Buhari Gave Everything He Had To This Country – Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari on the first anniversary of his death.

He described Buhari’s transformation from military ruler to civilian democrat as marking him out as a rare figure in Nigeria’s political history and urged public officials to emulate his values of honesty, simplicity and self-discipline.

Naija News reports that Tinubu was represented at the prayer session marking the anniversary by Vice President Kashim Shettima,

He stated that Buhari’s legacy transcended the offices he held, reflecting a lifetime of consistency between his words, principles and personal conduct.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed details of the remembrance ceremony in a statement he signed on Monday, titled ‘President Tinubu: One Year After Passing, Buhari’s Life Still Speaks to Nigeria.’

Tinubu said, “President Buhari gave everything he had to this country, and he gave it without reservation.

“He served with courage, with conviction, and with a patriotism that never asked what the nation could return to him.”

Recalling their years as political allies and partners, the President described the late Buhari as a fellow traveller on the long road of national development and progressive politics.

“From his years as a military leader to his transformation into a democrat and a determined defender of constitutional order, he embodied the very spirit of change and of nation-building,” he said.

The President noted that despite the pressures and controversies that often accompanied high office, Buhari retained the trust and affection of many ordinary Nigerians after leaving power, a testament, Tinubu said, that could only be earned through years of consistency, discipline and integrity.

According to Tinubu, “When he laid down the burden of leadership, and through all the years of his retirement, the trust of ordinary Nigerians did not depart from him.

“It is not given. It is earned, and it is earned only through a lifetime of agreement between what a man says and what a man is.”

He urged Buhari’s friends, associates and political followers to preserve the late President’s legacy by reflecting his values in their personal conduct and public service.

“Our duty, as his friends and his associates, is to carry forward the inheritance he left us: honesty, simplicity, and self-discipline.

“We must continue to strive, in our own conduct, to approach the standard he kept.

“That is the only tribute worthy of him, and it is the one he would have asked for,” the President said.