Olushola Omogbehin
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has renamed the University of Maiduguri which is one of the foremost universities in northern Nigeria after the late former President Muhammadu Buhari who just kissed the world farewell.
The President disclosed this on Thursday at the special session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) held at the Presidential Villa convened in honoured of the late former president.
Tinubu said “May we now adopt the University of Maiduguri as the Muhammadu Buhari University.”
Praising the late president on what he stood for, Tinubu said Buhari might not have been a perfect man which no leader is but no doubt a good, decent and honourable man.
According to Tinubu, “His record will be debated as all legacies are, but the character he brought to public life, the moral force he carried and the incorruptible standard he represent while he was alive will not be forgotten because his life was lived in full service to Nigeria and in fidelity to God.”
President Tinubu also praised the late leader’s simplicity, humility and absolute resistance to the trappings of power.
“He stood, always unmoved by the temptation of power not seduced 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 righteous that never announced itself. His patriotism was lived in action than in words.”
Explaining the political union that led to the first transfer of power from one political party to another in the history of our dear Nigeria, the president said:
“We stood together, he and I along others drawn from across the political spectrum, regions and tongues and form an alliance that enabled Nigeria to experience its first true democratic transfer of power from one ruling party to another.
“When he was sworn in as our party’s first elected president, he led with restraint, governed with dignity and bore the burden of leadership without complaint.”
He also eulogized Buhari’s post service life that was full of modesty without wielding any political influence behind the scene.
“when his tenure ended, he returned to Daura; not to command from the shadows or to hold court but to live as he always had, never seeking to impose his will but content to let others carry the nation forward.
“He maintained in death, the serenity that defined him in life: not a sigh, not a groan, just a quiet submission to the will of God. That is the man Nigeria has lost. Such was the man for whom our nation now mourns,” he said.
On the final note, Tinubu prayed: “The People’s General, your duty is done. May Almighty Allah forgive his shortcomings and grant him Aljannah Firdaus. May his life continue to inspire generations of Nigerians to serve with courage, conviction and selflessness.
