Nigeria’s ex-president dies in exile, leaving behind a broken legacy of repression, corruption, and shattered unity.
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s twice-serving president, is dead at 82. But what he leaves behind is a legacy of failure—on security, economy, unity, and democracy. Here’s a brutal autopsy of his reign.
Muhammadu Buhari is gone—but Nigeria’s wounds remain wide open. Dying in London, the city he often fled to for “rest” while millions languished in broken hospitals at home, the former general’s final act mirrors the very essence of his rule: absence, privilege, and detachment from reality.
Once heralded as a corruption-busting reformer and security hawk, Buhari’s presidency sank into chaos. His iron-fisted war on Boko Haram turned into a media charade; while he declared the terrorists “defeated,” suicide bombings and mass kidnappings intensified under his watch. Nigeria’s northeast collapsed into a humanitarian hellscape, with aid workers murdered and civilians forgotten.
His economic “vision” was equally grim. By clinging to obsolete monetary policies and defending a dying naira, Buhari drove Nigeria into recession—twice. Inflation soared, foreign reserves dried up, and foreign investors fled. All the while, the man himself remained in London, racking up secretive medical bills at taxpayer expense.
But what truly undid him was his inability—or unwillingness—to unite Nigeria’s fractured soul. From the 2020 #EndSARS bloodbath to his silence on northern banditry and ethnic massacres, Buhari appeared not as a statesman but as a sectarian relic. His authoritarian instincts returned in full force: jailing dissidents, censoring social media, and militarizing civilian protest zones.
Even his brief triumph—negotiating the return of some Chibok girls—fizzled out as hundreds more citizens vanished into jihadist captivity. The military he once commanded became a symbol of failure, not strength.
In the end, Buhari’s life is a cautionary tale: that nostalgia for military “discipline” often breeds democratic decay. He ruled Nigeria twice—once with fear, once with hope. He left both times with disappointment.
For a man who promised to fight corruption, insecurity, and disunity—his legacy is defined by all three.
