Muhammadu Buhari

From long silences that said too much, to tone-deaf quotes like “I’m for everybody and for nobody” or “Lazy Nigerian youths,” the former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari who passed away on Sunday July 13, 2025, gave Nigerians not just governance (for better or worse), but many golden meme-fied moments.

Whether vanishing into thin air during a national crisis or ruling from the UK, Buhari became one of Nigeria’s most memeable figures.

As the country reflects on his legacy, I’ve highlighted one of the most unifying things he left behind: ten of his premium, chaotic, hilarious memes.

10. Buhari 4+4

Origin: This was how Muhammadu Buhari signalled that he was fit to rule for four more years as president during a joint National Assembly session to present the 2019 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly in Abuja in 2018.

Use this meme: When everyone thinks you’re done, but you surprise them with more.

9. Buhari Waves

Origin: This meme is from when he cast his vote in Daura, Katsina, during the 2015 presidential election, which he won.

Use this meme: When you need to say a quick hello and disappear as fast as possible.

8. Buhari’s Mischievous

Origin: This is from the Arise News/ThisDay 90-minute interview that Buhari granted in 2019.

Use this meme: When someone asks you to send them money you don’t have in this Tinubu period.

7. Buhari Shows Teeth

Origin: This is an excited Buhari in 2015 after being announced as the presidential election winner.

Use this meme: When all is going to plan or you feel like the man of the moment.

6. Buhari’s Unimpressed

Origin: This meme is from the presidential primary election of the All Progressive Congress (APC) political party in 2022.

Use this meme: When in situations that aren’t serving you, this is how to show you’re not happy to be there.

5. Buhari Remembers

Origin: This Buhari meme is from the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) meeting in Abuja in 2021.

Use this meme: When your team lead asks for an update on a task, and you suddenly remember.

4. Buhari’s Ashamed

Origin: This Buhari meme is from the 2016 “Tackling Corruption Together” Commonwealth conference in London.

Use this meme: When you’re covering your face in shame.

3. Buhari Knows What You Are

Origin: This is from 2015, when Buhari met former US President Barack Obama in the Oval Office to discuss insecurity and improve foreign relations.

Use this meme: When your friend is lying and you know, you can only watch in awe.

2. Buhari Weeps

Origin: On April 14, 2011, two days before the 2011 presidential election, Buhari was moved to tears during the grand finale of his presidential campaign at the International Conference Centre in Abuja. Some said he cried because he knew he would lose the election; others said he wept over the country’s problems. Although he eventually lost the election to Goodluck Jonathan as predicted, his cry became a sensational story, with many implying that he used the cry incident to save face.

Use this meme: When you want to shed crocodile tears or emotionally manipulate others.

1. Buhari Picks Teeth

Origin: This is 2019, when the #RevolutionIsNow protest against his government was ongoing. A visibly unconcerned Buhari was sitting on a sofa, using a toothpick, at Aso Rock. This photo gained virality as a meme after it was posted on X (then Twitter).

Use this meme: To say you’re living a soft life, or to show zero concern even if everything around you is burning.

ALSO READ: QUIZ: Which 2022 Meme Are You?

See what others are saying about this story on Instagram.

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Nigeria’s former President, Muhammadu Buhari has died today, Sunday, July 13, in London, at the age of 82.

News of the former President’s death was broken by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, in a post made on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The family of the former president has announced the passing of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, this afternoon in a clinic in London. May Allah accept him in Aljannatul Firdaus, Amin,” Shehu said.

Before his death, the former President had battled with illness for some weeks in London, where he received treatment.

Muhammadu Buhari was a significant and persistent figure in Nigeria’s history. Born in 1942 in Daura, Katsina State, he joined the army at the age of 19 and rose through the ranks, ultimately emerging as Nigeria’s Head of State following the December 1983 coup.

After his regime was ended by a coup in August 1985, Buhari settled into the background, emerging years after Nigeria’s transition to democracy, to launch a long campaign to be its President.

He first ran under the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003 and 2007, and then under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011. However, in 2013, Buhari’s luck changed; after five parties— the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)— merged to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), he contested the 2015 election as its candidate and went on to win, unseating former President Goodluck Jonathan and the People’s Democratic Party, which had been in power for 16 years prior.

Though he campaigned on the “change” slogan, Buhari’s two-term presidency was hardly any different from the PDP’s 16 years.

