Background of the Daura, Katsina State-born retired military officer and politician. He was the 13th and last child of his mother, and also the last of his father’s 23 children. Gen. Buhari’s father was Hardo Adamu, a Fulani chief of Dumukorl, a village near Daura. He, however, died when the young Muhammadu was just four years old. All he can remember of him is that “he was tall and fair in complexion.” The young boy ended being brought up by his mother, Hajia Zulaihalu Musa, who had great influence on him. Buhari’s childhood and early education. At the age of six, General Buhari was enrolled at the Central Primary School, Daura. His nephew, Mamman, who is two and a half years older, says of the young pupil: “He was above average academically and more than usual naughty.” Buhari himself corroborated: “I was a truant in primary school. I spent a lot of my time playing around. But when I went to secondary school, I changed.” Classmates at Daura Primary School remember Buhari as a fast runner and centre forward for the school football team. He was always neatly dressed. He was to finish primary education in 1955 at Kankia Primary School. In 1956, he proceeded to the Katsina Provisional Secondary School (now Government College, Katsina. According to his schoolmates, he had then become “a serious and hardworking student who tried to excel in everything he did.” Deeply religious, he said his prayers regularly, and was among those who made prayer calls at 4:30a.m. Who were some of Buhari’s classmates, and what did they say of him? General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (now deceased): “He worked fairly hard at his studies and games. He was reserved. He was one of the few boys in the school trusted by his classmates, and was quite dependable.” Alhaji Fathu Abdullahi: He made a lot of friends from outside his Daura group. He was very broadminded. Very serious for his age and had no time for frivolous talks. He was very religious, even at the age of 12.” Mallam Muktari, Zango: “He used to baffle me. He was so strong-willed and principled. He always stood his ground and did not follow the crowd.” Buhari was a school monitor in Class 2, later a school prefect, a house captain, and ultimately he was made the head boy of the school. Of all the boys who applied to join the Army from Katsina Secondary School, only two were taken. Muhammadu Buhari and Shehu Yar’Adua. They both ended up as Generals. Buhari’s military career, which he started at Nigerian Military Training College, Katsina, in 1962. He then went to the Young Officers Course No. 5 at the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna, from May 1963 to July 1963, Mons Officers Cadet School, Aldershot, in the United Kingdom, and he was commissioned in the rank of Second Lieutenant and posted to 2nd Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta as a Platoon Commander. What are some of the other courses Buhari attended? He was at the Army Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course in Bordon, United Kingdom from May 1965 to June of the same year, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India, from January to November 1973, and Army War College, U.S.A, from July 1979 to July 1980. During the Nigerian Civil War, he was the Brigade Major of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, and Commander, 31st Infantry Brigade.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 05:22:09 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015