Buhari Dies in London — Nigerians Ask, Did He Ever Truly Come Home?

Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has died at the age of 82 in a London hospital, far away from the land he once ruled with iron discipline. And as the official statement broke early Sunday, it wasn’t just grief that swept across Nigeria it was a haunting question on millions of lips: Did he ever truly come home?

Buhari, a military general turned elected president, served two terms from 2015 to 2023. Yet for much of his presidency, he remained physically and emotionally distant often traveling to the UK for medical treatment while Nigerians battled economic collapse, banditry, and heartbreak on home soil.

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Today, he took his last breath in the same foreign land where many say he sought comfort instead of accountability. And now, the nation he once led is left picking up the pieces.

To his supporters, Buhari was a symbol of discipline, a no-nonsense anti-corruption fighter who promised to “clean the house.” But to critics, he was a ghost president absent, cold, and disconnected from the real suffering of his people.

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“He left for London during fuel queues, inflation, and kidnappings,” said Amina Lawal, a civil rights advocate in Abuja. “Now he’s died in that same London and somehow, that feels like the full story.”

From the Niger Delta to the streets of Lagos, the reaction is a mix of mourning and muted rage. On social media, the hashtag #BuhariDiesInLondon quickly trended alongside #DidHeEverReturn and #RestInPowerOrSilence.

President Bola Tinubu has announced that Buhari’s body will be flown back to Nigeria for a state funeral in Daura, his hometown in Katsina State. Flags are to be flown at half-mast for 7 days, and tributes from world leaders are already pouring in.

But on the ground, there’s hesitation.

“I don’t feel this loss the way I should,” said a university student in Port Harcourt. “We lost him a long time ago today just made it official.”

Buhari’s death ends a long chapter in Nigerian political history, but it opens a bigger conversation: How do we remember leaders who were absent in life, but honored in death?

As Nigeria prepares to bury one of its most controversial figures, many citizens are left with a final, bitter truth that the man who ruled them for eight years died as he lived: far away, and out of touch.

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