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- About : Muhammadu Buhari (born December 17, 1942, Daura, Nigeria), is a Nigerian military leader and politician who served as Nigeria’s head of state in 1984–85 and was democratically elected president in 2015.
- Education and military service : Educated largely in Katsina, Buhari took military training in Kaduna as well as in Great Britain, India, and the United States. He was involved in the military coup that ousted Yakubu Gowon in 1975 and was appointed military governor of North Eastern state (now Borno) that same year. He was appointed federal commissioner for petroleum resources by Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who became military head of state when Gowon’s successor, Murtala Mohammed, was assassinated in 1976. By 1977 Buhari had become the military secretary at Supreme Military Headquarters, which was the seat of government. By September 1979 he had returned to regular army duties and commanded a division based in Kaduna. Although civilian government had returned to Nigeria in 1979 with the election of Shehu Shagari, dissatisfaction with dismal economic conditions and what the military perceived as corrupt politicians led to another military coup on December 31, 1983, and Buhari was chosen unanimously to be the new head of state.
- Military head of state :
Many of the economic problems that had existed under the Shagari administration
also plagued the Buhari regime, and Buhari instituted austerity measures. He
took a tough stance on corruption: during his tenure, hundreds of politicians
and business officials were tried and convicted or awaited trial on
corruption-related charges. His regime launched the “War Against Indiscipline,”
a program which sought to promote positive values in Nigerian society, although
authoritarian methods were sometimes used in the program’s implementation. In
an effort to stop dissent against his policies, Buhari instituted restrictions
on the press, political freedoms, and trade unionists.
- Political aspirations : In 2003 Buhari ran for president and was defeated by the incumbent, Olusegun Obasanjo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Buhari ran again in 2007 but was defeated by the PDP’s candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua, in an election that was strongly criticized by international observers as being marred by voting irregularities. Buhari also stood in the 2011 presidential election, which was praised for largely being transparent, free, and fair, but he again lost to the PDP’s candidate, incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.
In 2014 the All Progressives Congress
(APC) party nominated Buhari to stand as its candidate in the 2015 presidential election. His reputation for being incorruptible and his military background made him an attractive candidate, whom many Nigerians hoped might be able to more effectively handle the threat
posed by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, whose violent acts had
terrorized parts of the country in recent years. The March 28 presidential
election had 14 candidates, although the real contest was seen as being between
Buhari and Jonathan, who was again the PDP’s candidate. In what was Nigeria’s
most closely fought election ever, Buhari garnered the most votes—some 2.5
million more than Jonathan, his closest competitor—and was declared the winner.
His win marked the first time that the incumbent president had been defeated in
Nigeria. Buhari was inaugurated on May 29, 2015.
Mr. Buhari, who was trained in India as
a military officer and holds this country in high esteem, attended the third
India-Africa Forum Summit held in October 2015 and met Mr. Modi for bilateral
talks. Then Vice President Hamid Ansari’s bilateral visit in September 2016
broke the hiatus in top-level contact since Manmohan Singh’s Nigeria visit, as
Prime Minister, in 2007.
· Presidency : Progress under Buhari was mixed.
His presidency had a rough start, with the country falling into recession in
2016 in part because of declining revenue from oil sales. By 2018 there was
evidence of some economic recovery from the recession, although many Nigerians
were still living in extreme poverty. The struggle with Boko Haram factions
continued. While the military initially experienced success in curbing the
groups, the militants bounced back, and attacks escalated. Furthermore,
Buhari’s government faced security threats in the southeastern part of the
country from militants seeking to disrupt oil production as well as from
Biafran secessionists. His administration’s war on corruption was both praised
for its progress and criticized for focusing more on political opponents than
on allies.
Throughout this period, Buhari’s health
and hence his ability to lead Nigeria were called into question after he
repeatedly went abroad for health care. In 2017 alone, he left the country
multiple times for treatment of an undisclosed medical ailment; that year, he
was absent more than five months altogether, during which time his vice
president was in charge. The lack of transparency regarding Buhari’s health and
his extended absences led to rumours that he had died and been replaced by a
body double. Buhari and his administration dismissed the concerns about his
health, and he was named the APC candidate for the February 2019 presidential
election. Buhari faced more than 70 challengers in the election, which was
originally scheduled to be held on February 16 but was delayed at the last
minute until February 23. He emerged victorious, winning reelection with some
56 percent of the vote.
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