"The Phones No Longer Ring" - Yusuf Buhari gives a Glimpse into Life After Power

Yusuf Buhari, son of Nigeria's late former President Muhammadu Buhari, has shared a reflective account of how life changed dramatically after his father left office in 2023 and following his passing.

In a widely circulated statement, Yusuf described the sharp decline in attention and contacts he experienced.

According to Yusuf, during his father's presidency, his phone rang constantly, up to 2,000 calls a day, starting as early as 4 a.m. His callers included old classmates, distant relatives, former household staff, acquaintances, and others with various reasons for reaching out. However, after President Buhari handed over power to President Bola Tinubu in May 2023, the calls dropped significantly to around 100 a day.

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“After Goodluck Jonathan made that call to my dad to congratulate him on his victory as Nigeria’s next President.

I used to receive up to 2,000 calls a day from different people. The calls would start coming in as early as 4 a.m. from old classmates, acquaintances, extended family relatives, former maids, and servants who had once worked for the Buhari family at some point.

“There were also callers with bogus, untraceable explanations, but my assistant would simply come up with polite excuses to end those conversations quickly!

“But the moment my dad left power and handed the baton to His Excellency Bola Tinubu, the calls dropped dramatically to about 100 a day.

After my dad was buried, they reduced even further to around 20 daily, usually just from siblings and business associates. 

“The phones no longer ring. Nobody truly cares…”