Here are bio-facts you may not know about Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo
Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR
Born on 17 December 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, to the late Adamu and Zulaihat Buhari, PMB (President Muhammadu Buhari), as he will be popularly known from this week, was the 23rd child of his parents. He was only four years old when he lost his father.
His primary education began at Daura and Mai’adua, from where he went to Katsina Model School in 1953, and later Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College, Katsina) from 1956 to 1961. He enlisted in the Nigerian Military Training School in Kaduna (now Nigerian Defence Academy) where his military career began.
Military career
Buhari attended the Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, England, between 1962 and 1963. He was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in 1963 and immediately appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta.
Again, from November 1963 to January 1964, Buhari proceeded to Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna, Nigeria, where he attended the Platoon Commanders’ Course. In 1964, he enhanced his military training by attending the Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, United Kingdom. He thereafter served as Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion between 1965 to 1967. He was later appointed Brigade Major, Second Sector, First Infantry Division, April 1967 to July 1967.
Buhari was made Brigade Major of the Third Infantry Brigade, July 1967 to October 1968 and Brigade Major/Commandant, Thirty-first Infantry Brigade, 1970 to 1971. He served as the Assistant Adjutant-General, First Infantry Division Headquarters, from 1971 to 1972. He also attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India, in 1973.
From 1974 to 1975, Buhari served as Acting Director of Transport and Supply at the Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport Headquarters. He was also Military Secretary at the Army Headquarters between 1978 and 1979, and was a member of the Supreme Military Council from 1978 to 1979.
From 1979 to 1980, at the rank of colonel, Buhari (class of 1980) attended the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in the United States, and gained a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies. Upon completion of the on-campus full-time resident program lasting 10 months and the two-year-long, distance learning program, the United States Army War College (USAWC) College awards its graduate officers a master’s degree in Strategic Studies.
Buhari became the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power in a military coup d’état. His deputy was the late Brigadier-General Tunde Idiagbon. He won the 28 March presidential election and will be sworn in on 29 May as President of Nigeria.
Personal Life
In 1971, Buhari married his first wife, Safinatu (née Yusuf). The union was blessed with five children, four girls and one boy. Following the dissolution of the marriage to Safinatu in 1988, Buhari got married to his present wife, Aisha (née Halilu), in December 1989. Like in his first marriage, his marriage to Aisha is also blessed with five children, a boy and four girls.
Buhari the Politician
Perhaps Buhari could be described as the most consistent presidential aspirant in Nigeria. He ran unsuccessfully for the office of President in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections. Finally, in December 2014, he emerged as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the 28 March 2015 elections. This time round, he made history in Nigeria defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN
Prof. Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo, lawyer and politician, was born on 8 March 1957 in Ikenne, Ogun State.
He attended Corona School for his primary school education, from where he proceeded to Igbobi College Yaba (1969 to 1975) for his post-primary school education. He was admitted into the University of Lagos where he was awarded a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1978. In 1980, he attended the London School of Economics, where he obtained his Master of Laws.
Work Experience
The Vice-President-elect commenced academic work as lecturer at the University of Lagos in 1981, a position he occupied till 1988, when he was appointed as Special Adviser (Legal Advice and Litigation) to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bola Ajibola, from 1988 to 1991. Following his return to the classrooms, he was appointed a Professor of Law in 1990 at the age of 33. He became the Head of Department of Public Law in 1997, a position he held for two years (1997-1999) before he was appointed as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State under the administration of Gov Bola Tinubu, a position he held for eight years. In June 2007, he became Senior Partner at the law firm of Simmons Cooper Partners.
Following the formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2013, Osinbajo was tasked, with other notable Nigerians, to design and produce a manifesto for the new political party. He was running mate to the APC Presidential candidate on 17 December, 2014.
The erudite Professor of law is a member of many professional bodies, both home and abroad, and has authored many publications. He is a Senior Pastor and Motivational Speaker at the Olive Tree House of Prayer for All Nations on Banana Island, a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. He is also the chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of Redeemer’s University. Osinbajo is also a member of the following professional bodies: Nigerian Bar Association, International Bar Association, Nigerian Body of Benchers, Council of Legal Education in Nigeria and Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He is married to Oludolapo Osinbajo, a grand-daughter of Obafemi Awolowo, and their union is blessed with three children.