Former President Goodluck Jonathan will present the authorised biography of former President Muhammadu Buhari at a public ceremony in Abuja on November 19, with President Bola Tinubu expected to attend as the guest of honour.
The Chairman of the Planning Committee and former Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu, disclosed this on Wednesday during a press conference in Abuja.
Adamu said the event would be chaired by former Niger Republic President Mahamadou Issoufou.
The three-volume biography also features forewords by former Nigerian leaders, Generals Yakubu Gowon and Abdulsalami Abubakar, alongside Issoufou.
According to Adamu, the presentation is intended to bring together people from different political, professional and institutional backgrounds rather than serve as a gathering of Buhari’s political associates.
“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,” he said.
He added that the event would attract members of Buhari’s family, former colleagues, political leaders, military officers, academics, diplomats, business executives, civil society organisations, journalists and members of the reading public.
The biography, which Buhari authorised during his lifetime, was developed with his extensive personal participation through interviews and other research engagements.
It also draws on years of documentary research and interviews with individuals who knew him, worked with him, opposed his administration or served as his advisers.
The first volume, titled Buhari: The Phenomenon, examines his early life, military career, tenure as military Head of State and eventual emergence as a democratic opposition leader before his victory in the 2015 presidential election.
The second volume, Buhari: The Presidency, documents his eight-year administration between 2015 and 2023, examining the policies, personalities, institutions and controversies that shaped his tenure.
The third volume, Buhari: The Reckoning, assesses his administration’s record across key sectors, including the economy, security, infrastructure, foreign affairs, anti-corruption, institutional reforms and social policy.
Adamu said the books should extend beyond the unveiling ceremony and become useful resources for academic research and national historical documentation.
He urged universities, libraries, research institutions, military and security establishments, government agencies and diplomatic missions to acquire copies of the volumes for future reference.
“We regard it as important that universities, libraries, research institutions, military and security institutions, public agencies, diplomatic missions and other repositories of national memory acquire the volumes and make them available to students, researchers and future generations,” he said.
The committee chairman also encouraged Nigerians to read the books with open minds rather than approach them with preconceived opinions about Buhari’s political career and administration.
“We invite Nigerians to approach these volumes with curiosity rather than with predetermined conclusions,” Adamu added.
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