I Was There: Halima Buhari’s Words Were Taken Out of Context — Bashir Ahmad

I Was There: Halima Buhari’s Words Were Taken Out of Context — Bashir Ahmad

I will say this again for the avoidance of doubt, this is not me commenting on the newly presented book, From Soldier to Statesman. I am only correcting the deliberate misrepresentation of remarks made by Halima Buhari, one of the daughters of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, who spoke on behalf of the family during Alhaji Lai Mohammed’s book launch. I am doing so because I was present when she delivered the remarks.

What Halima Buhari said was a measured and reflective observation on leadership, governance, and the human burden of public office and was delivered strictly within the context of Alhaji Lai Mohammed’s book presentation, which reviewed the Buhari administration.

This is the exact portion that has been selectively quoted and distorted:

“Leadership, especially in a country as complex as Nigeria, is never as straightforward as it looks from the outside. It involves trade-offs, compromises, and, very often, imperfect choices. My father was not unaware of the criticisms levelled against him. He knew that many Nigerians felt that more could have been done, or done differently. He heard the voices of those who were disappointed, just as he heard the gratitude of those who felt their lives had improved.”

Anyone who listens to or reads her full address will clearly understand that her remarks were balanced. She explicitly acknowledged that Nigerians will continue to debate her father’s legacy, as is natural in any democracy.

Unfortunately, extracting one paragraph from a long speech and force-fitting it into an unrelated controversy is disingenuous and unfair, not only to Halima Buhari or the family, but also to the memory of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.