When Muhammadu Buhari became president in 2015, I was just a teenager — wide-eyed, hopeful, and like many Nigerians, eager for change. I didn’t fully understand politics back then, but I understood promises.
Buhari came in with plenty: to fight corruption, fix the economy, secure the nation, and give young people a better shot at life. I remember that the word “change” was on most people’s lips, thinking he was the messiah that the country needed.
Fast forward to now. I’m no longer that teenager. I’m a young adult who lived through the Buhari era from start to finish. And with his recent passing a few days ago, it feels like the right time to reflect — not as a historian or politician, but as a young citizen whose life was shaped by the decisions of his government.
It wasn’t an easy period of eight years. The economy was a daily battle. Prices rose like the morning sun, the naira kept falling, and many of us learned how to stretch ₦500 like it was ₦5000. A simple life became expensive, and dreams started to feel distant.
Education, which should be the stronghold of any nation, suffered terribly. ASUU strikes came and went like seasons. Some of the people, if not most, lost years of their academic lives. And while they waited for school to resume, we all watched the country shift, though not always for the better.
However, it wasn’t all shadows. To his credit, Buhari’s government did try to address corruption. Some powerful people were called out, some were made to answer for their actions. There was an attempt, even if incomplete, to clean up a system deeply stained.
And though insecurity remained a major challenge, there were moments of progress, too.
There were victories, even if they didn’t always last.
Now, the question is, how did Buhari affect my life?
In many ways, he made me grow faster than I expected. I had to learn resilience, to adapt, to hustle. He made me politically aware — not just of who was in power, but of how deeply leadership affects our daily lives.
I also learned not to depend on politicians’ promises. Not because I’ve lost hope, but because I now know that real change doesn’t come from slogans — it comes from action, accountability, and from people like me refusing to settle for less.
Now that Buhari is gone, it feels strange.
Not because I was close to him, but because he was president for most of my formative years. The years I grew up. The years I learned, and pushed through.
His death marks the end of a chapter, and whether one sees him as a hero, a disappointment, or a mixture of both, one thing is clear: his time in office left a mark — on the country, and on us as a people.
For me, Buhari’s legacy is a complex one. I lived it. I felt it. And now, I carry the lessons with me.
Published on July 19, 2025
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