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Marred by insecurity, particularly in the country’s North, human rights violations, and economic hardship, Buhari’s rule came to a slow end in 2023 when he handed over to fellow party member Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Dead in London, where he frequently received medical care during his time as President, Buhari’s remains will be flown back to Nigeria, where he will be given a customary state funeral.

This is a developing story.

One of the greatest feelings for Nigerian politicians is knowing they have people who are in love with them enough to do anything for them.

Nigerian politicians enjoy a lot of public goodwill

And love makes you do strange things, but some people on this list like to overdo things. We need them to think more before they act.

Showing your naked bum bum to the internet

Nothing prepares you for logging onto social media and seeing the bare asscrack of someone’s grandfather at the beach calling on God to help his candidate win. Yet, Nigerian actor, Ebun Oloyede, didn’t consider this when he subjected millions of Nigerians to a video clip of himself completely naked, with a back view no one asked for or deserved.

We’re pretty sure Oloyede hasn’t dedicated this much to a film role before, so why do it for politics? Let this be the last time, sir.

Drinking gutter water

For most people, voting for a candidate who goes on to win an election is always a cause for celebration. Most normal people would put an extra piece of meat on their rice or go out for a few bottles of beer with friends. But for Aliyu Muhammad Sani of Bauchi State, Buhari’s re-election victory in 2019 was his excuse to take a full dive into a rubbish-filled gutter.

[The Guardian]

Sani had promised to swim inside a gutter and drink drainage water if Buhari won, but maybe this is the one time it was okay to act like a Nigerian politician and not go through with a promise. To clarify, swimming in a gutter of rubbish is bad for your health and for our eyes.

Trekking interstate

Nigerian voters have upheld a tradition of doing interstate treks as a declaration of love for their favourite candidates so much that it’s got weird. The most infamous of the trekkers is Suleiman Hashimu who walked 750 kilometres in 18 days from Lagos to Abuja to celebrate Buhari’s 2015 victory. Buhari rewarded him with a handshake and eight years of whatever Nigeria currently is.

Dahiru Buba, another infamous Buhari trekker, who made a trip from Gombe to Abuja with his legs in 2015 needed fina n cial help in 2020 to treat limb pains that developed after his unnecessary walk.

You’d think these consequences would dissuade future trekkers, but some supporters are already trekking from state to state for 2023 presidential candidates.

Fighting your friends for politicians

The trend of severing ties with longtime associates over support for politicians has grown over the past eight years as online political discourse has become more toxic.

The big attraction of democracy is it allows everyone to responsibly table their points of view without fear of bad blood, but that isn’t always the case between supporters in different camps.

What’s worse about this hostile trend is the politicians they’re fighting these battles for are publicly friends when elections are over and don’t care about your private relationships. Yet, there you are, cutting off your own friends.

Election violence

Electoral violence is a feature as old as Nigerian politics itself, and it’s just sad that the pawns of the game are yet to realise they mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. People who’ll be abandoned to their fates after elections are the ones physically manipulating the process for unqualified people to march into office.

The trend of electoral violence has tipped downward over the past few election cycles, but those who haven’t got the message must realise they’re running a fool’s errand.

Stuff on Buhari: The President’s Weirdest Decisions We Thought Were April Fool’s Day Jokes But Weren’t

This is Zikoko Citizen’s Game of Votes weekly dispatch that helps you dig into all the good, bad, and extremely bizarre stuff happening in Nigeria and why they’re important to you.

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If Aisha Buhari was a fruit, she’d be a strawberry — wonderful aesthetics on the outside, but you’re not always quite sure what you’ll get when you dig your teeth in.

As Nigeria’s first lady since 2015, she’s had a reign no one would be able to accurately describe as uneventful.

Aisha Buhari’s first true moment in the spotlight came in 2016 when she criticised her husband’s running of the Nigerian government. In response, while standing next to Angela Merkel, one of the world’s most powerful women, Buhari said his wife belonged in the kitchen and the bedroom.

The episode painted the president as an ancestor from a forgotten ancient past and endeared many people to his wife — the public figure unafraid to speak truth to power in service of the people. But the first lady’s character development arc since that episode is the stuff of an Oscar-worthy film.

