With a deeply heavy heart and profound sense of personal loss, I join millions of Nigerians and<\/p>\n
friends around the world to mourn the passing of our former President, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.<\/p>\n
I extend my heartfelt condolences to his beloved wife, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, his children, and his entire<\/p>\n
extended family. I also condole with the government and people of Katsina State, especially the Daura<\/p>\n
Emirate, where President Buhari\u2019s journey in life began \u2014 a town whose name has become inextricably<\/p>\n
linked with his legacy.<\/p>\n
President Buhari\u2019s record of service to Nigeria is almost unparalleled. From the battlefield to the ballot<\/p>\n
box, he stood as a sentinel of duty. As a military officer, Head of State, and twice-elected President, he<\/p>\n
offered over five decades of his life to the service of our nation in times of strife and in peaceful times<\/p>\n
\u2014 guided always by a belief in discipline, integrity, and nationhood.<\/p>\n
What often went unnoticed in public commentary was his unwavering commitment to the core values<\/p>\n
that bind any serious society: order, punctuality, and accountability. He did not just talk about these<\/p>\n
values; he lived them. He was perhaps the most punctual public servant I ever encountered \u2014 never<\/p>\n
late to cabinet meetings, always respecting the time of others. It may seem a small thing, but in<\/p>\n
governance, it is everything. It sets a tone.<\/p>\n
He had a deep yearning for a society governed by rules, not by impulse. This found early expression<\/p>\n
in his War Against Indiscipline, a campaign often misread as rigid but rooted in a desire to rebuild a<\/p>\n
citizenry of order, courtesy, and civic responsibility.<\/p>\n
I feel privileged to have served in his cabinet \u2014 first in the consolidated Ministry of Power, Works<\/p>\n
and Housing, and later in the restructured Ministry of Works and Housing. President Buhari was not<\/p>\n
a man to micromanage; instead, he gave you the space and the trust to deliver. With that trust, however,<\/p>\n
came the highest expectations of discipline, results, and honesty.<\/p>\n
He had a quiet strength. Yet, within and outside the cabinet, I witnessed his compassion \u2014 his deep<\/p>\n
concern for the poor, the pensioner, the soldier in the trenches, the almajiri child, and the underserved<\/p>\n
in every part of this country.<\/p>\n
Under his leadership, the nation confronted formidable challenges: insurgency, economic volatility, a<\/p>\n
global pandemic, and deep political tension. Yet he remained consistent \u2014 never ruled by noise or<\/p>\n
poll ratings, only by the burden of responsibility and his belief in posterity\u2019s judgment.<\/p>\n
His death marks the end of a defining chapter in Nigeria\u2019s journey \u2014 one marked by sacrifice, moral<\/p>\n
authority, and patriotic resolve. But even in death, President Muhammadu Buhari leaves behind a living<\/p>\n
legacy: one of service above self, of discipline without drama, of truth without theatrics.<\/p>\n
May the Almighty Allah (SWT), whom he served with devotion and humility, forgive his<\/p>\n
shortcomings and grant him eternal rest in Aljannah Firdaus.<\/p>\n
Adieu, Mai Gaskiya as you were fondly referred to. Nigeria salutes you.<\/p>\n
Signed,<\/p>\n
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN CON<\/p>\n
July 13, 2025Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, CON<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With a deeply heavy heart and profound sense of personal loss, I join millions of Nigerians and friends around the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15547"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15550,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547\/revisions\/15550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenewsnow.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}