The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Festus Keyamo on Thursday described the late former President Muhammadu Buhari as a quintessential patriot who made history and remains viewed by millions as an enigma even in death.
Minister Keyamo stated this during the expanded Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting summoned by President Bola Tinubu to pay tribute to the late Nigerjian leader.
Keyamo joined several other speakers including the President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, the Governor of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in the tribute led by President Tinubu.
The Aviation Minister said “Only very few people in history have the grace and opportunity to reinvent themselves at the highest level and recraft their own legacies.
“The Buhari I know will NEVER, EVER sacrifice hierarchical order and discipline on the altar of personal relationships, family ties or friendships,” he added.
The Minister continued “I was privileged to serve him in different capacities and I can attest to his rare discipline. I was his Campaign Spokesperson in the 2019 Presidential Elections and then his Minister of State (In the Ministry of Niger-Delta Affairs and later, the Ministry of Labour and Employment).
Keyamo explained that working with the late President from these vantage positions, he saw that Buhari was a fierce stickler for hierarchical order and discipline.
“From the image of a no-nonsense and stern military dictator of the 1980’s who truncated democracy and rode roughshod over the Rule of Law, to the image of a frustrated serial election loser, and then to the hero and symbol of Change and Hope that the nation chose to defeat a behemoth ruling party and sitting President in 2015 for the first time in our history and finally to the legacy of a sitting President who presided over a peaceful, free and fair democratic process that produced his successor in office and peacefully handed over power.
“This is the stuff of which thrilling, fictional movies are made,” the Minister noted.
He explained “That is why for millions of people, he (Buhari) was an enigma in life and an enigma in death. He oscillated from one perception to the other extreme perception that was diametrically different from the first.
Minister Keyamo who referred to the late President as ‘Mai Gaskiya’ said he came, fought, conquered, and has finished the course and run a good race.
