Renowned political historian, Prof. Alkasum Abba, has shed new light on the ethnic identity of Nigeria’s late former president, Muhammadu Buhari, dispelling a long-standing public perception.
During Buhari’s years in power, many Nigerians widely assumed he was of Fulani extraction.
However, Prof. Abba clarified that the late president was not Fulani by origin.
Speaking during an interview on Trust TV, he stated, “During Buhari’s era many people thought Buhari was a Fulani man, but Buhari was not Fulani; his wife was Fulani. Buhari did not even know how to speak one word of Fulfulde. If he spoke in English, it was with a Hausa-Daura intonation.”
This assertion by Prof. Abba not only challenges a widely held belief but also offers fresh perspective on how ethnic identity and political narratives are often intertwined in Nigeria’s complex socio-political landscape.
Buhari, who hailed from Daura in Katsina State, identified more closely with the Hausa-speaking communities of the region rather than with the Fulani.
The late president, who died after completing his tenure in 2023, left behind a legacy that continues to stir debates on governance, ethnicity, and leadership in Nigeria.
His era was marked by both support and criticism, but questions about his ethnic background had remained largely uncontested in public discourse until now.
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