In 2018, many Nigerians had questions when Aisha Buhari accused her aide of collecting ₦‎2.5 billion cash gifts on her behalf only to keep the loot for himself. Even her occasional anti-government rants started to look suspicious when some of them appeared to be fuelled by her frustrations about her brother’s political issues with her husband’s ruling party. And how can we forget the video clip of her fight with her in-laws in 2019, and another off-camera fight with another in-law that led to gunshots inside Aso Rock?

The year is 2022, and Aisha Buhari’s capacity for attracting ugly news headlines is stronger than our national grid’s willpower. The first lady became a dinner table subject this week when she allegedly ordered the arrest of a university student, Aminu Muhammed, who used Twitter to call her a fat freeloader feeding on Nigeria’s wealth. I’m paraphrasing here.

The first lady’s action proved counterproductive because now the internet is littered with a multitude of mean-spirited jokes at her expense. This barbaric overextension of state powers to deal with a personal slight that’s a civil case of alleged defamation is the kind of thing that tells you Nigerian politicians don’t exactly understand the times they live in. Have you met the internet, bro?

What else happened this week?

Protect INEC at all costs

As the gatekeeper of what we call democracy in Nigeria, the success or failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is tied directly to the country’s future. So, seeing another INEC office go up in flames this week was a dreadful sight. The latest attack in Ebonyi is the fifth on an INEC local government area office in the past four months.

Attacks on INEC facilities have become a trend in Nigeria and are designed to either damage the agency’s capacity to conduct elections or scare even more voters away from exercising their voting rights due to the threats of violence.

Election candidates may want to use their voices more to ensure this doesn’t become a more common sight.

Have you seen this video?

We know why Buhari is looking forward to retirement.🌚 pic.twitter.com/Q828EoEdg7
— Citizen by Zikoko (@ZikokoCitizen) November 28, 2022

Question of the week

Fuel scarcity was back in full force again this week. How have you been navigating the latest crisis?

Click here to tweet your answer to @ZikokoCitizen on Twitter.

Ehen, one more thing…

Three Nigerian men caused an international incident when officials found them hiding on the rudder of a ship that travelled for 11 days from Nigeria to Spain.

The country is hard, but things can always get worse if you don’t seek greener pastures with a clear plan.

President Buhari and Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are pretty set in their decision to apply makeup to naira banknotes for the first time in 20 years.

Even though the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, has called it a bad idea, the new banknotes will enter circulation on December 15, 2022. Buhari launched the new ~~Snapchat filter~~ designs on November 23, 2022, and the CBN has even started a countdown to when the old naira notes will stop being valid in 2023.

These Famous Nigerian Faces Belong on Your Naira Banknotes

We know the redesign of the ₦‎200, ₦500 and ₦‎1,000 banknotes doesn’t involve changing the faces on them. But if it did, these famous deceased Nigerians have credible claims.

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti

She’s most popularly remembered as the first Nigerian woman to drive a car, but Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was more than that. She wasn’t called the Lioness of Lisabi for no reason as she pioneered many groups that championed women’s rights. She founded a political party and was the first woman appointed to the Western House of Chiefs.

Shehu Shagari

No single elected Nigerian president is on any of the naira banknotes, and Shagari can be the first as he’s the country’s first elected president.

Gambo Sawaba

Sawaba has been regarded as the most jailed Nigerian female politician due to her resilient activism. She campaigned against child marriage, unfair labour practices, and championed women’s rights. For her troubles, she was publicly flogged, had her hair shaved with a broken bottle and was imprisoned 16 times. If anyone has a claim to belonging on a naira banknote, Sawaba shouldn’t even need to raise her hands.

Anthony Enahoro

As one of Nigeria’s pro-democracy activists, Enahoro was the first to move the motion for the country’s independence in 1953. It’s why he’s regarded as the “Father of Nigerian Independence”. What more do you need to do to get your face on a naira banknote?

Gani Fawehinmi

Gani Fawehinmi was a human and civil rights lawyer known for his vibrant activism for the underprivileged. He gained local and international recognition for his work but also suffered persecution by the government.

Margaret Ekpo

Like Sawaba and Ransome-Kuti, Ekpo was a rights activist and social mobiliser who created political pressure groups to fight for the interests of Nigerian women.

Taslim Olawale Elias

He already has the face of someone disappointed in the naira’s value

Elias was Nigeria’s first post-independence Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation. He went on to serve as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He also received 17 honorary doctorate degrees from various universities around the world.

