The Buhari In Us - Daily Trust

Title: The Buhari In Us
Written by: Abdullahi Ojoanyonu Haruna
Reviewed By: Brigadier-General Sk Usman (Retd) mni

It is indeed a complicated task of doing justice to this great literary work in a million words, not to talk of a few hundred words and in a limited time. However, I will try. The book, “The Buhari In Us,” is written by a highly talented writer, poet, youth activist and publisher of the World Entourage ,agazine, Abdullahi Ojoanyonu Haruna, an ardent supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari. It was published by an Abuja-based publishing company, Entourage Publishing Limited.

To denote the importance of this great work, its foreword was written by Professor Yemi Osinbajo, GCON, the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The author extols the leadership qualities and lifestyle of the president of the world’s most populous black nation and described it as a case study in selfless leadership.

The 112-page book is a collection of successions of articles written by the author over time, in a free-flow prose interlaced with poetic expressions denoting the writer’s impression and thoughts about President Buhari.

This book is, indeed, a case study on the personality and leadership style of one of the most outstanding leaders of our time, President Buhari, GCFR, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria since May 2015.

Through this work, Haruna provides the reader with an insight into the extraordinary qualities that make the president unique.

It is also a collection of articles by the author, revolving around President Buhari, and the writer’s perception or understanding of happenings at a particular point in time in Nigeria.

Some of the write-ups were responses to incidents and key national issues. There are 41 of such articles, with each forming a chapter and theme as follows: Muhammadu Buhari: The Poor President in a Rich Nation; How Not to Change a Government; The Day he Died to Rise Again; BuhariOsinbajo; Buhari’s Certificate of Integrity; Tell Them Who Are; Getting Nigeria out of the Miry Clay; Why I am a Buharist; Buhari, Leadership and Young People; Between The Jackals and The Hyenas.

Others are: The Day He Touched Down; Buhari And the Yoruba; In Buhari, Abiola Lives Again; Slow and Getting it Right; Life as Vegetable; The Template of the King (a poem; Why Buhari Can’t Fail; To the So-Called Wailers; Smelly Hate; Why Buhari is More Igbo than Some of Us; Mr President, you are Worth more thanN30 million, walahi!

Also: PMB: The Divine Mandate; We Give What You Give; Buhari: Righting the Ruins of Yesterday; We Stand by You (a poem);Buhari’s Intimate Pact with the Poor; Learning from the Ropes of Buhari; 2019 and the Pretenders; Saraki, Change and Sham, Our Collective Gains; May Buhari Fail in Politics and Get It Right in Governance; The Real Change; Buhari’s Diplomatic Voyage; The Phenomenal Template of Muhammadu Buhari; The Not Too Young to Run Stroke; Dear Muhammadu Buhari; The Man in The Heart of The Masses; As Our National Bird Births; ICC Visit; Buhari And the Armada of Political Cyclones; Proud Buharedeen(a poem);Buhari and the Media Onslaught.

The book, “The Buhari in Us” could not have come at a better time than now when the issue of leadership has been on the front burner of our national discourse. Therefore, this book offers an insight into those rare qualities of President Buhari as a man of integrity and impeccable character and a point of reference to all, especially the youth, those aspiring to lead and those in various positions of leadership in this country and beyond.

The opening chapter, “Muhammadu Buhari: The Poor President in a Rich Nation,” sums up the financial and material worth of the president as paltry N30million only, with just 270 cows, 25 sheep, five horses, a few birds, economic trees, five houses located in Abuja, Daura, Kaduna and Kano. That of Daura was made of “mud” despite the fact that he was once a minister of petroleum resources, governor of the North-East Region, head of state and chairman of federal government’s social security programme, the Petroleum Trust Fund.

Haruna has summed it up at the beginning of this book, which to me should have been the conclusion, when he stated, “If the life of this man (President Muhammadu Buhari) doesn’t awe you, inspire you and make you contented with whatever comes your way, then you have a problem grappling with awesomeness of life.” And “The man Muhammadu Buhari is a case in the study of human mystery….”

He further extols the wisdom of making Professor Yemi Osinbajo his vice. He demonstrated absolute loyalty and capacity to act, as noted on BuhariOsinbajo, an article written on August 19, 2017, shortly after the president returned from his second medical trip in the United Kingdom.

The author has gone out of his way to offer a glimpse of the rare leadership qualities of President Buhari as a leader and human being that went through a lot in a bid to make our country great by righting the wrongs of yesterdays.

Haruna is indeed a master wordsmith as he made careful use of words to enhance the reader’s involvement in understanding the Buhari phenomenon and why he is unapologetically a Buharist.

Despite his love for President Buhari, Haruna has proven that he is not a blind follower when he offered constructive criticisms while reflecting on some key national issues in the chapters titled, “May Buhari Fail in Politics and Get it Right in Governance,” and “Dear Muhammadu Buhari,” albeit rightly so.

The critics of the government were not spared either in the chapters, “Saraki, Change and Sham, Our Collective Gains” and “Buhari and the Armada of Political Cyclones.”

The media did not escape the wrath of the author in the piece, “Buhari and the Media Onslaught,” in which he concluded that “the media is not a real mirror of reality, today’s media distort reality. If you want real you, ask people around you, unabashedly, you will get the true colour of your existence.”

This could be true given the media’s portrayal of the president vis-à-vis his silent and steady accomplishments in various aspects of national development and the tumultuous welcome he received in a recent visit to Borno State.

After reading the book, one cannot help but admire the author’s unwavering stance and support to President Buhari unconditionally.

Haruna’s followership and love for his mentor as captured in the pages of the book for a man without recourse to any anticipated or perceived benefit is most unprecedented.

Undoubtedly, Haruna has raised the bar of loyalty and commitments to ideals without any pecuniary or material benefit, his only motive being the well-being of Nigeria.

Variety, they say, is the spice of life as the author captivates the reader throughout with reasonable explanations of why he believes in and adores President Buhari.

Other appealing parts of the book are the use of humour and poetry, in which he has three of them: “The Template of the King,” “We Stand by You” and “Proud Buharideen” to drive home his points. He ends most of the pieces with his known trademark – Musing, which ranges from Profoundly Musing, Optimistically Musing, Unrepentantly Musing, Frankly Musing, Emotionally Musing, Critically Musing, Vainly Musing, Solemnly Musing, to Democratically Musing and Unequivocally Musing, depending on the topic of discourse.

The book is a must-read for those that aspire to be great in life, as through these pages, Haruna has offered us a rare glimpse of those extraordinary qualities that make President Buhari great.

His spartan life and commitment to the Nigerian nation was brought to the fore.

However, the book contains minor errors that bordered on placement of punctuation marks and had only one grammatical error, which I have no doubt would be taken care of in subsequent editions.

Indeed, Haruspices is selfless and dedicated to any cause he believes in. This manifests itself in his exemplary and prudent lifestyle and consistently manifested in the write-ups that form this book’s basis.

This work has confirmed him as a beacon of hope as he sets a template and becomes a shining example for young writers and aspiring leaders. He shuns the norms of material benefits as a condition for followership. There is no doubt that his humility and sincerity of purpose endeared him not only to the young people but also to various classes of people as he enjoys the respect of all and sundry.

There is no doubt that Haruna’s book is an essential reading for all. Although some members of the opposition may find it unpalatable, I highly recommend it to all Nigerians, especially the youth and those that believe in the ideals of President Buhari.

Please try and get a copy of this masterpiece as I doubt if any copy would be left on the book stand. Thank you.