Femi Adesina, former media adviser to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, has countered long-standing claims that the former Nigerian leader was a religious bigot, citing a personal encounter in 2013 to challenge the widely held perception.
In a moving tribute following Buhari’s death at age 82, Adesina shared the story of how the former military head of state shocked many by attending a Christian funeral service in Lagos, long before he became Nigeria’s elected president.
The event was the funeral of Adesina’s mother in August 2013.
At the time, Buhari was still a polarizing political figure, often accused by critics of harboring an agenda to Islamize Nigeria.
“My mother, that stately, urbane woman, had died in August 2013, aged 75,”; Adesina wrote.
“We were having part of the obsequies in Lagos, and I’d invited many people, including Major General Buhari.”;
“To my utmost shock, he came! And not only that, he stayed through the Christian ceremony,”; he added.
For Adesina, it was a defining moment, one that shattered the media-driven stereotype of Buhari as intolerant of other faiths.
“Bigot? That’s the man they say never wants to hear about any other religion, except Islam. A man who wanted to Islamize Nigeria. My respect for him went several notches higher,”; he noted.
Buhari, who died in London on July 13, 2025, was often dogged by allegations of religious favoritism throughout his tenure.