Ameyo Adadevoh

If not for the intervention of Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, Nigeria’s ebola crisis of 2014 would’ve been worse than the eventual 20 confirmed cases and eight deaths, including her own. She made the ultimate sacrifice to protect millions from a similar fate. What more do you need to have your face on a naira banknote?

Ken Saro-Wiwa

The brutal General Sani Abacha regime killed Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists in 1995, for their agitation against the environmental damage caused by crude oil extraction in Ogoniland. No compensation will restore his life, but his face on a naira banknote will immortalise him and the issues he fought.

Dora Akunyili

Dora Akunyili watched her sister die as a result of complications from taking fake medicine and made it her life’s mission to ensure it didn’t happen to anyone else. As the head of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Akunyili fought powerful drug counterfeiters to keep millions of Nigerians from falling victim.

Chinua Achebe

The story of African literature would be incomplete without the contribution and impact of Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart is the most widely studied, translated and read African novel.

Fela Anikulapo-Kuti

He’d probably roll in his grave if his face appears on a naira banknote considering many of the issues he sang about still exist decades after his death. Even his arch-nemesis, Buhari, is currently president. But much of his life and music was devoted to activism to make the country better, so he has a valid claim.

At an event in Abuja on October 10th, 2022, President Buhari made an announcement that would make you mistake him for a feminist.

How Politicians Use Nigerian Women Without Rewarding Them

The president directed the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, to brainstorm on possible constitutional and legal changes that would create a level playing field for Nigerian women in politics and governance.

On the surface, Buhari’s call might get Nigerian women excited about inclusion. But history has shown that the president’s action is just another one of those political moves intended to use and dump voters — in this case, Nigerian women. We’ll explain.

The president made his remarks when his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), inaugurated its Women Presidential Campaign Committee. This special committee of over 900 high-profile women is separate from the central campaign committee for the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

Buhari’s directive was a clear ploy to get those women to spread the gospel that his government is pro-women and will remain so if they vote for the party in 2023. But there’s enough paper trail that shows it’s nothing but shameless pandering.

A blast from the past

In March 2022, Nigerian lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate voted on five women-centric bills. The bills proposed to:

1. Create 111 exclusive seats for women in the National Assembly and 108 exclusive seats in the 36 state legislative chambers.

2. Allow foreign husbands of Nigerian women to become citizens by registration.

3. Fill 35% of executive committee positions of political parties with women.

4. Allow a woman to automatically become an indigene of her husband’s state after five years of marriage.

5. Fill at least 10% of federal and state cabinets with women.

All the proposals failed in either one or both chambers.

In fact, lawmakers in the House of Representatives gleefully jumped for joy after denying Nigerian women fundamental rights. Buhari’s APC controls both chambers of the National Assembly.

Nigerian women and the 2023 elections

4,223 candidates will contest for 469 seats in the National Assembly in the 2023 elections, but only 380 (9%) are women.

It’s the statistic that ensures the dismal representation of women in elective office won’t improve after the elections. And decisions like the ones the National Assembly lawmakers made in March keep women out of the picture in the places that matter. But they’re a very cherished voting bloc that usually receives empty promises when it’s time for elections.

Who’ll save Nigerian women from exploitation?

The truth is that Buhari’s charge to his officials is nothing but another case of pandering to Nigerian women. He’s well aware that the National Assembly, controlled by his party, has thrown gender inclusivity in government into the bin. Even Buhari himself promised women would make up at least 35% of his second-term cabinet, only to end up with 16% after his election.

Nigerian women are one of the most active groups during elections, which is normal because they make up half of the country. But the reality of their population isn’t represented in the make-up of Nigeria’s elective or appointive offices. It’s important that before women cast their votes in 2023, they’re confident they’re voting for people that truly have their best interests at heart.

The exploitation of the women voting bloc didn’t start with Buhari, but it’s time for Nigerian women to demand better with their votes. They’re valuable for more than just elections.

ALSO READ: Does the National Assembly Hate Nigerian Women?

On October 11th, 2022, President Buhari will host a ceremony at the Aso Rock Villa to confer national honours on 437 recipients. These honours are the nation’s most premium, the kind that you win and can legitimately use “Do you know who I am?” unprovoked in an argument with a random stranger.

These national honours are a recognition of meritorious service to Nigeria, mostly for Nigerians but also awarded to some outstanding foreigners.

