President Bola Tinubu, in Abuja on Thursday, led his cabinet ministers, the Secretary to the Government, two state governors, and the Head of Service in a solemn tribute to the late President Muhammadu Buhari. In rounding off encomiums,President Tinubu announced that the University of Maiduguri in Borno State will henceforth be known as Muhammadu Buhari University, Maiduguri.
The ceremony at a special session of the Federal Executive Council honoured the eighth Nigerian leader—a civil war hero, a former military head of state, and an anti-corruption advocate —who passed away on July 13, leaving a legacy of discipline and patriotism.
President Tinubu, who opened the floodgates of tributes in the presence of the departed leader's children, renamed the 50-year-old University of Maiduguri Muhammadu Buhari University.
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Senator Abubakar Bagudu, in his tribute, revealed a letter sent to the APC Governors Forum by former President Buhari in the aftermath of the APC Presidential Primaries, won by President Tinubu.
In the June 9, 2022, letter, President Buhari rallied the APC governors to ensure Tinubu's victory, contrary to some notions that Buhari was indifferent to Tinubu's presidential campaign.
"Our candidate, His Excellency Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is no stranger to you. He is our friend and brother", President Buhari wrote. "We know his commitment, his track record and his capacity to lead our party to success. So now is the time for all of us to come together and march forward, as we did in 2025, to a convincing APC victory.
"I look forward to working closely with APC Governors to support Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all our APC candidates to success in 2023", Buhari added.
President Tinubu eulogised President Buhari for his patriotism, unshakable convictions, forthrightness, and sincerity in his tribute.
President Tinubu stated that generations would feel the absence of a leader whose presence had stirred their convictions.
The President praised Buhari as a fearless defender of the unity of the nation with a unique leadership style, as well as a character defined by discipline, sincerity and unwavering display of compassion:
"Today, we gather under a heavy shadow, drawn from the silence that surrounds a departed leader and the immense weight of a life whose absence will be felt for generations. We meet to honour a man whose presence once commanded this very room, whose voice once summoned the best in us, and whose convictions never bowed, even to the strongest winds of public opinion. President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, former Head of State and former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has gone to rest.
"He was first among soldiers in war, first among citizens in peace, and first, without ambition or flattery, in the hearts of his fellow citizens. Yet it was in the quiet and unadorned settings of his private life that his true greatness was revealed: pious without show, just without cruelty, humane without sentimentality, temperate without coldness, and sincere without guile."
President Tinubu affirmed that Buhari's leadership qualities and unimpeachable integrity endeared him to many, from his chosen career as a military man to the administrative and political positions he held, culminating in his headship of the country in uniform and as a democrat.
According to the President, "To his peers, he was respectful and without pretence. To those who served under him, he was kind without condescension. And, to those whom he loved most intimately, he was unfailingly tender, loyal, and good. His life was a rebuke to vice and a refuge for virtue. The purity of his private character gave radiance to the discipline and integrity of his public service.
"President Buhari's life was one of austere honour. He stood, always, ramrod straight; unmoved by the temptation of power, unseduced by applause and unafraid of the loneliness that often visits those who do what is right, rather than what is popular. His was a quiet courage, a righteousness that never announced itself. His patriotism was lived more in action than in words.
"Yet, with all that he had achieved, his most enduring legacy would be carved in democracy. In a time when many had lost hope that change was possible, Muhammadu Buhari put his faith in the people of this country."
President Tinubu urged Nigerians to be guided by the late President Buhari's life of humility, moral rectitude, incorruptibility, and compassion.
"President Buhari was not a perfect man – no leader is – but he was, in every sense of the word, a good man, a decent man, an honourable man. His record will be debated, as all legacies are, but the character he brought to public life, the moral force he carried, the incorruptible standard he represented, will not be forgotten. His life was lived in full service to Nigeria, and in fidelity to God.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the late President Buhari as a very principled man who, although not perfect, was good and utterly uninterested in personal comfort, prioritising duty above all else.
"Buhari is remembered as a man who gave everything he had to a country that asked everything of him. His life reflected basic simplicity and integrity, reminding that goodness is not always loud and that history applauds those who live for legacy over fame," Akpabio said.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, described the late President as a man whose life and legacy are deeply woven into the fabric of our nation.
"President Buhari was not an ordinary figure in our national journey. He embodied quiet strength, moral clarity and an unshakable sense of duty. At a time when society was seduced by materialism, he chose a life of modesty and service. He was devoted to family and steadfast in his Islamic faith," he said.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors' Forum and Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, highlighted the late President's legacies, describing him as a patriot, statesman, and devoted servant of the Nigerian people.
Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, said Buhari's life was defined by unwavering faith and integrity, calling on Nigerians to reflect and reignite our hope in a greater tomorrow.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Suliaman-Ibrahim, and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, also delivered tributes.
Yusuf Buhari, the son of the late President, expressed the family's gratitude to Nigerians from all walks of life, including members of the diplomatic community, for the honour bestowed on his father in death.
He commended President Tinubu, Vice President Shettima, and their wives for the outstanding support received by the family from the time their father fell ill until his departure on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
"It showed that he was regarded far more than a politician, but regarded as a friend and a father to all," Yusuf Buhari said.
Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information & Strategy)
July 25, 2025
