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Renowned human rights activist and public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has issued a strong statement criticizing recent efforts to commemorate the legacy of the late President Muhammadu Buhari through published books.
Shehu argues that no amount of literature can rectify or obscure the profound suffering and systemic failures attributed to Buhari's eight-year tenure, which he describes as marked by fraud, nepotism, economic devastation, and institutional decay.
In a pointed response to the unveiling of multiple books honoring Buhari's life and administration including "From Soldier to Statesman, The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari" launched on December 15 and "Headlines & Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration" by former Information Minister Lai Mohammed, set for today on what would have been Buhari's 83rd birthday, Shehu emphasized that such publications serve only to celebrate deception and failure rather than address the harsh realities faced by Nigerians.
"Books won't correct the painful legacy of the late Buhari in Nigeria," Shehu stated. "His administration presided over unprecedented levels of corruption, insecurity, and poverty, leaving 134 million Nigerians in multidimensional poverty, millions displaced by violence, and an economy in ruins. No glossy pages or selective narratives can erase the blood, tears, and destruction that defined those years. These so-called tributes are nothing but an insult to the victims of incompetence and sadism."
Shehu, a vocal critic of Buhari's policies since his time in office, highlighted specific grievances, the entrenchment of nepotism in appointments, the mishandling of security crises leading to mass kidnappings and killings, and fiscal mismanagement that ballooned national debt while enriching a select few. He called on Nigerians to reject revisionist histories and instead demand accountability from current leaders to prevent a repeat of such governance failures.
"This is not about politics, it's about truth and justice," Shehu added. "Buhari's era represented man's inhumanity to man, and glorifying it through books only perpetuates the cycle of deception. We must learn from the past, not rewrite it to suit the egos of the powerful."