Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd), has paid a heartfelt tribute to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing him as a brother, friend, and patriot whose life was marked by discipline, humility, and unwavering devotion to Nigeria. In a personally signed statement, Babangida said he received the news of Buhari’s death with a heavy heart, noting that it signified not just the passing of a leader but the end of an era.

“Our paths crossed in 1962 when we both joined the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna,” Babangida recalled. “From those early days, Muhammadu stood out — quiet yet resolute, principled yet humble, deeply patriotic, and fiercely loyal to Nigeria.” The retired general said their relationship went far beyond military service, rooted in shared values of sacrifice, discipline, and nation-building across decades of leadership and public duty.

Reflecting on their intertwined careers, Babangida acknowledged that both men found themselves at Nigeria’s helm under vastly different circumstances, but Buhari remained consistent in his belief in integrity and national order. “We may not have agreed on everything — as brothers often don’t — but I never once doubted his sincerity or his patriotism,” he stated.

Describing Buhari as a man of faith and character, Babangida said the former president’s modesty and moral example continued to influence many even in retirement. “His passing is not just the loss of a two-term civilian president. It is the loss of a symbol — a man whose life embodied the transition of Nigeria from the old guard to the new republic,” he said.

Babangida extended his condolences to Buhari’s wife, Aisha, his family, and the nation at large. “May Allah (SWT) forgive his shortcomings, accept his good deeds, and grant him Aljannatul Firdaus,” he prayed, closing the tribute with a deep sense of personal and national loss.