Shortly after the August 1983 military coup that brought a 40-year-old Muhammadu Buhari to power, he received a phone call from top personnel in the United States Army. General Smith was the Commandant of the U.S. War College from which General Buhari graduated in 1980. The school's 1979 set had graduated its first Nigerian, General Wushishi, who was the Chief of Defence in the just ousted Shehu government."Please, be kind to him," General Smith said over the phone.
The essence of the phone call was not just to congratulate Nigeria's new Head of State, but to ensure that the first Nigerian to graduate from the U.S. War College would not suffer any indignity under the government of the second Nigerian to graduate from the same school.
On Wednesday, July 22, members of the U.S. War College Class of 1980 gathered at the Blair House in Washington, DC, to welcome the man they had selected as their football team referee 36 years ago.
"Being referee all those years ago taught me to be fair and just," President Buhari said during the meeting.
Among the former classmates gathered were Lt. General Granrud (Commander of the U.S. forces in Japan Rtd), Brigadier General Jack Pellica, General Ronald Griffith (Former Vice Chairman of the U.S. army central command), Colonel Lany Gordon and Colonel Paul Summerville.
General Smith has since passed on, as have all the directing staff and a larger percentage of the old students from the set. "This just shows that all of us are on the queue," President Buhari said, "waiting for our turn."
The Nigerian Commander-in-Chief said he hoped that the U.S. would continue its tradition of training Nigerians in the war college. At the time he attended the school, he was the only African in his class. The only other foreigners were from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, France and Japan. The Japanese student went on to become the head of his country's army.
President Buhari then went on to update his classmates on his life since he last saw them: his different appointments, his accomplishments and his family. "I have just received my 13th grandchild," he said.
He added that the wife they knew him with at the time had since died, and that he had also lost a son and a daughter from his new wife.
"Of all my eight children," he said, "only one is a boy." Some of his former classmates were curious to know if President Buhari would place his only son, Yusuf, in the army. "I stopped him from joining the army," President Buhari replied.
He explained that the military he joined was very different from what it is today, adding that he was the second Nigerian to be sent to the U.S. War College based on his records alone, without connections.
"Things took a wrong turn in Nigeria," he said. "Your records no longer matter."
Some of the former classmates present at the meeting stated that at the time they met President Buhari back in 1980, they knew little about Nigeria or Africa. They credited the Nigerian leader with giving them their initial enlightenment about the continent. Others recalled how he always overworked himself.
However, President Buhari described his war college experience as being responsible for his subsequent life of hard work, endurance and perseverance. "I contested for president three times and failed," he said. "Then I did it the fourth time and won."
A roar of laughter followed the president's apt illustration.
He then rendered his narrative of the collapse of the Soviet Union, breaking into 18 republics and how that influenced his decision to join politics.
"The collapse of the Soviet empire in 1980 without a single shot being fired convinced that the multi-party democratic system was the best for all countries."
President Buhari then expressed appreciation to President Barack Obama and to the U.S. for the role the country played in Nigeria's successful elections, recalling Secretary of State, John Kerry's visit to him and to former President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as to Attahiru Jega, the electoral commissioner at the time.
"Kerry read the riot act to all of us," he said, "saying the conduct of the election must be free, fair and in line with the Constitution."
He added that, without US intervention, the electoral malpractices of the past twelve years would likely have happened again.
"God made me but America made me," he said. The Class of 1980 gave President Buhari the full assurances of their support, stating that they were willing to use their experience to assist him in any way they can, particularly with tackling terrorism in northeast Nigeria.
They promised to put together and forward to him a compendium of their thoughts on the security situation in Nigeria.
In September, President Buhari will be meeting once again with his former classmates, at another event scheduled to take place at the United Nations.
-Garba is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
59 comments:
Ok
Awww! This article drew tears to my eyes.
I love you so much my president, you're God's gift to our country.
May your God never allow your enemies gloat over you, continue to put naysayers to shame.
~BONARIO~says so via NOKIA LUMIA
Too long n boring 2 read to d end, anyways welldone 2 him
Product of God.... Lol
So tired of this shameless ass kissing.
Ow! Nice story and reading it was a blessing. Thumbs up and more power to his elbows. I wish him all d best and I pray he meet d expectations of Nigerians mostly d promises made.
a.k.a EDWIN CHINEDU AZUBUKO said..
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Seen....
.
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***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***
What's this fool blabbing about ? We dnt care abt his fucking life history u understand? Let d paapa loolo start work !shu???? Osim since1980! Nji eme gini?
I hear una...
Linda na repeated version u dey do dis morning?wen I dey try to be one of the lucky comments today there's God oo
Which product??? Bubu probe who u want to prove,jail who u want to jail,my concern is boko boys........we need action,pple r dyin everyday.we want peace restored back to naija,face boko boys nwwwwwwwwwww I mean nwwwwwwwwwww,noooo time at all.
Kk good to know!!!
Buhari is a talker,and not a walker,let him walk the walk and stop all these bullshit ranting here and there!
May God punish terrorist garba and his terrorist president.
Buhari is a product of terrorism and evil from fuilani and a time bomb waiting to blast.
#sad indeed#
And then some bastards will say he never went to school
We hope
A full page of hogwash!!
