To Buhari, the kind hearted Toughie at 81

From his days as an iron fisted military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari had cut the image of a brutal, no nonsense person, without a drop of milk of human kindness. Not so. People often condemn who or what they don’t understand.

Yes, he can be reserved, aloof, unflappable, and even stern. I remember when news of Bukola Saraki’s defection, along with Yakubu Dogara and many other senators and Rep members got to him before 2019 election, he simply said: “And who the bloody hell does that bother?”

But all that changes when he becomes comfortable with you. You then get to know his soft and kind side.

Sometime in 2022, we were at Kigali, capital of Rwanda, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. On the delegation was the Honorable Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen.

During our stay, news got to the President that Dame Tallen had suffered a bad fall in the bathroom, and was in the hospital.

Pronto, President Buhari got some of his aides together, and we headed for the hospital. He not only wished his Minister well, but also gave instructions that she be evacuated for better care, if necessary.

Col. Dangiwa Umar, remember him? He was one of those popularly referred to as IBB Boys in the Nigerian Army then, and he was military governor of Kaduna State.

He told me a story, which showed that he may not have gone beyond the rank of Captain in the army, if not for Buhari.

“I went on a course in the United States of America. Advanced Armoured Course. General Buhari was Military Secretary then.

“Usually, promotion in the army is based on performance, and annual evaluation report. But you don’t get assessed for a year you are on course, since you didn’t work under any superior, who would assess you. So, the course report is usually used.

“I came back from the course, and my mates, the 7th Regular Course, had been promoted from Captain to Major, but I was bypassed. I wrote that I wanted to resign my commission because of the injustice.

“As Military Secretary, Gen Buhari took an interest in the matter, raised it at the appropriate quarters, and within two to three weeks, I was promoted.”

You also sure remember Dr Marilyn Amobi, Managing Director of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc. She told me of her encounter with Buhari:

“My first contact with the Nigerian government was in 2005, during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. One afternoon, I just got a phone call in London, where I lived, and the person identified himself as Liyel Imoke.

“I said; Imoke. Is that not a Nigerian Minister? He was just laughing. Because I was making my hair, I was a bit impatient with him, when he didn’t answer. I then said; please don’t call this number again.

“He was calm, and asked when I would finish making my hair. I said in about an hour. He promised to call back.

“He truly did, and said he was trying to put together a regulatory commission for the power sector, and he would love to meet with me. I agreed.

“We met both in London, and later in Abuja. I was to become a Consultant to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for a number of years.

“When President Buhari came in 2015, I learnt he set up a sub-committee to scout for honest, knowledgeable and courageous people, who could do the right things in the power sector.

“Members of the committee all came back with one name, Marilyn Amobi.

Eventually, I was made Managing Director of NBET.

“But it was a turbulent assignment, with too many vested interests trying to bleed the system. One day, in 2017, I got a phone call through which I was summoned to the Presidential Villa.

“There had been the issue of Acu Gas, over which the President had been misled to approve the sum of 10 million dollars. I wrote a memo against it, and that was why the President sent for me.

“I waited briefly in an office shared by Ambassador Kazaure (SCOP), Mohammed Sarki Abba, and Dr Suhayb Rafindadi. I was eventually ushered before the President, with my knees shaking.

“He cleared his throat, and asked me to sit down. He was laughing.

“My daughter, how are you?” he asked. “I couldn’t answer.”

“I hear you are fed up with your job at NBET. You have many troubles. But have you gone to jail before?”

“He laughed again. He said he asked to see me because he saw what I had written on the Acu Gas deal.” He went on:

“It’s not easy to govern Nigeria, or even anywhere. But I must trust some people, or I can’t survive. They got me to commit 10 million dollars of Nigeria’s money to this project. I sent for you, to thank you for your courage to write against the deal.

“They brought you to join in their corruption, but you refused. You can’t fit into their corrupt ways, and that is why they are all against you.

“I told the President that I was already tired of the job, but he told me not to worry, that he would give me people I could contact if there’s any reason.”

The people, according to Dr Amobi, were Mohammed Sarki Abba, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Domestic and Household Matters, and Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education.

“The President then prayed for me. And when he finished, his eyes were filled with tears. I was so touched. I asked if I could pray for him too. He said yes.

“I asked that God would bless, strengthen, and give him long life.

“When I finished, he looked at me, and said instead of long life for him, I should pray that God would give Nigeria more honest people like me.

“The President never knew me before he appointed me. When I had troubles, he stood behind me. Yet some people say he doesn’t like Ibos. Well, I don’t know….”

Those after Dr Amobi were relentless. She was suspended by Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, reinstated on the orders of the President, and when her term ended shortly after, she showed a clean pair of heels, running back to London.

“I would have died on the job. I was quite glad to leave,” she now says.

I’ve written about how the President left all other things in 2013, flew into Lagos to attend a farewell service for my late mum. One of his longest serving aides told me there were not up to five people in the country Buhari could do such for. I felt, and still feel, eternally honored.

When he got into office in 2015, he kept the Service Chiefs he met for three months. But that is not the story. It is the prerogative of a President to dispense with the services of those he inherits, and when. It could be immediate, it could be later.