From Soldier to Statesman: A view from afar


Though I have not been opportuned to read the recently launched above titled book on the life and times of late former President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock by Prof Charles Omole with contributions from the late President's wife HE Aisha Buhari, but commentaries about the contents of the book has made it, a must read for me.


As I pen this note, am still trying to get a copy of the book and I have told some friends to ensure that whoever gets it first among them, should please purchase a copy for me, because am intrigued by the fact that some of the revelations of the book tallied with what some of us, got to know during the previous administration and which we shared with some close associates who are alive and can corroborate the fact.


But having read just excerpts of the book at the book launch in the media, I can say with all sense of responsibility as a person who followed and supported the late President Muhammadu Buhari administration religiously, that all the areas mentioned of some characters in the book that has become public knowledge today, is nothing but truth, no matter how some persons are trying to rewrite the history of what we know to be the truth and fact.


I recollect that just some few hours ago, a popular public affairs commentator and Pope Emeritus on Facebook Emeka Amadioha Mbaise Oparah in a post threw a jibe at former presidential aide Babafemi Ojudu about his then principal, HE former vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo failed presidential bid within the APC and the need for him to pen his soujourn in office in order to document history.


Though Mr Babafemi Ojudu has responded in a post with his own account of what transpired about his then principal failed presidential journey, one can say, with all modesty, that he only tried to deflect from the truth which is obvious to any discerning observer and watcher of Nigeria's politics.


The truth of the matter is that late former President Muhammadu Buhari was a man of few words and taciturn character who lived his life with the belief that he didn't need to tutor an adult on how to live his life, so long as it was his choice.


If we all remember in the run up to the APC presidential primary in 2022, all sorts of persons including serving ministers resigned and purchased the presidential nomination form and when asked why they were throwing their hat into the ring, they all retorted individually, that late President Muhammadu Buhari told them that if they feel up to it, then they should go ahead.


I know for a fact and was privy to the presidential ambition of former vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo which a lot of people including yours sincerely felt that knowing that his mentor and political benefactor now President Bola Tinubu was interested in running, ought to have made him shelve his ambition, infact in one of my engagement with a media aide of former vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, I told him in unmistakable terms, that he and his principal are what the Yorubas call, "Alaimore" "ingrates". In response, he said, "Nelson, ko le to yen" "Nelson, it's not that hard" and I replied that, "O le ju be lo", meaning, "it's harder than that".


My encounter with that media aide of former vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo was shared with some of my close friends and associates who are living witnesses till date.


In the run up to the 2022 presidential primary of the APC, I know for a fact because I was privy to the visitations of the former vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo to notable Yoruba leaders and traditional institutions seeking their blessings and support, and out of respect to them, I won't mention some names, else I would be undermining the confidentiality of the information obtained from those sources.


In almost all the places he visited in the South West to seek support and blessings, former vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo was asked in plain terms by all the leaders and elders that, "Have you told your principal, the one in Bourdillon? In some places, he admitted not to have told Bourdillon, but in others, he couldn't provide an answer. Infact, when he visited the late paramount ruler Awujale of Ijebuland, the Awujale was reported to have told him that, "I don't know you, if you are interested in running for any political office, the person that I know who introduced you to me,, who can seek my support for your ambition is now President Bola Tinubu, but if I don't hear from him, then count me out". 


I also recall when the Nigerian Guild of Editors held a programme in Abuja around late 2022 and some senior members of the Guild decided to pay a thank you visit to one of it's patrons who honoured the event in his home in Abuja, the patron told the members of the Guild and I quote him in Yoruba language, "Iru eyan wo ni Yemi Osinbajo, o n ba olore re du ipo?", "What manner of a man is Yemi Osinbajo that he is vying for the same seat with his benefactor".


The team who visited the elder statesman were shocked by this revelation which they believed reflected the mindset of late former President Muhammadu Buhari, knowing fully well that the elder statesman shares a very close and intimate relationship with the late former President.


The truth as revealed in the book "Soldier to Statesman" which depicts late former President Muhammadu Buhari as being unsupportive of the presidential ambition of former vice president Prof Yemi Osinbajo because he viewed it as a betrayal and ingratitude to his mentor and political benefactor President Bola Tinubu is nothing but the truth, this one knows for a fact and which is why one have penned it for history.


Thank you.


Yours Sincerely,


Nelson Ekujumi