For example, one of the recipients of this year’s honours is the late Dr Stella Adadevoh who courageously limited the spread of Ebola in Nigeria in 2014. Another recipient is Abdullahi Abubakar, an imam who hid and protected 262 Christians from being killed during a religious crisis in Plateau State in 2018. Josephine Agu, an airport cleaner who returned $12,200 she found in a toilet, will also receive the honour.

Some public officeholders also get these honours by default. But if there’s anything to expect about a national honours list, it’s that everyone can’t agree that every recipient deserves it. And there are some names on Buhari’s list that have raised eyebrows, but first…

What are the Nigerian national honours?

Here’s a list of the national honours Buhari is awarding Nigerians — and seven foreigners — this year.

1. Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON)

2. Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR)

3. Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON)

4. Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR)

5. Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON)

6. Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR)

7. Member of the Order of the Niger (MON)

8. Federal Republic Medal I (FRM I)

9. Federal Republic Medal II (FRM II)

These are some of the award recipients raising eyebrows

Ogbonnaya Onu for CON

How Come These Nigerians Are Getting National Honours?

This man has been the Nigerian Minister of Science and Technology since 2015 and it’s impossible to say he’s covered himself in glory.

In 2016, unprovoked, Onu promised that Nigeria would hack the local production of pencils within two years. Six years later and his promise has entered voicemail alongside the 400,000 new jobs he promised.

We didn’t ask for flying cars or landing a Nigerian on the moon o. Ordinary local pencil production and he didn’t deliver, so why does he deserve a CON?

Adamu Adamu for CON

This man supervised some of the worst ASUU strikes in Nigeria’s history, so who was he really serving to deserve a CON? And to award him at a time when university students have been sitting at home for over eight months is just rubbing salt into the wound.

Mamman Daura for CON

Mamman Daura is also getting a CON for being an “elder statesman”, but you may remember him as Buhari’s nephew. Blood isn’t just thicker than water; it can also get you a national award.

Sabi’u Yusuf for OON

Sabi’u Yusuf is another awardee with blood ties to the president and it’s just easy at this point to call this the Buhari family honours list. Yusuf also serves as Buhari’s personal assistant and was once involved in a confrontation with the first lady, Aisha Buhari, that resulted in a gun discharge inside Aso Rock Villa. Being the president’s favourite young nephew gets you an OON.

Femi Adesina

For all the years of talking down on Nigerians and calling Buhari “the ramrod straight man” one too many times, Femi Adesina, the president’s vuvuzela, is also being rewarded with an OON.

The Federal Government has disowned the list of award recipients reported by the media and promised to release the authentic list when appropriate. But we’ll all see on October 11th, won’t we?

On October 7th, 2022, Muhammadu Buhari presented his final annual budget as the president of Nigeria.

What We Learnt from Buhari's Presentation of the 2023 Budget

He proposed a bill of ₦20.51 trillion to the National Assembly in a long speech that surprisingly didn’t put us to sleep. Here are the things we learnt from his presentation of the 2023 budget.

Buhari is proud of his achievements

Buhari has only seven months left until the end of his eight-year reign as Nigeria’s president, so it’s expected that he’d be in a reflective mood.

He travelled down memory lane to talk about his supposed achievements in the areas of infrastructure and good governance.

He also talked about his government’s “impressive” investment in improving Nigeria’s power generation to 4,000 megawatts. Let’s not forget that this figure is serving a country of over 200 million people.

The president also forgot to mention the seven times the national grid collapsed this year and stressed Nigerians.

Buhari wants your taxes

“Bring before me all your taxes so I can afford a medical trip to London“

Nigeria wants to be a baller, but it’s currently on a mechanic’s income, and Buhari doesn’t like that so much. The president described revenue shortfall as the “greatest threat to Nigeria’s fiscal viability”.

And his most prominent solution for addressing that is checking inside the pockets of Nigerians to collect taxes, but sapa has already beaten the government to it.

Everyone is worried about crude oil theft

One of the main causes of Nigeria’s revenue shortfall is decreased earnings from crude oil which is the nation’s main source of income. This decrease is due to the activities of oil thieves who are lining their personal pockets with resources that belong to everyone.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, described the thieves as “the worst enemy of Nigeria” in his opening speech. We don’t know if that’s because he really cares about Nigerians or because the situation potentially puts his own jumbo allowances in jeopardy.

Buhari and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, also raised concerns about the theft. We just didn’t hear them propose concrete solutions to stop the stealing.

