Shortly after the August 1983 military
coup that brought a 40-year-old
Muhammadu Buhari to power, he
received a phone call from a top
personnel in the United States Army.

General Smith was the Commandant of
the U.S. War College from which General
Buhari graduated in 1980. The school’s
1979 set had graduated its first Nigerian,
General Wushishi, who was the Chief of
Defence in the just ousted Shehu
government.

“Please, be kind to him,” General Smith
said over the phone.

The essence of the phone call was not
just to congratulate Nigeria’s new Head
of State, but to ensure that the first
Nigerian to graduate from the U.S. War
College would not suffer any indignity
under the government of the second
Nigerian to graduate from the same
school.

On Wednesday, July 22, members of the
U.S. War College Class of 1980 gathered
at the Blair House in Washington, DC, to
welcome the man they had selected as
their football team referee 36 years ago.

“Being referee all those years ago taught
me to be fair and just,” President Buhari
said during the meeting.

Among the former classmates gathered
were Lt. General Granrud (Commander of
the U.S. Forces in Japan Rtd), Brigadier
General Jack Pellica, General Ronald
Griffith (Former Vice Chairman of the
U.S. Army Central Command ), Colonel
Lany Gordon and Colonel Paul
Summerville.

General Smith has since passed on, as
have all the directing staff and a larger
percentage of the old students from the
set.

“This just shows that all of us are on the
queue,” President Buhari said, “waiting
for our turn.”

The Nigerian Commander-in-Chief said he
hoped that the U.S. would continue its
tradition of training Nigerians in the war
college. At the time he attended the
school, he was the only African in his
class. The only other foreigners were
from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel,
Indonesia, Thailand, France and Japan.

The Japanese student went on to
become the head of his country’s army.

President Buhari then went on to update
his classmates on his life since he last
saw them: his different appointments, his
accomplishments and his family.

“I have just received my 13th grandchild,”
he said.

He added that the wife they knew him
with at the time had since died, and that
he had also lost a son and a daughter
(Musa and Zulaiha)from his late wife.

“Of all my eight children,” he said, “only
one is a boy.”

Some of his former classmates were
curious to know if President Buhari
would place his only son, Yusuf, in the
army.

“I stopped him from joining the army,”
President Buhari replied.

He explained that the military he joined
was very different from what it is today,
adding that he was the second Nigerian
to be sent to the U.S. War College–
based on his records alone, without
connections.

“Things took a wrong turn in Nigeria,” he
said. “Your records no longer mattered.”

Some of the former classmates present
at the meeting stated that at the time
they met President Buhari back in 1980,
they knew little about Nigeria or Africa.

They credited the Nigerian leader with
giving them their initial enlightenment
about the continent. Others recalled how
he always overworked himself.

However, President Buhari described his
war college experience as being
responsible for his subsequent life of
hard work, endurance and perseverance.

“I contested for president three times
and failed,” he said. “Then I did it the
fourth time and won.”

A roar of laughter followed the
president’s apt illustration.

He then rendered his narrative of the
collapse of the Soviet Union, breaking
into 18 republics and how that influenced
his decision to join politics.

“The collapse of the Soviet empire in
1980 without a single shot being fired
convinced me that the multi-party
democratic system was the best for all
countries.”

President Buhari then expressed
appreciation to President Barack Obama
and to the U.S. for the role the country
played in Nigeria’s successful elections,
recalling Secretary of State, John Kerry’s
visit to him and to former president
Goodluck Jonathan, as well as to
Attahiru Jega, the electoral commissioner
at the time.

“Kerry read the riot act to all of us,” he
said, “saying that the conduct of the
election must be free, fair and in line with
the Constitution.”

He added that, without US intervention,
the electoral malpractices of the past
twelve years would likely have happened
again.

“God made me but America made me,”
he said.

The Class of 1980 gave President Buhari
the full assurances of their support,
stating that they were willing to use their
experience to assist him in any way they
can, particularly with tackling terrorism in
northeast Nigeria. They promised to put
together and forward to him a
compendium of their thoughts on the
security situation in Nigeria.

In September, President Buhari will be
meeting once again with his former
classmates, at another event scheduled
to take place at the United Nations.

–Shehu wrote in from Abuja

source: www.leadership.ng/opinions/449733/god-made-me-but-the-u-s-made-me-buhari

We dnt Understand Sir

What does he mean sef

Lemme goan read it again, maybe I will understand.

oluseyiforjesus:
We dnt Understand Sir

donholy28:
What does he mean sef

Before the usual suspects come here to turn logic on its head, what the Sage is simply saying is God created him as a person but America helped in ensuring we have a smooth transition through the pressure they maintained on the government and the electoral umpire.

This is clearly captured in the quote below:

He added that, without US intervention,
the electoral malpractices of the past
twelve years would likely have happened
again.

Go home, u are drunk sir.

very confusing

HOW THE APOSTLES DIED.~~~ 1. Matthew Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, Killed by a sword wound. 2. Mark (not an apostle,but one of the first missionaries) Died in Alexandria, Egypt , after being dragged by Horses through the streets until he was dead. 3. Luke ( not an apostle, but was Paul's doctor) Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous Preaching to the lost. 4. John Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge Basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution In Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered From death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve As Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully 5. Peter He was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die In the same way that Jesus Christ had died. 6. James The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. * This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation. 7. James the Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus Called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer Walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and Knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian. 8. Bartholomew Also known as Nathaniel Was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip. 9. Andrew Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his tormentors For two days until he expired. 10. Thomas Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the Sub-continent. 11. Jude Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. 12. Matthias The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded. 13. Paul Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament. 14. Simon the Zealot Simon was traditionally martyred by being sawn in half. 15. Philip Philip evangelized in Phrygia where hostile Jews had him tortured and then crucified upside down. Some sources have him being stoned Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles and disciples during their times For the sake of the Faith. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Pass on to encourage other Christians.

The man no get wetting to talk.

God has given him a chance to correct the myriads of wrong he perpetrated on the Nigerian federation and her people in the 80s, if he likes, let him cease the opportunity and do his best, if he likes, as well, let him bungle up things with sectionalism, selectocracy, biasm, prejudism and confusionism.

That his only son and grandsons will pay for it, and posterity will never forgive him nor be kind to him.