“O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings.
For the shield of the mighty is cast away there!”, David said while mourning the demise of King Saul and his son, Jonathan.
“The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, From the fat of the mighty”, David went on “The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty.
“Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.”
Many years after in Rome, Mark Anthony declared, “I have come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”
On Wednesday, at a Federal Executive Council meeting, President Bola Tinubu paid glowing tribute to Muhammadu Buhari.
Whereas David lay a curse on the mountains of Gilboa, Tinubu remarked, “Today, we gather under a heavy shadow, drawn from the silence surrounding a departed leader and from the immense weight of a life whose absence will be felt for generations.
“We meet to honour a man whose presence once commanded this room, whose voice summoned the best in us, and whose convictions never bowed, even to the strongest winds of public opinion.
“He was first among soldiers in war, first among citizens in peace, and first, without ambition or flattery, in the hearts of his fellow citizens.”
Speaking about the life and times of a leader who once exclaimed, “Jesus of Nazareth” as he was about to stumble in the presence of Pastor Tunde Bakare, Tinubu noted:
President Bola Tinubu pours out his heart in a tribute to former President Muhammadu Buhari“Yet in his private life’s quiet and unadorned settings, his most real greatness was revealed: pious without show, just without cruelty, humane without sentimentality, temperate without coldness, and sincere without guile.”
Tinubu whose administration had risen promptly to the occasion after the news of his predecessor reached him last Sunday said in his exaltation of Buhari, “Steady in posture and spirit, dignified in bearing, and commanding by his presence, his example guided all who encountered him.
“President Buhari’s life was one of austere honour. He stood always ramrod, unmoved by the temptation of power, unseduced by applause, and unafraid of the loneliness that sometimes comes to those who do what is right rather than popular. His was quiet courage, a righteousness that never announced itself. His patriotism was lived more in action than in words.”
Never in Nigerian history has a Nigerian President paid such glowing tribute to a departed colleague.
Tinubu acknowledged, how side by side, he and Buhari struggled to bring change to Nigeria.
He said that the essence of their collaboration resulted in the transmission of power from one political platform (PDP) to another (APC).
The FEC session which took place Wednesday evening at the Presidential Villa in Abuja was attended by high-profile dignitaries.
They included Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.
Also present at the occasion were several members of the Federal Executive Council and the children of the late President Buhari.
Aisha, wife of the late president who urged Nigerians to forgive his inadequacies while in office was however not present during the occasion.
Despite what many may say of the service years of the late President, the Port Harcourt Telegraph recalls that one of the greatest acts of the former ruler was his admission of the fact that Chief MKO Abiola won the June 12 elections.
Buhari apologised on behalf of the Nigerian people to the Abiola family for the heinous act committed by the military. And went on to declare June 12 as Demand Day in Nigeria.
That singular act closed a sad chapter in history that had remained a blot on the conscience of a nation, this proving that the man who belonged to everybody and no one was indeed a man of
Buhari had served as Nigeria’s president from 2015 to 2023. He was buried on Tuesday in Daura, his hometown in Katsina State, according to Islamic rites.