Muhammadu Buhari'slegacy in Nigeriais likely to be mixed. He will be remembered for trying to foster integrity in the country and for leadership that was deeply flawed.

"From his military era to his two-term civilian presidency, he leaves behind a legacy filled with both praise and pain. We must reflect on justice and accountability," Sheriff Ansu, a digital content creator, said.

Human rights activists say that he never let go of his autocratic tendencies. "Buhari was an ethnic bigot. He had contempt for the rule of law; he disobeyed court orders. He engaged in enforced disappearances of critics," Omoyele Sowore, an activist based in the Nigerian capital Abuja, told DW.

"In 2015, he presided over the mass murder of over 300 Shiites in Zaria. Young Nigerians protesting police brutality were gunned down in October 2020 by soldiers directed by Buhari. That is unforgettable and unforgivable," Sowore said. 

The protests were part of a movement dubbed #EndSARS, named after a special police unit that for years was accused of racketeering, torture and murder. The Buhari government violently crushed the movement.

From military ruler to 'Baba Go Slow'

Buhari defeated Goodluck Jonathan at the polls in 2015, in what was judged to be Nigeria's fairest general election to date. Not everyone liked having a former military general at the country's helm. Many, nevertheless, hoped he would crack down on armed groups.

"He is one man who believed in making Nigeria the best place to live on Earth. He tried his best to bring Nigerians together as military ruler and a democratically elected leader," Yusuf Dantalle, chairman of Nigeria's Inter Party Advisory Council, told DW. "That does not mean he was perfect. He had his flaws like any other human being."

"What stands out is that his presidency triggered national conversations around leadership accountability, youth inclusion and restructuring of systems to entrench democracy," Osasu Igbinedion Ogwuche, a media entrepreneur told DW. 

Many had expected Buhari's tenure as a democratically elected leader to be characterized by the kind of discipline, order and stability of a military veteran. Buhari described himself as a "converted democrat" when he swapped his military uniform for kaftans and prayer caps. "I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody," was his constant refrain to both supporters and critics.

But Buhari's lackluster leadership often made headlines and earned him the moniker "Baba Go Slow." It took him six months to name his ministers in 2015 and the oil-dependent economy was hobbled by low crude prices.

Missteps on corrruption and the economy

Buhari earned a devoted following for his brand of anti-corruption conviction politics. But his crackdowns on corruption also ran into criticism and failed to yield high-profile convictions.

He retained his popularity in the country's poor and largely Muslim north, where he was from and where voters propelled him to his second term in 2019,

That came despite a term that was blighted by Nigeria's first recession in a generation, attacks on oilfields by militants. Buhari was seen to repeatedly ignore advice from the International Monetary Fund to devalue the Nigerian naira. Instead he kept the currency artificially high —  the same failed approach he had used as a military ruler in the 1980s.

In 2022, the production of oil — by far Nigeria's greatest export — fell to its lowest level in more than two decades due to theft in the Niger Delta.

Frail health often interfered with Buhari's tenure as president. He made frequent trips to hospitals abroad for an undisclosed illness. In 2017, rumors of his death circulated after he disappeared from the public eye for 51 days, reportedly to undergo treatment.

Buhari's death at a London health facility reminded many Nigerian citizens of his medical trips and the controversy these had triggered.

Four attempts at the presidency

Buhari, an ethnic Fulani and devout Muslim, was born on December 17, 1942, in Nigeria's northern Katsina state. He joined the army at 20 and rose quickly through the ranks, becoming an officer and the military governor of the north-east. 

In 1976, the country's then military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Buhari as petroleum and energy minister. The position put him in charge of the newly founded National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Despite his new key role at one of Africa's largest oil producers, Buhari returned to the army as a commander, rejoining its Supreme Military Council, and leading several units.

In 2003, he ran as the presidential candidate for the All Nigeria's Peoples Party. His defeat was followed by similarly unsuccessful bids in 2007 and 2011. In 2015, Buhari finally won the presidency with 54% of the vote. He had promised to fight rampant corruption and defeat the Islamist terrorist Boko Haram militia.

"The symbolic thing about his victory is the fact that he is considered one of Nigeria's most incorruptible leaders. That is significant in a country where the population does not believe people in important positions deserve such a reputation," Manji Cheto, the vice president of Teneo Intelligence, said at the time.

Buhari's role during military rule

On December 31, 1983, when General Ibrahim Babangida and other members of the military overthrew elected President Shehu Shagari, Buhari was appointed to chair Nigeria's Supreme Military Council.

He went on to suspend the constitution, ban all political parties, and clamp down on corruption — making good on his threat at the time to jail the corrupt "without the nonsense of judicial proceedings." Under Buhari's "war on indiscipline" nearly 500 people were jailed for corruption and wasting taxpayers' money. Public servants were reportedly made to genuflect for coming late to work.

Buhari had people executed, was intolerant of criticism and restricted press freedom. Nobellaureate Wole Soyinka said Nigerians felt they were living under an "iron-fisted, rigid rule and governance that spreads fear." Ironically, Buhari's first reign ended as it started: in a coup staged by General Babangida in August 1985.

In the 2022-2023 presidential race, Buhari endorsed Bola Tinubu who had been dishing out praise over his dedication to national unity, reforms and discipline.

Chinaza Samuel in Abuja contributed to this article.

Edited by: Benita van Eyssen