Former President Goodluck Jonathan, will lead a gathering of African leaders and top political figures to Abuja for the public presentation of a three-volume authorised biography of late former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The event, which is being organized to document Nigeria’s contemporary history, will have President Bola Tinubu, as the guest of honour, while former President of Niger Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou, will serve as the chairman of the occasion.
Chairman of the Book Presentation Planning Committee and former Minister of Water Resources, Engineer Suleiman Adamu, while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, noted that the event was designed to be a serious national moment rather than a partisan gathering.
“We are deliberately seeking to make the occasion broader than a gathering of political associates. Muhammadu Buhari was a partisan political actor during important periods of his life, but his biography belongs to the historical record of Nigeria. For that reason, we hope the presentation will draw participation from across political, regional, professional and institutional lines.”
Adamu stated that Buhari occupied an unusual place in the country’s political history, having served as a military officer, military governor, federal commissioner, Head of State, opposition leader, and a democratically elected president who served two constitutional terms between 2015 and 2023.
“Few Nigerian public figures have experienced so many reversals of fortune, or returned so repeatedly to the centre of national affairs. For over 50 years, his name never left the national conversation. He inspired loyalty and resistance, admiration and criticism in equal measure. To tell the story of Muhammadu Buhari is inevitably to enter into the larger story of Nigeria itself. That is why this biography is important.”
The three-volume book, titled Muhammadu Buhari: The Authorised Biography, was written by Dr Udu Yakubu, and published by May Publishing Limited, following more than two years of research, interviews, and examination of official records.
Speaking on the project, the author, Udu Yakubu, disclosed that while the biography was personally authorised by Buhari, the research team maintained absolute editorial independence throughout the process, ensuring that the books present both the achievements and failures of the administration.
“The work was authorised by President Buhari. That authorisation opened doors. It enabled access to people, recollections and documentary trails that would otherwise have been difficult to reach. But authorisation did not mean surrendering judgement. The subject has had his voice in the biography, while the biographer has had or retained his independence.”
The biographer explained that the project deliberately preserves the contrasting perceptions of the late president, noting that both supporters and critics may find aspects of the text uncomfortable.
On Buhari’s presidency, Yakubu noted that the administration came into office with high expectations around security, anti-corruption, and economic renewal, but its record was far more complicated than the initial promises that accompanied its emergence.
“For some, he represented discipline, restraint and incorruptibility. For others, rigidity, economic misjudgement and political insensitivity. The work of biography lies between those positions. My task was not to decide in advance which Buhari should survive. It was to recover as much of the life as possible and allow evidence, chronology, circumstance and consequence to do their work. A biographer cannot make these tensions disappear. He must preserve them.”
According to the author, the work is divided into three distinct volumes to reflect the stages of Buhari’s career. The first volume, The Phenomenon, traces Buhari’s origins, military career, and long journey through opposition politics. The second volume, The Presidency, focuses on the administration between 2015 and 2023, while the third volume, The Reckoning, provides a thematic assessment of his legacy in areas such as security, economy, infrastructure, and anti-corruption.
Yakubu further stated that the sudden death of Buhari highlighted the urgency of the biographical project as an effort to preserve Nigeria’s institutional memory before first-hand accounts disappear.
“Participants die. Personal papers disappear. Institutions forget. Memories harden into partisan narratives. The biographer works in that narrowing space before memory becomes irrecoverable. So this is not simply a book about Muhammadu Buhari. It is also an argument for the serious preservation of Nigerian lives, institutions and national memory.”
Organisers say the public presentation of the biography scheduled for November 19, will bring together members of Buhari’s family, associates, former government officials, military officers, politicians, academics, diplomats, private-sector representatives, civil society organisations and the media.
They urged universities, research institutions, public libraries, and security establishments to acquire copies of the publication to expand the body of evidence available for future historical research and public debate.