Buhari isn’t worried about Nigeria’s gbese

Even though Nigeria isn’t making as much as it needs, and is using much of its meagre revenue to service heavy debt, Buhari still isn’t worried.

With Nigeria’s total public debt at ₦42.9 trillion, Buhari considers Nigeria’s position as within acceptable limits compared to other countries. So, he thinks this is an “I better pass my neighbour” situation even if both neighbours are stranded in a sinking boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

In Buhari’s proposal, Nigeria will even borrow an additional ₦8.8 trillion to finance the 2023 budget.

ASUU strikes are forever?

Nigerian students have been sitting at home for eight months due to the strike action by university lecturers over the government’s failure to respect agreements made several years ago.

Students watching Buhari’s 2023 budget presentation wouldn’t have been too pleased to hear the president say his government won’t sign any agreements it can’t implement due to scarce resources.

The president proposed that the government and the people jointly share the cost of education and build a more sustainable system. He didn’t elaborate on how this can happen, but you can imagine it won’t be his problem for much longer.

Buhari has set a standard

Before Buhari became president, Nigeria’s budget presentation and passage used to be chaotic, especially with timelines. But this is the third consecutive year that a national budget will be signed before the beginning of the year it’s proposed for. The timely passage of the budget helps better with implementation and fosters a healthy process. It’s not much, but it’s not nothing. Sai Baba, maybe?

Buhari loves his National Assembly bromance

In his final budget presentation, Buhari didn’t miss the opportunity to note that he’s enjoyed the massive support of the current National Assembly for his second term in office.

Critics have called them a rubber stamp assembly for being yes-men to Buhari, but the president, who loved getting their many yeses, gave them a shoutout before he dropped the mic.

On May 29th, 2023, Muhammadu Buhari will hand over his trials and tribulations as Nigeria’s president to a new landlord of Aso Rock Villa.

He’s already delivered his last speech at the United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA) and his last boring pre-recorded Independence Day speech as he approaches the end of his second term. But before he leaves, it’s important that he ticks certain boxes, from fulfilling promises he made before he became president to random stuff we think needs closure.

These are the seven things we expect Buhari to do over the next seven months before he leaves Aso Rock Villa.

Lift 100 million people out of poverty

Nigeria is home to one of the largest populations of poor people in the world. It’s why many young people are trying to japa to escape sapa. Buhari’s mishandling of the economy is responsible for the mess. In reaction to the worrying population of poor people, he made an ambitious promise in 2019 to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty before he leaves office.

With only seven months left, the president needs to show us the 100 million people he lifted out of poverty, their addresses, genotypes and next of kin.

Actually end Boko Haram

When the Nigerian government postponed the 2015 elections due to the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the northeast region, Buhari wasn’t a big fan of the decision. This was his reaction.

What is Boko Haram? pic.twitter.com/6feaysao9w
— Sameer (@Sameer_lukman) April 1, 2022

Since he’s been president, he’s declared many false and premature victories over Boko Haram and has been left with eggs on his face. Boko Haram’s terrorism may have significantly decreased over the past seven years of Buhari’s reign, but the group still has fighting power and exists as the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP). It’d be a shame if the terrorist group outlasts the president after all the mouth he’s made.

Buhari needs to close that terrorism chapter of Nigeria’s history before he returns to Daura.

Repay his gbese

With Buhari at the wheel, Nigeria’s total public debt shot up from ₦12.1 trillion in 2015 to ₦42.9 trillion in June 2022. The more he borrowed, the more he pushed for debt forgiveness or cancellation at every international meeting with world leaders, including at his last UNGA in September 2022.

And since no one’s interested in cancelling the debt Buhari helped Nigeria rack up, he has to figure out a way to repay in the seven months he has left.

Return foreign exchange rate to where he met it

The Buhari campaign made many eye-catching campaign promises in 2015, and one of the spiciest was the promise to make ₦1 the same value as $1.

But that same naira currently trades at over ₦700 to $1, seven years after he promised to do magic.

At this point, we don’t even want him and Meffy to do magic again; just return the naira’s value to where he met it in 2015.

Do a live interview

For the most part of his presidency, Buhari has avoided live interviews like a plague.

He’s settled for pre-recorded speeches read off teleprompters and a rare couple of interviews with journalists that were cut and joined together inside a studio.

Buhari should indulge Nigerians and do just one live interview before he leaves office. We want to check something.

