Femi Adesina, former spokesperson to late President Muhammadu Buhari, has pushed back on claims that Buhari was a religious bigot, referencing a personal incident from over a decade ago to support his stance.
Adesina, in a tribute shared after Buhari’s passing at 82, recalled how the former leader stunned many by showing up at a Christian funeral in Lagos in 2013, well before he became Nigeria’s civilian president.
The occasion was the burial service of Adesina’s mother.
Buhari, at the time, had not yet won the presidency and was viewed as a divisive figure.
Accusations that he wanted to promote an Islamic agenda in Nigeria were common.
“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.
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“To my utmost shock, he came! And not only that, he stayed through the Christian ceremony,” he added.
That moment, for Adesina, shifted his perspective and challenged the long-held narrative about Buhari’s religious stance.
“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 died in a London hospital on the 13th of July, 2025.
Allegations of religious bias often trailed his years in power, but Adesina believes the 2013 act reflected a side of the former president many chose not to see.