Amidst a plethora of tributes and consolations, enmeshed with visits of solidarity and payments of homage and last respects to the memories and legacies of late former President Muhammadu Buhari by dignitaries from within and outside the shores of Nigeria, the turnout of the people of Daura and the entirety of Katsina State — in reception of the deceased’s remains highlighted the perception of the world about the General, who spent nearly two decades of his entire 82-year existence in public service, of being a man of the masses — about 12.5 million of them.
Touching the soil of Katsina at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Airport at exactly 2:07 pm yesterday in a coffin draped with the Nigerian flag and military paraphernalia, shortly after the arrival of President Bola Tinubu, the body, which was accompanied on a near-hour road trip to his ancestral home of Daura, was committed to mother earth at exactly 5:50 pm according to Islamic rites, with an assemblage of notable individuals, including military personnel, a queue of mourners across Katsina and Daura roads, and a sea of heads as witnesses.
Buhari died in a London clinic on Sunday, July 13, 2025, after a brief illness.
How Tinubu received Buhari’s body
President Tinubu arrived at the Katsina airport from Abuja at 1:42 pm and inspected a guard of honour before the Nigerian Air Force plane conveying the remains of his predecessor landed.
Arriving from London were Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President) Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, Borno State Governor Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, and Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar.
Also onboard were President Buhari’s wife Aisha, Buhari’s nephew Mallam Mamman Daura, family members, senior aides, and other high-ranking dignitaries who accompanied the corpse to Nigeria. President Tinubu received the casket of the late president at the foot of the aircraft.
Also joining Tinubu were National Security Adviser Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s service chiefs, and several Nigerian governors including Dikko Radda (Katsina), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Nasir Idris (Kebbi), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Ahmed Aliyu (Sokoto), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Monday Okpebholo (Edo), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), and Bassey Edet Otu (Cross River).
Business moguls Aliko Dangote, Sayyu Dantata, and Dahiru Mangal; Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Nasir Yahaya Daura; Seyi Tinubu; members of the State Executive Council; senior civil servants; and political stakeholders were also in attendance.
In a symbolic moment, First Lady of Nigeria Senator Oluremi Tinubu received the First Lady of the late President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, upon her arrival.
A joint team of military pallbearers comprising nine senior officers laid the casket on a trolley. The team included Major-General Mohammed Usman, Major-General Oluwafemi Williams, Major-General Shuaibu Nudu, Rear Admiral Suleiman Dahun, Rear Admiral Jonathan Ajodo, Rear Admiral Samuel Ngatuwa, Air Vice Marshal Adeniyi Herbert Amesinlola, Air Vice Marshal Idi Sanni, and Air Vice Marshal Obinna Obiabaka. Major General Mike Alechenu coordinated the team.
The pallbearers wheeled the former leader’s casket in a slow march, in sync with the hymn “God Be With You Till We Meet Again,” passing through a full military guard of honour comprising six officers and 96 soldiers drawn from the Nigerian Armed Forces.
President Tinubu and others walked behind the casket trolley in a solemn procession. The pallbearers escorted the casket into a waiting military hearse which took the body to Daura.
At the interment
Following the arrival of the body in a military ambulance at around 4:33 pm, the funeral prayers, which commenced at 4:56 pm according to Islamic rites, were led by the Chief Imam of Daura, Sheik Hassan Yusuf, at the Daura helipad.
Dignitaries including President Tinubu, Vice President Shettima, former President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou, and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; members of the National Assembly; Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Faruk-Umar; Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir-Usman; and Emirs of Zazzau, Dutse, and Kazaure, among others, attended the prayers.
Captains of industry like Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Sayyu Dantata, and Alhaji Dahiru Barau Mangal were also in attendance.
Others were President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, Prime Minister of Niger Republic Ali Lamine Zeine, former Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and former Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou.
Having lowered the body to the grave in the deceased’s residence amid tight security, the state funeral featured full military honours, including a 21-gun salute, a statement from Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media, Bayo Onanuga, says.
Katsina State Governor, after the interment, was sighted weeping profusely and drenched in his sweat.
The funeral rites were attended by thousands of people who were earlier denied access to the venue but were later allowed to enter.
Present at the residence were Governor of Bauchi Alhaji Bala Mohammed; former Governors of Kaduna, Malam Nasir El-Rufai; Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal; Kogi, Yahaya Bello; Borno, Alimodu Sherif; Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi; Katsina, Aminu Masari; Kebbi, Adamu Aliero; and Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun.
Others include former Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika, former Governor of Kebbi Adamu Aliero, former Inspector General of Police Adamu, and Ambassador Babagana Kigebe.
He was interred on the spot he used to relax — Family friend
A family friend, Nasir Kaoje, who expressed how he would miss Buhari in an interview, hinted that the deceased was interred on the spot he used to relax when he was alive
During the burial, Large crowds lined the streets of Daura and gathered at the former President’s residence to pay their last respects.
The former President’s final journey began on Tuesday afternoon, when his body arrived from London at Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina.
President Tinubu and other dignitaries, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Umaru Sissoco Embalo of Guinea-Bissau, Prime Minister of Niger Republic, Ali Lamine Zeine, former President of Niger Republic, Issoufou Mahamadou, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, governors and business leaders, escorted the late President’s remains on the hour-long drive to Daura.
Upon arrival, a brief lying-in-state ceremony was held at President Buhari’s residence, followed by the funeral prayer (Salatul Janazah) led by Sheikh Salisu Rabiu, the Imam of the Central Mosque in Daura.
President Tinubu and the late President’s close family members witnessed the final interment at 5.50 p.m
The state funeral was marked by full military honours, including a reveille and a 21-gun salute. A weeklong programme of events will continue later on Tuesday with a condolence visit to President Buhari’s family by the Presidential Committe.
