Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, has paid glowing tribute to former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing him as a disciplined, austere, and principled leader who remained true to his values throughout his public life.
In a solemn eulogy titled “The Last Stoic of the Savannah,” Yakubu captured the mood of national mourning as Buhari’s body made its final journey home to Daura. He reflected on the profound sense of loss the nation feels—not only for the man but for the values he represented.
“I sit in the solemn quiet of the capital, while the nation moves northward to Daura, drawn by duty, memory, and the unspoken gravity of a final farewell,” Yakubu wrote in a tribute to the late Nigerian President. “Though the body may remain in Abuja, the spirit rides the dusty winds of Katsina, following his cortege as it weaves through the brittle silence of villages that once knew his stride, and now bow in reverent farewell.”
Yakubu praised Buhari’s simplicity and restraint in office, noting that despite wielding enormous power, he never succumbed to the trappings of it. “Muhammadu Buhari was never flamboyant, but he was luminous. His presence did not crash into rooms; it distilled into them, like slow wisdom,” he said. “In an age of performance, he remained a man of substance. In a time of noise, he chose silence.”
Recalling his time working closely with the late president at the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), Yakubu said Buhari demonstrated what it meant to govern with integrity and purpose. According to him, the PTF under Buhari was an institution driven by methodical patriotism and selfless service.
“Those of us who labored with him in the quiet corridors of the Petroleum Trust Fund saw his principles sharpen into policy,” Yakubu stated. “Not a culvert was built without cause. Not a contract was padded. And not a single project was left behind as a ghost.”
He explained that the PTF was not just a bureaucracy managing a budget, but a place where every naira was accounted for and every decision was guided by the principle of public trust. “We did not manage a budget—we upheld a trust,” he wrote.
Yakubu emphasized that Buhari’s commitment to public service was deeply rooted in honesty and self-discipline. “He had no taste for the indulgences of power. No appetite for stolen wealth. No flair for personal enrichment. His only wealth was duty, and perhaps that is why he never seemed poor in soul.”
Describing Buhari’s return to Daura as a homecoming, not just for burial but for rest, Yakubu posed difficult questions to today’s generation of leaders. “Who among us dares to live with such sparse grandeur again? Who will take up the cross of discipline, in a generation seduced by spectacle?”
He noted that Buhari’s legacy does not lie in grand monuments or gold-plated accolades but in the memory of his example. “In a time when public virtue is often mocked, when the state staggers under the weight of corruption, and when too many leaders think only of tenure and not of posterity, Muhammadu Buhari’s life stands like a lean, unyielding baobab, gnarled by storms, but never uprooted,” Yakubu wrote.
Though he admitted Buhari was not perfect, Yakubu maintained that he was rare—a man who reminded the nation that austerity is not a weakness, and that quiet, sincere leadership can be more lasting than theatrics.
He concluded his tribute with a call to national reflection and collective renewal. “Let us not simply bury him. Let us exhume his example. Let us ask what it means to truly serve. Let us confront our cynicism with the discipline he practiced, not just preached,” he urged.
Yakubu added that the former president’s passing is not only a moment of grief but also an opportunity for Nigeria to reconnect with the ideals Buhari stood for—discipline, integrity, and service.
“We do not grieve for him alone. We grieve for the ethic he embodied and for the silence his departure leaves in our national soul. But even in death, his life still points forward: toward integrity, toward sacrifice, toward a Nigeria still possible,” he concluded.
The tribute serves as both a eulogy and a challenge—calling on Nigeria’s current and future leaders to walk the same path of principled service that defined Muhammadu Buhari’s life.
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