Tributes pour as Onjeh joins Nigerians to mourn Buhari

Following the passing of former President Muhammadu Buhari in a London clinic after a protracted illness, Comrade Daniel Onjeh, the 2023, APC Senatorial for the Benue South Senatorial District, joined millions of Nigerians to mourn the ex-president.

Onjeh described Buhari as a towering symbol of resilience, integrity, and unwavering commitment to Nigeria’s progress. 

The 2023 candidate of the APC for the Benue South Senatorial District expressed his grief in a statement.

“President Buhari’s death,” Onjeh emphasised, “is a painful moment for the nation, but his life and legacy will forever inspire generations.”

Onjeh said he could attest without reservation to Buhari’s sincerity, discipline, and unrelenting war against corruption, describing him as an epitome of integrity, having worked with him as his National Youth Campaign Director in 2014 ahead of the run up to the 2015 general elections and as the Chairman of the Governing Board of PRODA in Enugu.

He said, “President Buhari was a man who fought with every fibre of his being to rid Nigeria of corruption,” he recalled. “Even when the system resisted, he did not flinch — he stood firm, guided by his conscience and loyalty to Nigeria.” 

He added that President Buhari’s crusade against graft was not mere rhetoric; it was a mission he pursued with conviction and clarity of purpose.

However, Onjeh observed that President Buhari’s war against corruption was met with fierce resistance from entrenched interests and a deeply compromised bureaucracy. 

“As Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted in her book, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind The Headlines, corruption fights back. It fought back even dirtier in Buhari’s time,” Onjeh lamented. 

“While he had the political will, the sheer weight of institutional rot sometimes overwhelmed his efforts. His complete trust in subordinates — though a mark of his character — was often betrayed. And while a leader must ultimately take responsibility, many of the lapses witnessed during his administration stemmed from sabotage by those he trusted to act with integrity.”

He added that this betrayal was worsened by the toll of Buhari’s prolonged ill health at the onset of his administration, which significantly affected the latter part of his administration. 

“Having run for president on three occasions and won, but was rigged out, Buhari genuinely had plans to transform Nigeria, but by the time he was elected president on his fourth attempt, his health and strength had waned, failing him, Onjeh stated.

“Some individuals took advantage of his medical condition to hijack the system and mismanage the nation,” Onjeh noted. “This betrayal did not diminish the values he stood for — but it did frustrate their full expression.”

Citing his own experience, Onjeh recounted how he personally witnessed the dynamics of this systemic sabotage when he served as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Projects Development Institute (PRODA), Enugu, during President Buhari’s administration. 

“Leading the Board of PRODA, in 2020, I made a formal recommendation to President Buhari to restructure the agency and reposition it to achieve its core mandate. One of the main recommendations was the removal of the agency’s then Director General, Dr. Charles Agulanna, over weighty allegations of corruption and administrative malfeasance. President Buhari, in his characteristic decisiveness, approved all my recommendations without leaving any,” Onjeh revealed.

He continued, “However his directives were undermined by some of his subordinates at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federal, within the Ministry of Science and Technology, and some powerful interests in the political class. 

“Not only were the presidential directives subverted, but in retaliation, these corrupt forces also fought to manipulatively include a clause (that was never part of the President’s approval) in the presidential directive asking me to step aside from chairmanship of the agency’s Board, in the process making it seem like the hunter became the hunted. This was never part of President Buhari’s instructions. The original, signed copies of the President’s approval are available for public scrutiny. Corruption fought back against me, and it fought dirtier than I ever imagined.”

The APC chieftain emphasised that this experience reflected the broader systemic flaw in Nigeria’s governance architecture. 

“Not even a saint can change Nigeria — not until we address the root problem,” he declared. “In all developed nations, reforms succeeded because citizens, not just presidents and the political class took the anti-corruption battle seriously. In such nations, institutions — not personalities — guarantee performance. Even the worst leaders are compelled to govern responsibly because the systems and institutions are structured to work regardless of who is in power.”

He asserted that Nigeria’s primary challenge is not just political leadership at the top, but the rot within the bureaucracy. 

“We focus our antigraft fight too much on high-profile office holders, sometimes weaponizing it to witch hunt political opponents not in the interest of the nation, but it’s actually the public and civil servants — those in ministries, departments, and agencies — who are the real interface between government, the people, and the environment. These are the people driving and implementing government policies. If they fail, the government fails woefully,” Onjeh said.

“Many agencies today are hotbeds of corruption. Some high-level politicians collude with heads of MDAs to siphon public funds. So, unless any president is ready to fumigate the civil service and MDAs — to cleanse and replace compromised officials with patriotic technocrats — the nation will remain trapped in mediocrity however well-intentioned the leadership may be.”

Turning his reflection back to President Buhari, Onjeh noted that as a decorated military officer, Buhari first served as Nigeria’s Head of State from 1983 to 1985, during which he earned a reputation for discipline and upright governance through his celebrated ‘War Against Indiscipline’ campaign.

Onjeh noted that during Buhari’s two-term presidency (2015–2023), he confronted Nigeria’s pressing challenges with uncommon determination. “He implemented the Whistleblower Program, which led to the recovery of billions of naira and the prosecution of high-profile offenders. His administration invested massively in infrastructure — roads, rail, airports — transforming the economic landscape. In the face of persistent insecurity, particularly in the North-East, he significantly degraded Boko Haram’s control and facilitated the release of some abducted Chibok girls,” Onjeh recounted.

He noted that Buhari’s government also weathered major global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price crashes, yet launched the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), which helped stabilise Nigeria’s economy and revive agriculture. He also recalled the signing of the “Not Too Young to Run” bill, opening the political space to Nigerian youth. “President Buhari believed in the youth. That gesture alone was a bold statement about his progressive mindset,” Onjeh said.

Reflecting on the late president’s character, Onjeh argued that Buhari was often misunderstood. “Some called him slow or aloof. But those of us who understood him knew he was a deliberate and principled man. He believed in due process and abhorred shortcuts. His governance was guided by the rule of law, even when it was politically inconvenient,” Onjeh said. “His declaration — ‘I belong to nobody, and I belong to everybody’ — was not just a slogan; it was a philosophy of impartiality and unity.”

Onjeh concluded by emphasising that Buhari’s legacy should compel Nigerians to look inward. “What Buhari represented — discipline, integrity, and moral clarity — may not have been fully realised because the system was broken. The failure was not personal — it was institutional,” he said. “Even if you bring the best president from any developed country around the globe and ask them to operate under Nigeria’s current system, the outcome will still be dismal.”

“President Buhari’s death is a monumental loss, not just for Nigeria,” Onjeh said, “but for all who value upright leadership in public service.” To his wife, Aisha Buhari, his children, and the entire family, Onjeh extended heartfelt condolences. He also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all Nigerians to unite in honouring the memory of this extraordinary man.

“As we reflect on his life, let us remember his iconic words: ‘If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.’ His life was a bold declaration against impunity. We must carry that legacy forward.”

“Rest in peace, sai mai gaskiya, Baba Buhari,” Onjeh concluded. “Your fight was ours, and we will carry it on.”

Vanguard News

The post Tributes pour as Onjeh joins Nigerians to mourn Buhari appeared first on Vanguard News.