Nigeria’s apex northern socio-cultural group, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has paid tribute to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, calling him an enduring figure whose public life spanned nearly six decades.
In a statement released by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the ACF said it received the news of Buhari’s passing with great sadness, describing his journey as one marked by momentous service to Nigeria.
Buhari, who died in London at the age of 82, had a rare distinction in Nigerian history: serving first as Military Head of State from 1983 to 1985 and later as a democratically elected president for two consecutive terms between 2015 and 2023. Earlier in his career, he was Military Governor of the former North-Eastern State (now six states in the North-East) and also Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The forum noted that Buhari played key roles during the Nigerian civil war and held several command positions, making him “a recurring figure in governance and national discourse for almost sixty years.”
Acknowledging that Buhari’s long public service drew both praise and criticism, the ACF said: “Those different times he had served incorporated momentous and often controversial episodes in Nigeria’s history. It is natural that some of these memories and debates over his legacy will continue.”
Highlighting his unique connection with Nigeria’s rural poor, especially in the North, the forum remarked: “There is no Nigerian alive today that enjoyed the love and loyalty of the downtrodden quite like President Muhammadu Buhari.”
The ACF concluded by praying for the peaceful repose of Buhari’s soul in Aljanna Firdaus and sending heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, the people and government of Katsina State, and the entire nation.
