Buhari’s life still speaks to Nigerians one year after passing, Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu on Monday commemorated the first anniversary of the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari, praising his transition from military rule to democracy as a rare feat in Nigeria's political landscape. Speaking through Vice President Kashim Shettima at a prayer session, Tinubu described Buhari as a consistent figure whose legacy was built on integrity and simplicity.

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President Buhari gave everything he had to this country, and he gave it without reservation.

Tinubu recalled his long-standing political alliance with Buhari, noting that the former president "gave everything he had to this country, and he gave it without reservation." He highlighted Buhari's "courage, conviction, and patriotism" and his role in "nation-building" from military leader to a defender of constitutional order. The President suggested that Buhari's enduring popularity among ordinary Nigerians after leaving office was a testament to his lifelong consistency between his words and his actions.

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He served with courage, with conviction, and with a patriotism that never asked what the nation could return to him.

"When he laid down the burden of leadership, and through all the years of his retirement, the trust of ordinary Nigerians did not depart from him," Tinubu stated. He emphasized that such trust is "earned only through a lifetime of agreement between what a man says and what a man is." The President urged Buhari's friends and political allies to honor his memory by embodying his core values of honesty, simplicity, and self-discipline in their public service and personal conduct.

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From his years as a military leader to his transformation into a democrat and a determined defender of constitutional order, he embodied the very spirit of change and of nation-building.

"Our duty, as his friends and his associates, is to carry forward the inheritance he left us: honesty, simplicity, and self-discipline," Tinubu declared. He reassured former First Lady Aisha Buhari and the entire family of the Federal Government's and the Nigerian people's continued support. The remembrance ceremony underscored Buhari's lasting impact on Nigeria's political narrative.

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When he laid down the burden of leadership, and through all the years of his retirement, the trust of ordinary Nigerians did not depart from him.