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Buhari: Man, forged in furnace of battle, tempered in trials of governance – Akpabio
For Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, Thursday, July 17, 2025, was yet another opportunity to let open the showers of exaltations on Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s second longest serving leader, who passed on, on Sunday in a London hospital, at the age of 82 – one he seized, sparing no superlative words in describing the late General in the Nigerian Army, who rose to become a military Head of State.
In words, dripping with emotions, the Chairman of the National Assembly, eulogised the late President, “as a man forged in the furnace of battle and tempered in the trials of governance.”
Akpabio, who served as Minister of Niger Delta Development under the late President, while giving account of his personal assessment, told his audience, at a Special Session of the Expanded Special Federal Executive Council (FEC) Meeting in his honour, that Buhari, was “incorruptible, principled, and unbending” – one, though not perfect as all mortals, remained principled and pursued his ideals with unbending. iron-cast disposition.
Part of the speech read: “There are moments in the life of a nation when she must pause – not out of routine, but out of reverence. Today is such a moment, as we gather in solemn remembrance of President Muhammadu Buhari – a man forged in the furnace of battle and tempered in the trials of governance. A man who gave everything he had to a country that asked everything of him.
“President Muhammadu Buhari was not perfect. No leader is. But he was principled. He stood for something. And in a world where it is easy to chase headlines, he chose instead to chase honour. Where others sought glory, he sought duty.
“As a minister in his cabinet, appointed by him, I saw President Buhari unplugged. He was not flamboyant—far from it. His voice was measured. His steps, deliberate. His public demeanor, austere. But beneath that calm exterior beat the heart of a patriot—unyielding, unbending, and utterly uninterested in personal comfort when duty called.
“He served this nation first in uniform, and decades later, returned to serve it once more – this time in flowing agbada. Whether clad in khaki or in civilian robes, through coups and campaigns, criticisms and crises, he never wavered in his belief in the promise of Nigeria. His legacy is marked by monumental achievements—too many, too vast, and too significant for me to enumerate within the time allotted for this tribute.
“President Buhari did not merely pass through the corridors of power; he left his boots and his imprints in them. He believed that discipline mattered. That integrity mattered. That leadership, even when lonely, must be anchored in something greater than power. He did not seek to ride waves of popular acclaim; he walked, with steadiness and often in solitude, along the ridge of national conscience.
“And let us be honest – he was tough. He was a soldier who did not flinch under fire, a leader who did not flee from responsibility, and above all, a Nigerian whose loyalty to this nation was never up for sale. His toughness was born not of pride, but of patriotism – a fierce, unrelenting belief that Nigeria, with all its challenges, was still worth fighting for.
“And yes, some disagreed with him. That is the nature of democracy. But even his fiercest critics will admit: he did not pilfer the nation’s purse, nor pander to its pleasures. He remained, to the very end, a sentinel of Spartan simplicity and austere integrity.
“His life reminds us of a truth often forgotten in this noisy age—that greatness is not always loud, and that history, in its wisdom, sometimes reserves its most solemn applause for those who labored not for fame, but for legacy.”
“Let it be said by generations to come, that a man once walked this land with a firm gait, a steady gaze, and an iron sense of duty. His name was Muhammadu Buhari. May God bless his memory. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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