As a Yoruba saying goes, “When a young person knows how to wash their own hands, they dine with elders.” The funeral rites of and tributes to President Muhammadu Buhari involved an array of elders and leaders of this nation. But it also had a place for the youth. For example, Seyi Tinubu, Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s son, could be seen ‘standing sentry’ to his father at the graveyard of our late president. Even more notably, Yusuf Buhari, the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s son, was seen taking part in the most sacred physical, religious and spiritual duties of the interment of his father.
Yusuf came into national consciousness after he had a near-fatal accident on a power-bike in Abuja on Tuesday, 26 December, 2017, while playing one of the games that children of well-to-do parents play. Following that incident, he seemed to have appreciably disappeared from public view. Then on Friday, 20 August, 2021, he re-emerged for his wedding. He was again in the public glare on 13 July, 2025 taking brisk steps and with an unflappable disposition in the London Clinic where his father had just passed away.
Most noticeably, Yusuf captured public imagination at the burial of his father on 15 July, 2025, where he was seemingly the Chief Mourner to President Buhari. Yusuf showed how suddenly a young person could have thrust upon them the responsibilities of a much older person. And he discharged those responsibilities with grace and remarkable composure.
Taking part in the interment of a departed Muslim is believed to be a most spiritually rewarding act. Adherents of Islam therefore strive not to let the opportunity to take part in the performance of that sacred duty pass them by, wherever and whenever they can. When a person is a close relative, or, as in Yusuf’s case, a son to the departed, that duty assumes an even grander significance.
Yusuf could be seen, along with others, receiving the body of his father shorn of all appurtenances of office and worldly embellishments, and lowering him, with all sacredness, into the simple grave that had been dug as his last worldly abode. Following this, there was the arrangement of planks and the laying of mats on them to prevent heaping sand directly on the body. Next was the mud-dressing of the grave.
At this point, Yusuf himself seemed to have risen above worldly care. With the sleeves of his kaftan rolled up, and kneeling down to ensure that he could reach the right points of the grave, he received mud from the late President Buhari’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Malam Isa Ali Ibrahim, otherwise called Isa Ali Pantami, who is an Islamic scholar in his own right, and performed the sacred duty to his father. In his company at this sobering moment was also the teary and profusely sweating Governor of Katsina State, Malam Dikko Umar Radda.
When the dressing of the lower part of the top of the grave was completed, the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Kashim Shettima, among others, took a shovel and partook in the final spread of sand on the grave, symbolising the Federal Government’s optimal discharge of one of its most sacred duties to our departed President.
If a dead person can see what those they left behind are doing, President Muhammadu Buhari must be proud of the solemn honour that his dear son had done him. Hajiya Aisha Buhari, the former First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, must also be comforted to see the demonstration of her successful motherhood, seeing Yusuf come of age so admirably in the family’s moment of trial. And Yusuf’s sisters must be pleased seeing how competently he was assuming the role of the man of the house. The Daura Emirate must also be reassured that they acted right in conferring on Yusuf the title of Talban Daura, a top traditional position, in 2021.
In the continuing performance of his duty to his departed father, Yusuf was with and spoke for the family at the Special Expanded Federal Executive Council Meeting held in honour of the late President. President Tinubu had endearingly spoken about President Muhammed Buhari.
In deep appreciation of all of the care, sympathies, accolades, and honour, Yusuf Buhari read the following prepared speech:
“Good evening, everyone. I would like to acknowledge the protocols already established. On behalf of the entire members of the family of the late Muhammadu Buhari, … I wish to sincerely extend our deepest gratitude to Mr. President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the Vice-President, His Excellency Kashim Shettima, and his wife, Hajiya Nana Kashim, for your outstanding support [to] the family from the time he took ill until he peacefully passed on … on Sunday 13th July, 2025.
“It has shown that he was regarded [as] far more than a politician, but regarded as a friend, and a father to all members of the Federal Executive Council. For the care and befitting burial accorded to our late father, we appreciate you all.
