1. THE INFLUENTIAL BUHARI
“We are not makers of history, we are made by history”
- Martin Luther King
Have you made history?
What did Buhari do?
 Identified the Nigerian Landscape
 Defined new opportunities for the nation
 Identified incorrect assumptions
 He encouraged, inspired and even motivated the actions of the public to
have faith in him and his governance, as a born – again democrat.
LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE; this is what Buhari encapsulates. He is the new
choice for Nigeria. He is a man with a vision and a mission for the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. He is the former dictator turned democrat. He is the
‘Change’ leader.
Buhari has many challenges ahead and many battles to fight in order to govern
the nation seamlessly. However, his greatest challenge may be to overcome his
past as a military ruler, who seized power in 1983. In his victory speech on the
1st of April he stated, “We must begin to heal the wounds and work towards a
better future”. He then went further to say – “We do this first by extending a
hand of friendship and conciliation across the political divide”. This goes to show
that he wants to leave a legacy behind, one that will be respected and
appreciated, just like his historic condition.

2. President - elect Muhammadu Buhari who defeated the incumbent president
Goodluck Jonathan during the March 28th election, has been named in the Time
Magazine annual 100 most influential people in the world list. Although he has to
live up to voters’ expectations, his achievement with regards to unseating the
current Nigerian President through the ballot box cannot be ignored. In fact, it
calls for frequent celebration. Such victory doesn’t come easy in the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
The ruling party PDP faced their greatest challenge during the recent elections as
the reality of Buhari’s presidency continued to concretise daily. It was no
surprise that he won the election as the nation faced hardship, political crisis ,
depression, and frustration among other forms of darkness. Simply put, Nigeria
was becoming a sinking economy. The thought of him becoming president
suddenly became desirable to Nigerians. As the nation continued to become sad
and shameful, even becoming overpowered by Boko Haram, the thoughts of
‘change’ became more palatable. Buhari didn’t seem like such a bad idea
anymore. In fact, ‘change’ became pleasant. Not even because it was his political
party’s slogan; but the idea of a different Nigeria, a new Nigeria seemed
plausible. In whatever form the change came, a vast majority of Nigerians were
ready to try it a different way.
Patriot Buhari as I fondly refer to him as, contributed to the task of keeping
Nigeria one, before and after the civil war. In 1983 when he reached the
pinnacle of his career, he was appointed as the head of commander in chief of the
armed forces. The sincere man also paid a key role in helping to stabilize the
prices of oil in the world market to benefit producing member states like Nigeria.
However, in Nigeria today, the positives he did for the nation have been buried
with bribery and corruption, which has built up over the years. But he is now
back in power to change things around.