Nigerian Leaders since Independence: General Muhammadu Buhari (1983-1985)

Muhammadu Buhari (born December 17, 1942) is a Major General in the Nigerian Army and a former military ruler of Nigeria from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985.. His ethnic background is Fulani, and his faith is Islam. He is a native of Daura in Katsina State of Nigeria.

First involvement in Politics
Having joined the army in 1962, Buhari first came to widespread public attention in 1976 when he became the Minister or Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources under then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then he served as Governor of the newly created North Eastern State during the regime of Murtala Mohammed. He later became head of the newly created Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC in 1977.

President Buhari
Major-General Buhari was selected to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup d’etat that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983. At the time, Buhari was head of the Third Armored Division of Jos. Buhari was appointed Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration). Buhari justified the military's 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). Aspects of this campaign included public humiliation of civil servants who arrived late for work whilst guards were armed with whips to ensure orderly queues at bus stops.



He also moved to silence critics of his administration, passing decrees curbing press freedoms and allowing for opponents to be detained up to three months without formal charges. He also banned strikes and lockouts by workers and founded Nigeria's first Secret Police Force, the National Security Organization. His government sentenced popular musician and political critic Fela Kuti to ten years in prison on charges that Amnesty International denounced as fabricated and politically motivated In another high-profile incident that sparked a diplomatic incident with Britain, British officials found Buhari's former Transportation Minister drugged in a crate marked for shipment to Lagos.

Coup and Detention
In the face of the austerity measures, worsening economic conditions, and continued widespread corruption, Buhari was himself overthrown in a coup led by General Ibrahim Babangida and other members of the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC) on August 27, 1985. Babangida brought many of Buhari's most vocal critics into his administration, including Fela Kuti's brother Beko Ransome-Kuti, a doctor who had led a strike against Buhari to protest declining health care services. Buhari was then detained in Benin City until 1988.
Buhari's 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.

Subsequent political engagements
Buhari is still in active politics in Nigeria. In 2003, he contested the presidential elections as the candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). He was defeated by the Peoples Democratic Party nominee, President President Olusegun Obasanjo, by a margin of more than eleven million votes. It was claimed by Buhari's supporters and other members of the opposition that in some states, like Ebonyi, there were more votes than there were registered voters.

On 18 December 2006, Gen. Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party. His main challenger in the April 2007 polls was the ruling PDP candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua, who hailed from the same home state of Katsina. In the election, Buhari officially took 18% of the vote against 70% for Yar'Adua, but Buhari rejected these results.

In March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a party that he had helped to found. He said that he had supported foundation of the CPC "as a solution to the debilitating, ethical and ideological conflicts in my former party the ANPP".

Buhari was the CPC Presidential candidate in the 16 April 2011 general election, and won 12,214,853 votes, coming second to the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, who polled 22,495,187 votes and was declared the winner.

Compiled with information from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammadu_Buhari