Rare facts about Pres Buhari

Muhammadu Buhari is the 15th head of the Nigerian government since 1960, the fifth democratically elected president, the first opposition candidate to win the presidential election and the second president of Katsina origin. What else do you know about him?

1. Katsina produces another president

Buhari ran against his fellow Katsina man, Yar’Adua, in 2007

Katsina state has again produced a Nigerian head of state — the third since 1983. Buhari, from Daura, then in Kaduna state, was the first. Katsina state was carved out of Kaduna state in 1987 by Ibrahim Babangida. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, former governor of Katsina state, became the second president from Katsina in 2007. Buhari’s return in 2015 means the state has produced yet another president. It could have been more. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, elder brother of Umaru, made a bid in 1992 and after getting the presidential ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the process was cancelled. He was still hoping to contest when he was arrested and jailed for allegedly plotting a coup in 1995. He did not come out of the prison alive.

2. Third ex-governor to be president

Jonathan was the second ex-governor to be president

There is yet another interesting fact about Buhari — he has joined the league of former governors to be elected president. Having served as the military governor of the old north-eastern state from 1975 to 1976, he has equalled the record of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who became president in 2007 after serving as Katsina governor from 1999-2007, and Goodluck Jonathan, who was Bayelsa governor from 2005-2007. The major difference, though, is that Buhari was a military, not an elected, governor. The north-eastern state governed by him is now broken into six: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

3. Another ex-Minister as President

Shagari was a three-time minister before he became president

Murtala Muhammed. Olusegun Obasanjo. Shehu Shagari. Sani Abacha. Muhammadu Buhari. They all have something in common — they are all former ministers who went on to become heads of state. Muhammed was federal commissioner (minister) for communications under Gowon until the 1975 coup when he became head of state. Obasanjo, head of state from 1976 after Muhammed’s death, was federal commissioner for works. Obasanjo appointed Buhari federal commissioner for petroleum and natural resources in 1976. Shagari, who was elected president in 1979, was minister of economic development in 1960, minister of internal affairs in 1962 and minister of works and survey in 1965. Abacha was appointed minister of defence by Babangida in 1990.

4. Oldest President

Gowon was youngest head of state at 31. Buhari at 72 is oldest

Buhari is the oldest person to assume the office of president in Nigeria. He is 72 years and five months old. He broke the record set by Obasanjo in 1999 who became the oldest Nigerian president at 62. The youngest remains Gowon, who was made head of state a few months shy of his 32nd birthday in 1966. Two other heads of state assumed office in their thirties: Muhammed (37) in 1975 and Obasanjo (38) in 1976. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (47), Ironsi (41), Buhari (41) and Babangida (41) all ruled in their forties. Shagari (54), Shonekan (57), Abacha (50), Abdulsalami Abubakar (55), Yar’Adua (55) and Jonathan (52) assumed office in their fifties. The most common age is 41.

5. Child No. 23

Buhari is married to Aisha

Buhari is not short of elder brothers and sisters. He was born Child No. 23 to the family of Adamu Buhari in Daura, Katsina state, on December 17, 1942. His mother’s name was Zulaihat — the name he gave to his first daughter. He is a monogamist, like all previous Nigerian leaders (apart from Obasanjo and Shagari). Buhari divorced his first wife in 1988 and remarried in 1989.

6. Addict of BBC Hausa service

Radio before breakfast

Buhari listens to BBC Hausa service religiously. He told TheCable in an interview last year: “I am an avid listener of the Voice of America and the BBC, Hausa service. This is because over the years I have discovered that they have been very, very helpful in educating the mostly illiterate Hausa-speaking populace. From Agadez or even from Tripoli down almost to South Africa, and from Senegal to Central Africa Republic, there is large body of Hausa-speaking communities, not necessarily Nigerian or Hausa, but those who speak the language because of trading over the centuries. I found out VOA and BBC commentaries on politics and economics very good. They help to educate people. And they allow people to discuss, express different opinions and they interpret it, and I find that very helpful.”

7. Pro-Austerity

In his military days

For those who may be wondering about his economic direction, Buhari does not run away from adopting austerity policies in the face of economic crunch. In his first budget in 1984, he announced a range of belt-tightening measures to combat the crisis. These measures included: a temporary ban on recruitment, raising of interest rates, suspension of capital projects, and embargo on borrowing by states, among others.

8. Riding Horses

Little Buhari’s favourite horse

In the absence of real horses, he enjoyed playing with straw horses as a kid. Sani Abubakar Dan Kurma, one of his elementary school classmates, recently told Daily Trust: “We played with sand together and rode straw horses… There was this time when we were children and we went to the outskirts of town to play our version of polo with straw horses and sticks, hitting a ball made from Goruba. It was our favourite game then. As we played, I hit him with the dum-palm seed which served as a ball and he fell down. I consoled him fervently, assuring him it was a mistake, so much so that he also began to console me. That’s his character: he was the wronged party, yet he was telling me sorry