As Nigeria mourns a former leader, it must also mourn its own errors and vow to be wiser.
by Collins Nweke
Nigeria commits Muhammadu Buhari to Mother Earth today. As it does, we must confront the failures of one man. We also need to tackle the failures of our collective judgment. Legacy is not just what leaders leave behind. Legacy is also the wisdom or folly of the people who chose the leaders.
I turned 60 on 14 July 2025, a milestone for reflection. Yet as I marked my sixth decade, news broke from London of the death of Muhammadu Buhari. Nigeria’s former president, he died at the age of 82. It was a moment layered with irony and symbolism. Legacy, both personal and national, stood at the center of my thoughts. Femi Awoyemi wrote or spoke about my legacy. Emeka Anazia and John George also contributed. Others like Lola Visser-Mabogunje, Alistair Soyode, and Lili Chong added their thoughts. Uzonna Ononye, Femi Olaleye, and Kayode Elusoji shared their perspectives as well. There are many others too many to mention here. I was processing everything people had to say or write about me and my legacy. In that moment, Buhari intruded my thoughts! Buhari’s life and death compel Nigerians to look in the mirror, not merely to condemn but to learn.
Yet, even as we say Nigerians chose Buhari, there is an inner voice that refuses to be silenced. Did we truly choose him? Was Buhari brought to us by a clique of cabals? Did political elites whose wheeling and dealing override the people’s will play a role? The integrity of Nigeria’s elections remains a question mark, one that haunts every democratic transition. For many, Buhari’s rise was less about the ballot. It was more about the machinations of power brokers. These power brokers decide outcomes long before votes are cast.
Key takeaway? “When elections are captured, the people’s mandate becomes the cabal’s mandate. And the injury is collective.”
We must, therefore, confront this uncomfortable reality. The tragedy of Buhari’s presidency is not just about one man’s failure. It is about a system rigged by vested interests. This system mocks democracy while pretending to uphold it.
The political elites who bargain away the nation’s future in smoke-filled rooms must be aware. Their deals cause real pain to millions. Their manipulation breeds poverty, division, and despair. And history will one day call their names.
This is the moment for Nigerians to awaken to the truth. Silence in the face of electoral injustice is complicity. That democracy without integrity is merely tyranny in slow motion. That a captured election is not just an attack on the present. It is a theft from the future.
A Legacy Written in Bitterness and Hard Lessons
Buhari’s story is well-known. As a military ruler in the 1980s, he was a hardliner. He detained journalists. He trampled freedoms. He also enforced draconian decrees. Decades later, he rebranded himself as a “converted democrat,”. He resurfaced with a promise of anti-corruption reforms. Nigerians, weary of insecurity and economic stagnation, handed him power. Twice! Yet his eight-year civilian presidency (2015–2023) left the country more divided, poorer, and less secure. The #EndSARS protests ended in bloodshed. The economy slid deeper into recession. Corruption battles were selective. Terror and banditry raged unchecked.
Key takeaway? “One man can destroy more in eight years than a generation can rebuild.” The bitterness Nigerians feel today is absolutely justified. But it must not imprison us. Instead, it should fuel a national resolve to say: never again!
Here is the irony we can’t ignore! It is one of Nigeria’s greatest historical ironies. Buhari, whose authoritarian record was never hidden, was elected as a civilian president. We romanticized the past out of frustration with the present. We mistook fear for discipline. We believed the same iron fist that once dismantled freedoms could somehow fix democracy. In that moment, we chose nostalgia over reason, and it cost us dearly.
Key takeaway? “Not every change is progress. Sometimes, the devil you know is better than the one you invite in haste.”
From Bad to Worse: A Cautionary Tale
Buhari’s rise was also a backlash. Goodluck Jonathan was seen as weak, indecisive, too soft. In our rush to escape what we deemed “bad,” we embraced something worse. This is a lesson in political impatience. A democracy that jumps from flawed mildness to outright repression does not progress; it regresses. The Buhari years proved that not every strongman brings strength. Sometimes they bring stress and ruin.
As a people, we must begin to see our complicity as our responsibility. It is easy to heap all blame on Buhari. But democracy is collective. Nigerians chose him. Not once, but twice! We allowed propaganda, tribal loyalty, and frustration to cloud judgment. We ignored history. We prioritized sentiment over substance.
Key takeaway? “Legacy is not only about leaders. It is also about the wisdom, or folly, of the people who choose them.” Until Nigerians learn to interrogate history before endorsing the future, we will keep recycling the same failures.
Bitterness Must Birth Humility in Leaders
Legacy is a mirror. Today’s leaders must look into Buhari’s story and see themselves. Power is fleeting. Popularity is deceptive. History is unforgiving. If Buhari. once hailed as Nigeria’s “last hope” could leave behind a conflicted legacy, then no leader is immune. The Buhari era should humble all who hold office today. They must serve selflessly, govern justly, and remember that respect is earned, not inherited. Can Nigeria rise above bitterness? Can it embrace reconciliation for a better nation?
Mourning Buhari must not trap us in endless recriminations. Nigeria must reconcile. It must do so not to erase the pain, but to heal and rebuild. This is the time to bridge divides: North and South, Christian and Muslim, elite and masses. To forge a Nigeria where institutions, not personalities, hold the torch of progress.
Key takeaway?: “Buhari’s death is not just an end; it is an inflection point. Nigeria’s story is still being written.”
The Buhari debacle can be a golden chance for redemption. For public figures: politicians, business leaders, traditional authorities, Buhari is a wake-up call. If you have misused power, redeem it. If you have been complicit in corruption, renounce it. Legacy is not about perfection; it is about course correction while there is still time.
In the end, it is about legacy. Buhari’s life is over, but Nigeria’s future is still in our hands. Legacy waits for no one, but it will honor those who choose service over self. As I entered my sixth decade, I asked myself the haunting question: How will I be remembered? Buhari’s death is a sobering reminder that history remembers everything. The deeds we did, the choices we made, the opportunities we wasted. For Nigeria, this is a chance to heal, to learn, and to co-create the nation we want. The pen is in our hands.