He is truly a product of God. I don't know about 'US'. Linda take note!
He is truly a product of God. I don't know about 'US'. Linda take note!
This man don tey o..no be today o..papalolo!!!!
God bless nigeria and make us a happy nation!
Ok
Abeg leave stories and write more when we see him delivering our economy from this drought
OK O.WE DON HEAR
So he added" He added that, without US intervention, the electoral malpractices of the past twelve years would likely have happened again." doesn't dis show it was planned? If Kerry made such statement, Now how much was john kerry Paid? This is conspiracy of the highest order.
So he added" He added that, without US intervention, the electoral malpractices of the past twelve years would likely have happened again." doesn't dis show it was planned? If Kerry made such statement, Now how much was john kerry Paid? This is conspiracy of the highest order.
How am I suppose to read this long boring article.. Next plzzzz!
Minister of tourism. Phew irrelevant article. So Nigeria didn't make u. Speaks volume of Hw u c d country
RMES.
How about his WAEC? Why does Aboki Haram keep talking about War College? Buhari is a FRAUD. He cheated to get commissioned in the army. Without him lying about his secondary school result, he wouldnt have been a general, head of state and now president. Nigerian President is a rogue that frauded his way into the army and used the same fraudulent school result to contest presidenyial election. Evetyhing about Buhari is corruption. By lying / corruption, Buhari was commissioned in the Nigeria Army. By corruption / lying, Buhari became an Army General, by corruption / stealing power, Buhari became Head of State of Nigeria. By using the same fraudulent WAEC secondary school result, Buhari deceived Nigerians and contested the 2015 Presidential Election, and with the help of his CIA people that made him military head of state in 1980s, the CIA once again in 2015 covertly helped Buhari, their stooge, into power. Buhari is a criminal and CIA agent. He is a disgrace to the Black race. Buhari is a traitor and should not be President of Nigeria.
Garba Shehu has not made any blunder since he became the presidents spokesman. I think he is really mature.
Nonsense won't even read it monkey buhari
Hmmmm
Hmmmm
Hmmmm
What a President and Leader! When you know your onions, you wont mistake it for garlic! Where has this man been over years, he should have been President long ago but God knows best!
This is a confirmation that Jonathan lost the election to the USA.
This is a confirmation that Jonathan lost the election to the USA.
Rubbish, guess u saw d post on d pages of a US tabloid dat Obama s disappointed in d largest delegates d world has ever seen cos he didn't know exactly what d delegates were for,as dere was no direction of exactly what buhari and his potbelly delegates wanted! Tell me who where d technocrats dat went him! Be deceiving urself dere u think America has time for nigeria. I laff plenty. Dey went to shake hand nd posted ds is change, what an array of inferiority complex. Gush.
enof of ds repertoire.pls start work.we need light, water n gud roads..
Garbage and at d same time laughable.....
Nonsense! What a disgrace Buhari Is. Inferiority complex. Yes we know USA was behind you in becoming president. What a shame!
OKAY...TOMJERRYSWIT
dis hyping is becoming too much...
...and who the hell are you? Faceless goat...
On the fence .......
Reuben Abate and Remo Omokri are proving to be more sensible, advanced, diplomatic and well thought than this infantile Adesina. He is making this PMB administration looks so picnic- ing and delusional.
BUHARI IS A TRAITOR. BUHARI PRODUCT OF SATAN AND THE CIA.
Absolute rubbish. Who cares about his stupid dinner. Us made him bah. He should have ran for us president and left us alone. I have never seen a more unpatriotic president. The only things he said about nigeria were bad. I spit!!
APC still in campaign mood. They should stop all this silly praise singing and move Nigeria forward. Enough of all this unnecessary praise singing when the only thing Buhari has achieved since he entered office is travelling.
But he's already the president. ...... Just saying!
You forgot a produce of boko haram.
When will this your bitterness die? Better kill it before the thing kills you! Mtcheew!
Bonario, when Buhari expresses the kind of gratitude he just did to America, it means he is indebted to them. He essentially will be working for the advancement of their interest. He is a spy for the CIA and by extension the British government.
When did Buhari become a democrat? He overthrew a civilian government in 1983 to become a head of state. He would meet the same faith some months later.
President Buhari is nothing but a wolf in a sheepskin. If he is a democrat, then I am the pope.
It means he is a CIA operative. By the time he is done with us, we will be so neck deep in debt and our economy will be in disarray. That is the American way.
I belong to nobody, I belong to ebRybody!!!..
@Wilheminna moses. U sentimental idiot, your words are always inline with tribal, religious and ethnic sentiment. I have noticed all comments on this forum. Useless thing that lack proper mental capacity and upbringing, young kids of nowadays. Social network kids of nowadays. African culture forbids insulting elders. Is that how u insult your parents at home? Learn more about your culture idiot. God has made MB your president just like he made the previous presidents. Go and hug transformer. God bless nigeria. One love
His candor is refreshing and needed to be in a diplomatic setting. However, if both God (this is 4 real) and America made him, what did Nigeria do for him? Anything? Shouldn't charity begin @ home, esp, given he is now the #1 citizen of Nigeria?
What a great way to have a re-union...persistence pays, way to go Mr. President
Kk
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