I SAW THIS ARTICLE AND I SHARED FOR PROGRESSIVE MINDS TO ALSO SHARE Who is the real GMB? Lets share a short history: Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) was born on 17 December 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, the twenty-third child of his father, he was raised by his mother - his father had died when he was about three or four. Buhari married his first wife, Safinatu (née Yusuf) Buhari in 1971. They had five children, four girls and one boy. In 1988, he divorced his first wife and got married the following year to his current wife Aisha (née Halilu) Buhari. They have four children together. One boy and three girls. On 14 January 2006, Safinatu, his first wife, died from complications of diabetes. In November 2012, his first daughter, Zulaihat Junaid died from sickle cell anaemia, after having a baby two days before at a Hospital in Kaduna. Buharl had joined the Nigerian Army in 1962, and was commissioned as second lieutenant, the following year, and appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta, Nigeria. In 1964, he attended the Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, United Kingdom. From 65-67, he was Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion and appointed Brigade Major, Second Sector, First Infantry Division, April to July, 1967, Brigade Major of the Third Infantry Brigade, July 1967 to October 1968 and Brigade Major/Commandant, Thirty-first Infantry Brigade, 1970-1971; Assistant Adjutant-General, First Infantry Division Headquarters, 71-72. He attended the Defence Services’ Staff College, Wellington, India, in 1973. From 1974-1975 Buhari was Acting Director, Transport and Supply, Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport Headquarters. He was Military Secretary, Army Headquarters from 78-79, also Member of the Supreme Military Council, General Officer Commanding, Ibadan, Oyo State in 1979 and later that year he was redeployed as General Officer Commanding, Jos, Plateau State. From 1979 -1980, at the rank of colonel, Buhari attended the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States of America and gained a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies. In August 1975, after General Murtala Mohammed had taken over government that year, he appointed Buhari Governor of the North-Eastern State. In March 1976, the then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo also appointed him Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources. When the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was created in 1976, Buhari was also appointed as its Chairman, a position he held until 1978. Major-General Buhari was selected as Head of State to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983. At the time, Buhari was head of the Third Armoured Division of Jos. He has justified the militarys seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt, and his administration subsequently initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as War Against Indiscipline (WAI). This policy won him national and universal applause, as a result of its effectiveness. In August 1985, he himself was overthrown in a coup led by General Ibrahim Babangida and other members of the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC), and detained in Benin City until 1988. His admirers believe that he was overthrown by corrupt elements in his government who were afraid of being brought to justice as his policies were beginning to yield tangible dividends in terms of public discipline, curbing corruption, lowering inflation, enhancing workforce and improving productivity. Buhari served as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), a body created by the government of General Sani Abacha, and funded from the revenue generated by the increase in price of petroleum products, to pursue developmental projects around the country. A 1998 report in New African praised the PTF under Buhari for its transparency, calling it a rare success story. General Buhari has previously contested presidential elections thrice, in 2003, 2007, and 2011 and even though he had never won, he always gave a good account of himself. In the last election on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a party with little semblance of national structure, formed barely weeks before the election, he still managed to poll over 12 million votes! Here is a man who remains consistent, committed, unrelentingly patriotic, and courageous, even in the face of all the transgressions he has endured. He has been called every bad name you can think of - religious bigot, Islamic fundamentalist, a semi-illiterate, coup plotter, dictator, too old and too weak to get things done, yet he trudges on. He just refuses to succumb to the lies, disinformation, and jibes. He just wont give up on Nigeria. For all of Nigerian history, we have had leaders thrust upon us, people who had no mission, nor vision to lead. It was never their will to lead, to quote a famous one amongst them, who TWICE was in the position to steer Nigeria aright. Some had luck thrust upon them; some were just plain lucky. For the first time in Nigerian history, we have one man who WANTS TO SERVE, and who has a game-plan. Mission. Vision. Decision. Fourth time lucky? They say Change is the name of the game
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 13:52:18 +0000
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