“I also wish to thank the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and all the distinguished and honourable members of the National Assembly for honouring the memory of our late father during the state burial in Daura. I will also not forget to mention and convey our appreciation for the support from the Attorney-General of the Federation and members of the Judiciary, Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria High Commission in London, the Governor of Katsina State, Borno State as well, and all his colleagues for identifying and standing firmly with us during this difficult period.
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“Let me specially and specifically acknowledge the Chief of Defence Staff, the Service Chiefs, Heads of Security and Law Enforcement Agencies, as well as all members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, our late father’s first and primary constituency, for the esprit de corps, solidarity and the befitting military burial given to our late father.
“Finally, we thank all members of the diplomatic corps, traditional and religious leaders, political associates, friends, family members, the press and indeed all Nigerians at home and in diaspora for the numerous calls, messages, condolence visits and prayers offered for the repose of the gentle soul of our departed father. Your visits, calls, and prayers symbolise a great honour to the memory of our late father and we’re sincerely grateful for all the support and solidarity extended to the family. May Allah continue to bless us all and to bless all of us.
“Thank you, daddy. Thank you, daddy. Thank you, daddy. May Allah continue to bless, guide and protect you throughout your tenure successfully. Long live Mr. President and long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Thank you.”
The comprehensive appreciation was a fine speech for a 33-year old man addressing a rare major public forum for the first time, and it accordingly generated resounding applause.
Before the programme ended, President Tinubu proposed: “In honour of his memory, with this Special Session of the Federal Executive Council (Expanded), can we adopt the renaming of University of Maiduguri … as Muhammadu Buhari University, Maiduguri.” The proposal was approved with thunderous applause.
Muhammadu Buhari University, Maiduguri
The Federal Government’s decision to rename the University of Maiduguri after President Buhari has elicited different reactions. Some have received the decision with excitement and have commended the government. Such supporters have cited the fact that he was the military Governor of North-Eastern State with its capital in Maiduguri and he was the first military Governor of Borno State, and that he had repelled Chadian soldiers who invaded parts of Borno State in the past. They also noted that, even as President, Buhari showed strong affinity with the state and most likely visited it more than he did any other state in the country.
However, some have condemned the decision. For example, in a 24 July, 2025 set of resolutions of the University of Maiduguri Branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the union states as follows: “Congress views any attempt to rename the University of Maiduguri after fifty (50) years of esteemed existence as a flagrant disregard for University Autonomy, a disruption of cherished academic traditions and a direct affront to the collective heritage and identity of the University Community.”
The union also said: “Congress mandates the ASUU-UNIMAID Executive Committee (EXCO) to explore all available legal avenues to challenge the renaming and ensure that the University’s original identity is preserved.”
The UNIMAID Branch of ASUU further stated: “The Congress calls upon ASUU at the branches, zone and national levels to urgently engaged the National Assembly, Civil Society Organizations, and other relevant stakeholders, including students to resist any legislative endorsement of the renaming.”
Time will tell how this will pan out. Meanwhile, it is important to note that the University of Maiduguri itself has honoured President Buhari by naming the Senate Building of the University after him. Moreover, the Maiduguri International Airport has been named after him. Some of those who oppose the renaming of the University of Maiduguri after President Muhammadu Buhari argue that it is superfluous to rename the university after him.
Regarding this argument, it is important to note that naming one thing after a public figure of note does not preclude naming other things after the same person. A good example of this is former United States President J.F. Kennedy. Several things including an airport, a university, or key units of universities have been named after him, even outside the United States. Looking at the various things named after him, it would be noticed that there is a gradation of honours.
With respect to President Buhari, the naming of the University of Maiduguri after him could be regarded as a magnum opus – the greatest of the honours that could be done to him, given the wider global reach of a university and the rarity of President Buhari’s globally acknowledged personal character. This point is important, because one of the cancers eating up every part of Nigeria’s body politic is corruption.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s rare public morality would therefore be a wonderful subject of intellectual inquiry, which can produce results which could help to get Nigeria out of its moral morass. Indeed, if the renaming of the University of Maiduguri stands, it could be an opportunity for establishing the university or any of its set of appropriate units as a Centre of Excellence in Public Ethics.
