Muhammadu Buhari: The last of Nigerian Praetorian Guards, By Okoi Obono-Obla
President Muhammadu Buhari will officially hand over the reins of political governance and authority of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on 29 May 2023.
President Buhari has given us notice of his retirement from public life after his handing over to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
His military career started in 1961. But ended in 1985 after the military regime he was Head of State and Commander in Chief had been toppled in a military coup on 26 August 1985.
On 29 May 2023 when President Muhammadu Buhari handed over to Tinubu, this country would have seen the last surviving military officers of his generation that had great influence, clout, and weight in Nigerian political leadership.
I will call them the last of the Nigerian Praetorian Guards. Certainly, President Muhammadu Buhari is the last of these Praetorian Guards.
Among them were General Yakubu Gowon (Military Head of State from 29 July 1966 to 29 July 1975); General Ramat Murtala Mohammed (Military Head of State from July 29 1975 to 16 February 1976); General Olusegun Obasanjo (Military Head of State from 16 February 1976 to 1 October 1979); Major General Muhammadu Buhari (31 December 1983 to 26 August 1985).
However, I will include General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma among the Nigerian Praetorian Guards even though he was never Head of State but he was one of the most influential members of this generation of Nigerian Military Officers that had their pie in both the military and political leadership of the country for almost five decades.
Certainly, President Buhari is the last Praetorian Guards and those class of influential military officers (who also fought in the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970) that had their pies in the political governance of the country.
What do I mean by Pretorian Guards? In History during the Roman Empire, the Praetorians were an elitist corps of military officers that served as bodyguards and intelligent officers to the Roman leadership and political elite such as the Emperor, senators, governors, etc. They became so powerful and influential that they exerted tremendous influence behind the scenes in the affairs of the Roman Empire.
In the reign of Emperor Constantine, the Praetorian Guards were disbanded because they were notorious and had established influence in the Roman polity.
President Muhammadu Buhari was appointed Military Governor of the old North Eastern State (now Bornu, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, and Yobe States) on 3 August 1975 after the regime of General Yakubu Gowon was toppled on 29 July 1975 while he was attending a meeting of the defunct Organization of African Unity in Kampala, Uganda.
On 3 February 1976, new States were created in the country, and the Old North Eastern States were divided into Borno and Gongola States.
President Buhari was appointed Military Governor of Bornu State on 3 August 1975 and remained so till 15 March 1976.
29 May 2023, for the first time in the history of the country, we are going to have a President who is not helped to become one but who conceived, fostered, and cultivated his ambition to lead this country for almost three decades unaided by any potentate military or otherwise. He is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
His coming has effectively ended the long influence of the Nigerian Praetorian Guard from 1966 to 2023!!
In the same March 1976, the new Military Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo appointed the then Colonel Muhammadu Buhari as Federal Commissioner (Minister) of Petroleum and Natural Resources.
In 1977 the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was created and Colonel Buhari was appointed its Chairman and held that position till the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo ended on 1 October 1979.
Certainly, President Buhari is the last Praetorian Guards and those class of influential military officers (who also fought in the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970) that had their pies in the political governance of the country.
29 May 2023, for the first time in the history of the country, we are going to have a President who is not helped to become one but who conceived, fostered, and cultivated his ambition to lead this country for almost three decades unaided by any potentate military or otherwise.
He is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. His coming has effectively ended the long influence of the Nigerian Praetorian Guard from 1966 to 2023!!
- Obono-Obla writes from Abuja
