Buhari Stirred the Soul of a Nation

Guest columnist​ By TANIMU YAKUBU

I sit here in the solemn quiet of my office in the Federal Capital, while the nation moves northward to Daura, drawn by duty, memory, and the unspoken gravity of a final farewell. But though my body remains in Abuja, my spirit travels alongside his cortege—trailing the dust of Katsina, stirred by remembrance, heavy with reverence.

How does one mourn a man who lived with such austerity yet stirred the soul of a nation?

We knew him not from afar. We walked his convictions. We saw, up close, how trust could be literal and sacred at once—at the PTF, where idealism didn’t merely dream, it acted. We didn’t manage a Fund; we managed a covenant. Not a culvert was funded that hadn’t been prepared. Not a project escaped scrutiny. And not a single one failed. In a land often accustomed to the tragedy of misused promise, that period was a rare chapter of unbroken execution.

Those of us who hawked knowledge—technical, procedural, strategic—were not just respected, we were rewarded. Merit mattered. And the man at the top? He wanted no applause. He merely wanted it done, and done right.

There, in the lean offices of the PTF, we learned that vision without vanity could move mountains. That a nation’s soul could be stirred—and its body mended—with the most frugal tools, if only honesty governed the hand that held them.

Buhari proved, in those years, that a single incorruptible man, surrounded by disciplined and knowledgeable Turks, could—not just in theory but in truth—restore a nation’s honour and glory. He showed that patriotism could wear khaki, carry silence, and wield spreadsheets.

Now he returns to Daura—not to retire, but to rest.

And as we bid him farewell, let no one say Nigeria lacked an example. He gave one. Clear, austere, and resolute. We may never see another like him—not because such men no longer exist, but because few are willing to walk with such solitude through the minefields of power.

So let us not grieve only. Let us remember—accurately, gratefully, and with pride. For once, idealism was not a mirage. For once, a Nigerian institution did not fall to rot or greed. For once, we served a man who led with clean hands and cleaner intent.

You knew him, Hadi. As did I.

And because we did, we must carry that fire forward.

May his soul find the rest it deserves.

And may we never forget what he once made possible.

•Tanimu Yakubu is DG Budget and Planning, MInistry of Finance, Abuja