Nigeria's ex-president Buhari, twice leader of Africa's most populous nation, dies at 82

Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari who led the country twice as a military head of state and a democratic president has died aged 82 his press secretary said Sunday Buhari died Sunday in London where he had been receiving medical treatmentHe first took power in Africas most populous nation in 1983 after a military coup running an authoritarian regime until fellow soldiers ousted him less than 20 months later When he was elected in 2015 on his fourth attempt he became the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election thereBuhari rode into power in that election on a wave of goodwill after promising to rid Nigeria of chronic corruption and a deadly security crisis He led until 2023 during a period marked by Boko Harams extremist violence in the northeast and a plunging economyCurrent President Bola Tinubu in a statement described Buhari as a patriot a soldier a statesman to the very core Tinubu dispatched the vice president to bring Buharis body home from London Others across Nigeria remembered Buhari as a president who left the country of more than 200 million people divided between a largely Muslim north and Christian south more at odds than beforeThe uneven response to Buharis death with muted disillusionment in some quarters and sadness in others is a reflection of how difficult it is to unite a country and his inability to do so after decades in the public eye said Afolabi Adekaiyaoja an Abujabased political scientist Coming from Nigerias north the lanky austere Buhari had vowed to end extremist killings and clean up rampant corruption in one of Africas largest economies and oil producersBy the end of his eightyear tenure however goodwill toward him had faded into discontent Insecurity had only grown and corruption was more widespread Nigeria also fell into a recession amid slumping global oil prices and attacks by militants in the sprawling oilrich Niger Delta region The currency faltered as Buhari pursued unorthodox monetary policies to defend its fixed price to the dollar and a massive foreign currency shortage worsened Inflation was in the double digitsCivil society accused him of authoritarian tendencies after protesters were killed during a protest against police brutality and over his decision to restrict access to social media as young people vented their frustrations against economic and security problems Buharis attempts at managing the problems were complicated by prolonged medical stays abroad His absences with few details created anxiety among Nigerians and some calls for him to be replacedThere also was anger over his seeking taxpayerfunded health care abroad while millions suffered from poor health facilities at home I need a longer time to rest the president once said in a rare comment during his time away His presidency saw a rare bright moment in Nigerias fight against Boko Haram the safe return of dozens of Chibok schoolgirls seized in a mass abduction in 2014 that drew global attentionBut others among the thousands of people abducted by Boko Haram over the years remain missing a powerful symbol of the governments failure to protect civilians At the end of 2016 Buhari announced that the extremist group had been crushed driven by the military from its remote strongholds The terrorists are on the run and no longer have a place to hide he boastedBut suicide bombings and other attacks remained a threat and the militarys fight against Boko Haram continued to be hurt by allegations of abuses by troops against civilians In early 2017 the accidental military bombing of a displaced persons camp in the northeast killed more than 100 people including aid workers The UN refugee chief called the killings truly catastrophicAs Nigerias military reclaimed more area from Boko Harams control a vast humanitarian crisis was revealed Aid groups began alerting the world to people dying from malnutrition even as government officials denied the crisis and accused aid groups of exaggerating the situation to attract donations The extremist threat and humanitarian crisis in the northeast now exacerbated by Trump administration aid cuts continues todayYears earlier as Nigerias military ruler Buhari oversaw a regime that executed drug dealers returned looted state assets and sent soldiers to the streets with whips to enforce traffic laws With oil prices slumping and Nigerians saying foreigners were depriving them of work the regime also ordered an estimated 700000 illegal immigrants to leave the countryMeanwhile government workers arriving late to their offices were forced to perform squats in a war against indiscipline that won many followers Buharis administration however was also criticised by rights groups and others for detaining journalists critical of the government and for passing laws that allowed indefinite detention without trialAs he pursued the presidency decades later Buhari said he had undergone radical changes and that he now championed democracy But some of his past stances haunted him including statements in the 1980s that he would introduce Islamic law across NigeriaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever