"History is not written only by the victors. Sometimes, it is written by the silences that follow the fall of men."
On July 13, 2025, a day that should have triggered global reflections on the life and legacy of a man who once held the reins of Africa’s most populous country, passed with the kind of silence that speaks volumes. General Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s former military Head of State (1983–1985) and elected President (2015–2023), was finally officially pronounced dead. Yet, the world watched, unmoved. No tributes from world leaders, no foreign presidential delegations, no flags lowered in solidarity. What should have been a state funeral akin to that of African icons like Nelson Mandela or Robert Mugabe, or even a figure of more regional influence like Idriss Déby of Chad, turned out to be a hush-hush burial, barely above the dignity of a village farewell.
And so the question screams: What really happened? Where are Nigeria’s so-called allies? Where are the mournful eulogies from Washington, London, Riyadh, Paris, or even our neighbours in West Africa? Is this not the same Buhari who once claimed to have a personal relationship with Donald Trump? The same Buhari who once called Angela Merkel "a strong partner of Africa"? Why does the world now behave as if he never existed?
This eerie void lends chilling credence to a theory once dismissed as the ravings of conspiracy peddlers, that Muhammadu Buhari may have died long before this official date.
A TALE OF TWO BUHARIS: DEATH IN THE SHADOWS?
It was Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who first raised the alarm as far back as late 2017, alleging that the real Muhammadu Buhari had died in a London hospital following a long illness, and that a body double, known in conspiracy circles as "Jubril from Sudan," had replaced him. He was laughed at. He was mocked. He was called insane, even by those who should have asked questions.
Yet, events thereafter seemed to dance around his claims. Buhari’s long medical leaves became more frequent, his appearance changed drastically, his voice and gait altered, and his wife, Aisha Buhari, curiously relocated to Dubai for extended periods. Foreign media occasionally raised eyebrows, but Nigerian officials smothered such whispers in the name of national security. Could it be that the Buhari who ruled between 2018 and 2023 was not the original? Could it be that what was buried in Daura, Katsina, on July 15, 2025, was the truth itself, finally laid to rest without confession, without apology, without closure?
THE PARIAH STATE NARRATIVE
Nigeria, under Buhari, steadily lost the global goodwill it once enjoyed. Under his leadership, the country became infamous for widespread human rights violations, suppression of dissent, unchecked corruption, and alarming insecurity. International human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch constantly raised red flags. The Lekki Toll Gate massacre of 2020 still lingers in infamy. The consistent detention of activists like Omoyele Sowore and the brutal treatment of protesters further damaged Nigeria’s international image.
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu himself was kidnapped from Kenya in 2021 and extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria; a move that contravened international law. The global silence that followed was deafening. But perhaps that silence was a trial run, a test of how far the world was willing to ignore Nigeria’s descent.
By 2025, the culmination of years of distrust, insularity, and failure to uphold democratic values turned Nigeria into what some now call a soft pariah state, not officially ostracised, but quietly avoided. So, perhaps the absence of foreign leaders at Buhari’s burial was not just a diplomatic snub. Perhaps it was a statement that a country which once sought to lead Africa had betrayed itself.
THE BURIAL THAT RAISES MORE QUESTIONS THAN IT ANSWERS
Why was the burial done with such speed, secrecy, and national aloofness? Why was it not held in Abuja with full state rites? Where were the former Presidents, Heads of Government, and global envoys?
Why didn’t ECOWAS, the African Union, or even traditional Western allies like the UK and US send representatives? Even more perplexing, why has no foreign government issued a formal tribute? Is the world confirming, without words, that this death was not recent? Is Nigeria itself embarrassed to confront its own history? Is this silence punishment for a long-held lie?
WHERE IS THE CABAL?
The so-called cabal that many Nigerians believe has held the country hostage since 2015, manipulating power from behind closed doors, may have answers they will never reveal. For years, names like Abba Kyari (now deceased), Mamman Daura, Isa Funtua, and others operated like a shadow presidency, allegedly controlling access to the President and determining national policy.
If Buhari died earlier, they are the ones who would have known. They are the ones who orchestrated the deception. And perhaps now, with a carefully choreographed “official death,” they seek to close a chapter too dark to read aloud.
THE MORAL WOUND IN OUR NATIONAL CONSCIENCE
There is a sacred bond between leaders and the led, a trust that no matter how imperfect the rulers may be, they still represent the soul of the people. If indeed Nigeria lived through years of deception, with a possible impostor at the helm, then this is not just political fraud; it is historical sacrilege.
It means Nigerians were disenfranchised not just electorally, but existentially. It means the global community’s silence is not out of ignorance, but quiet condemnation. It means Buhari’s real death may have occurred not on July 13, 2025, but in May 2017; and we may never know the truth.
IN THE END…
The silence of the world may be the most eloquent obituary of all. It tells of a man who once held promise but became the face of repression. It tells of a government that may have manipulated the body and soul of a nation. It tells of a country that must now rise from the shame of unspoken truths.
As the red earth of Daura closed upon the casket, it was not just a body that was buried; it was a legacy of ambiguity, of half-truths, and of unspoken crimes. Now, the burden falls on Nigerians to ask, to remember, and to never stop demanding the truth. For without truth, history becomes myth, and nations walk in darkness.
– tpmifeanyi Aguikwu ©️
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