Tuesday Column By VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO
vikeano@yahoo.co.uk | 08033077519
Yesterday, Monday July 13, 2026 marks the first anniversary of former president, Muhammadu Buhari’s passing. I believe President Buhari did the best he could for Nigeria. And the current administration being same ruling party, is building on some of his projects through continuity for, governance is and should be a continuum. Having served this nation at the highest level as both military head of state and civilian president, Buhari left an indelible imprint in the annals of Nigeria’s history. One of the issues that cropped up during his presidency was the claim by those I refer to as revisionists, that a fake president Buhari was in charge of the administration. This was an insult to the intelligence of some 200 million Nigerians. Nonetheless, quite a number of educated people believed that there was a Buhari double in the Villa at Aso Rock. To the serious minded cum thinking people, the matter only proved that common sense is not common after all. In memory of the first anniversary of Buhari’s passing, below is a reproduction of my article on the issue.
“Fling enough dirt and it will stick”.
Apparently following this dictum, those who have been pushing the Buhari double narrative have intensified their spinning, spreading it far and wide in the hope that it would stick as truth somewhere along the line if they persist with it. And some people are beginning to change their minds, beginning to ask themselves whether this is not true after all. This Buhari double matter started in the social media as a joke of some sort, gained traction there and even assumed a life of its own there. Thereafter, it was catapulted to the conservative media, thereby forcing those who were initially uninterested to pay attention to it. In fact it is now the talk of town at pepper soup joints, beer parlours and majalisas. The purveyors talk about it with some kind of relish accompanied with wry smiles as though they derive some joy from it.
Let us even assume that it is a fact. Is it something someone/some persons should gloat over, laugh their heads over childishly? Should it not rather engender sober reflection and muffled amazement about its dire consequences for the country, if indeed it is true? In gleefully and loudly talking about it, one cannot but conclude that these people who can rightly be called anti Buharists, are people that had been wishing Mr. President death and to wit, enemies of Nigeria. They outline some ten reasons as ‘proof’ that the present occupant of Aso Villa is not the President Muhammadu Buhari we had all been accustomed to since June, 2015 but a certain Jibril from Sudan who after undergoing extensive plastic surgery is being passed off as Mr. President. They say Mr. President is shorter now, now wears glasses, has a different ear lobe, hardly removes his cap in public, etc;, One woman believing this concocted tale commented, “No wonder since his return, his wife hardly attends functions or travels with him. Even when the National Council of Women’s Societies went on a courtesy visit to him last month, she was not present there”.
We are aware that in this digital age photographs and even videos can be manipulated. So, the fact that there are photographs to ‘prove’ their point does not make it true. Gone are the days when we are told that pictures do not tell lies. Pictures and videos do indeed tell lies in this era of artificial intelligence et al. Perhaps the most audacious of these anti Buharists’ narrative is their claim that the Prime Minister of Britain wrote a condolence message to Nigeria over the alleged death of Buhari. That is what they bandy about at pepper soup joints and beer parlours. On their referenced site is a photo of the Queen of England purportedly writing a condolence letter with the quoted words displayed. However, the question is: can the Queen or Prime Minister write a condolence letter on death of a president or head of state without the British Broadcasting Corporation {BBC) reporting it? Indeed, can the alleged death of the president of the world’s most populous black nation be shielded from the whole world, particularly in an advanced democratic country as Britain where it (the ‘death’) is purported to have happened?
They say that Britain was bribed to keep quiet over the affair. Is civilised and rich Britain as corrupt as poor, developing country as ours that it would do anything for money? What about the Wiki leaks of this world – organisations that are focused on unearthing government and personal secrets? Why have they not spilled the beans as a scoop? I am sure that the federal government has not officially responded to this Buhari double narrative because it does not want to adorn this fairy tale with any modicum of respectability, coming as it is, from quarters that never see anything good in Buhari or his government.
Still, the tale bearers are taking the matter to a rather dangerous dimension. Consider this “Breaking News” that is being shared on social media platforms: “There are very huge crisis meetings taking place in Aso Rock. According to our secret inside source, there have been series of these secret meetings of the northern leaders (irrespective of party affiliations) and the northern APC most trusted heavy weights in Abuja including Lawal Musa Daura, Abba Kyari, Mohamad Nasir el-Rufai, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the Sultan of Sokoto, Abdulsalam Abubakar, etc; These secret meetings are not unconnected to the broadcasted revelations made by NK about the death of Buhari and the replacement by a body known as Jibril Al-Sudan. These northern leaders were highly amazed by the precise accuracy given by NK….. According to our secret source, these northern leaders planned everything with Atiku Abubakar before telling him to get off APC and go back to PDP where he will be supported to compete with their “Buhari”. Their original plan was to subtly make sure that Atiku wins the 2019 elections because his primary task as the president should also be to defend the interests of the north thereby making it possible for the imported “Buhari” to quietly disappear into thin air without being noticed by Nigerians. They are completely stuck and confused about the way forward with this “Buhari”…. They pledged that they are ready to pay any sum of money for the British to save them from this international embarrassment and imminent danger”.
The Buhari double tale should be discountenanced as false because it originates from a discredited source. Leaders and followers alike should at this time avoid hate speeches, pandering to sentiments of whatever kind and instead preach unity as we are one people united by God with a common destiny. May the Grace of God continue to abide with former president Muhamadu Buhari.
