Buhari To be Buried In Hometown

Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will be buried in the compound of his house in the northern state of Katsina on Tuesday, the state’s Governor Dikko Radda told BBC Hausa.

Radda was with Buhari’s family in London, where the ex-head of state died in a clinic on Sunday aged 82.

Buhari’s body left the city on Tuesday morning carried on one of Nigeria’s presidential aircraft.

According to the schedule announced by Katsina’s governor, the former president’s remains will be flown directly to his state’s capital before being moved to their final resting place in Buhari’s home town of Daura, 50 miles (80km) from Katsina city.

The plane had originally been expected to land by midday local time (11:00 GMT), but the timetable has now slipped and it is not clear exactly when it will arrive.

Nevertheless, Buhari’s house is already filled with mourners as friends, family and well-wishers await the arrival of his corpse.

Nigeria’s government had declared Tuesday a public holiday to honour Buhari – who was also a former army general, one of only two Nigerians to have led the country as both a military leader and a democratically elected president.

Buhari – the austere Nigerian military ruler who defeated a sitting president
There will be a brief military ceremony at the airport in Katsina where President Bola Tinubu will “personally receive the remains of the former president”, Information Minister Mohammed Idris said.

Officials say the funeral, initially expected on Monday, was delayed for logistical reasons.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who is accompanying the late leader’s corpse back to Nigeria, had stated that Buhari had died after a brief illness without revealing any further details.

A group of men and women, dressed in northern Nigerian Muslim attire, walk on the road outside the home of Muhammadu Buhari. There are green trees behind them.
Mourners are waiting outside the compound of Buhari’s home in Daura

Tributes poured in for the late leader who served for two four-year terms after initially being elected president in 2015, becoming the first opposition leader to defeat an incumbent.

The man he beat, President Goodluck Jonathan, described Buhari as someone who “was selfless in his commitment to his duty and served the country with character and a deep sense of patriotism”.

Former military ruler, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, who overthrew Buhari in a 1985 coup, also showered praise on the octogenarian.

“He is a man who, even in retirement, remained a moral compass to many, and an example of modesty in public life,” Babangida noted.

Tinubu, who will attend the funeral prayer in Daura, declared a seven-day national mourning period in honour of his predecessor.

In an official condolence statement released on Sunday evening, Tinubu said the nation would pay its final respects to the former leader with dignity and honour, starting with the lowering of all national flags to half-mast across the country from Sunday.