The man Buhari

By Bisi Olominu
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President Mohammadu Buhari was born on December 17, 1942 in Daura, Kastina State.  He is the 23rd child of his father.  He was raised by his mother, after the death of his father.

He attended primary school in Daura and Mai’adua.  He proceeded to Kastina Model School in 1953 and Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College Katsina) from 1953 to 1961.

Buhari joined the Nigerian Army by enrolling in the Nigerians Military Training College (NMTC) in 1961. In February 1964, the College was upgraded to an officer commission unit of the Nigerian Army and renamed the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).

From 1962 to 1963, Buhari attended Officer Cadet Training as Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, in England.  He rose through the rank and became the military Head of State in Nigeria in 1983 to 1985.

He joined politics in 1999, and contested for the exalted position of president in 2003 and lost to former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

He also contested in 2007 and 2011 elections.  In December 2014, he emerged the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the March 2015 elections and defeated the incumbent president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

President Mohammadu Buhari re-contested for the position in 2019, and Nigerians overwhelmingly voted for him to lead the country to 2023.