Be treated by a Nigerian doctor

Improving healthcare in Nigeria was another one of the promises that stood out during Buhari’s campaign in 2015. But Nigerians saw his true colours when he assumed office and left even his own State House clinic to rot while he fled to the United Kingdom to treat headaches and whatever kept him there for three months in 2017.

Buhari has clung stubbornly to the claim that he can’t be treated by anyone but his UK-based doctors. But just before he retires, we’re going to need him to receive medical care — even if it’s paracetamol — from a Nigerian doctor.

Call Abacha a thief

Everyone and their grandchild know who Abacha is — a thief who stole billions of dollars from Nigeria’s treasury and died before he could spend the loot. And despite the fact his government has recovered millions of dollars stolen by Abacha, Buhari has failed to retract his past comments that his old friend never stole Nigeria’s money. We’re going to need him to eat those humble pies on national TV before he drops the mic and retires to Daura.

Or London.

It’s not every day Buhari leaves Abuja for another part of Nigeria that’s not his home in Daura. His top three destinations are usually London, London and anywhere that’s not Nigeria.

Catching international flights, not local feelings

But Buhari made the rare local trip to Imo State on Tuesday, September 13th, 2022, and there are a few things that didn’t escape our watchful eyes.

These are the things we noticed about Buhari’s trip to Imo.

Buhari is healthier than ever

We just need to get it out of the way that Buhari is looking way more dashing as he approaches the end of his second term in office. He’s gone from looking like in 2017:

…to looking like the Fresh Prince of Daura in 2022:

All those London trips are finally paying off

We know feeding fat on the Nigerian treasury is a healthcare routine that’s impossible to match, but we’re still going to need him to write a blog post to give us all the tea. Because why’s this guy looking like he’s ready to compete in the Olympics?

#PMBinImo, Sept 13, 2022 @MBuhari X @Hope_Uzodimma1

🎥: @BayoOmoboriowo pic.twitter.com/n7G8JXJzCr
— Tolu Ogunlesi, MON (@toluogunlesi) September 13, 2022

When Buhari promised change seven years ago, he really meant for his own health status. Or maybe this is just how you look when you’ve been on leave from work for seven years.

Buhari needs a hug

Buhari used his Imo trip to take yet another familiar dig at the “Nigerian elite” whom he blamed for not protecting Nigeria’s interests for decades. He blamed them for infrastructural decay, especially the lack of development of the railway system and power.

The president’s major complaint was even though he’s apparently racking up achievements in the areas previous governments failed, the Nigerian elite isn’t washing his feet, touching the hem of his garment and patting him on the back for a job well done.

We’d ask the First Lady to give him a hug for us, but she’s probably back to her Dubai base. Since the Nigerian elite has refused to, who’s going to hug Buhari for us? Xoxo, Mr President.

Buhari’s in love with Uzodinma

A bromance made in the Supreme Court

Remember how we said it’s super rare for Buhari to make local trips? Well, it’s even super rarer that he visits the same state more than once, especially in a region where he’s not very popular.

Yet, this was Buhari’s second visit to Imo State in one year, after a previous visit in September 2021. And that can only mean Governor Hope Uzodinma has his nudes and blackmails him into making these rare trips, or he really loves the governor and would do anything to help him boost his political profile.

Nothing says “besties” like matching outfits

Uzodinma is a man of his name

Buhari was in Imo to commission three key projects in the state: a renovated State House of Assembly building and two roads that may or may not be completely ready for people to use.

Buhari, like us, only just found out that “Uzodinma” actually means “good road”, and we suddenly feel like that’s why the governor has a hard-on for road projects. Now, we wonder if “Okorocha” means “good statue”.

Buhari 1 – 1 IPOB

Before Buhari landed in Imo Tuesday, his people must have been wary that the sit-at-home order declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) would taint his appearance. The order was in honour of the Tuesday court appearance of the group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who’s facing treason charges in Abuja.

Many expected that the sit-at-home would mess with Buhari’s visit and undermine his status as the country’s commander-in-chief. Even though there was a sizable crowd that defied the order and welcomed him, the state capital was still largely deserted. So maybe we’ll call a tie here.

The compliance with the order illustrates just how much the president has lost authority in the southeast region over the years, and how much more the government needs to do to end IPOB’s sit-at-home mandate that’s crippling socio-economic activities in the region.

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