ENIGMA for 40 years -1985 to 2025.
In all his stilt, strict, stubborn, and selectively subdued persona, he was also a humorous person. His humor came in bits and tits, at those moments you least expected them.
Two incidents come to mind for me.
One was during one of my initial pre-appointment reviews with him. I had objected to his offer to me to become the Group Managing Director of NNPC. I preferred the Ministerial Portfolio so as to focus on policies.
‘Why don’t you want to be GMD?’ he asked me as I settled into the sofa next to him in the residential unit of the villa. This was in early June of 2015.
‘I am worried about scandals and the expectations of friends and foe. I don’t want to be tainted’
He burst into a staccato of laughter
‘You think any public office insulates you from scandal?’ And he kept laughing, stopping in between to take a sip of water.
‘If you don’t plan to do anything corrupt, scandal should not bother you. Everyone who has occupied that desk has had issues’, he continued.
‘Well, no one gets free of scandal once you come into government. Even I, as straight as I try to be, people still accuse me of all sorts and abuse me.
We simply do our best and leave the rest to Allah. And on policy, you can drive policy from anywhere if you are determined.’
‘Ok sir’, I began to concur’, then adding, ‘I don’t also want to be absent from council and have a Minister torpedo the change efforts you are bringing me to lead in the petroleum sector’.
He rolled his eyes for a while, then bending forward he said in hushed tones
‘ok you will resume as GMD and when it is time for me to appoint Ministers I will also put you on the list’.
‘Thank you Sir’, I replied and as he stood up he added with new vigour and finality, ‘let’s hope you will be thanking me six months from now, but you resume tomorrow. I do not have time for equivocation.’
‘Yes, Mr President and my General’, I replied. I stood up and gave a mediocre imitative salute.
‘You are funny, Ibe’, he said with a dismissive laughter and wave of the hand, calling me by my name for the first time.
The second was when I went to him to suggest I wanted to go to the militancy zone and make contact with the militants to end the destruction of pipelines that was ravaging oil production in the sector. It was in his office and we were alone.
‘Well, I don’t think it is a good idea. They will take you hostage and ask for ransom and tie my hands. I will rather let the security agencies deal with security issues and you produce the oil’, he said with a fatherly smile.
‘Only problem is, we can’t produce enough oil if we don’t stop the disruptions Mr President’ ,I replied.
He leaned forward with his usual deeply probing eyes ‘are you one of the militants? How will you find them?’
That took me by surprise
‘No Sir, I am not one of the militants. But we have back channels’ ‘You want me to send officers with you into the creek?’ He asked ‘No Sir, that will be more trouble’, I replied.
‘You are on your own. This government does not pay ransome’, he scoffed at me, adding, ‘anyway, I am the substantive Petroleum Minister. If you don’t come back, I will continue the job without you.’
We had some good laugh on that occasion. It was to the credit of that trip, his willingness to accomodate my naivety, and our subsequent meetings with PANDEF under the leadership of Late Pa Chief Edwin Clark and the ceasefire that ensued, that oil production rebounded from lowly 1mbpd to 1.9mbpd over the next few months. All under the President’s leadership.
I did not have the opportunity post my departure from Office in 2019 to meet President Buhari again and to exchange ideas and compare notes . Perhaps it would have afforded me an opportunity to debunk so many mischevious tales of rifts and disloyalty that characterized our working relationship in those years, largely peddled by some self serving pretentious aides and flank opportunists.
I was keeping that opportunity for a one day suprise visit to Daura. The truth is that all I prefer to remember of my working time with President Buhari are my Reverance and Respects for a great man.
Regrettably, my visit today will now be only to participate in the burial Programme of a truly Great Man, for indeed THERE WAS A President.
May his soul Rest in Peace. Allah yaji kansa da rahama , ya bashi aljanna fir dausi.
Tuesday 15th July 2025 10:00am
•Prof Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, former Minister of State Petroleum Resources (2015 -2019); Former GMD of NNPC
