Indeed, Africa is a Cemetery
We mourn — with the tired familiarity of history, the passing of President Muhammadu Buhari, former leader of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who, true to the legacy of many African heads of state, took his final breath not on African soil, but in a London hospital.
It is a story we know too well.
Once again, a man who presided over a nation with neglected hospitals, underpaid doctors, and decaying infrastructure sought refuge in the former colonial capital when illness struck. He could not trust the healthcare system he supervised for eight years — and who could blame him? Like his peers, he did not invest in it.
In life, Africa was never enough.
Not for his health — that was for London.
Not for his children’s education — that was for the UK.
Not for leisure — that was for Paris and Dubai.
Not for wealth — that was hidden in Zurich.
Not even for development — that was outsourced to foreign corporations.
And now, in death, the same land that was not good enough to live in has suddenly become good enough to be buried in. The Nigerian government has announced that President Buhari will be buried in Daura, Katsina State — a town still waiting for the dividends of the democracy he championed in speeches but neglected in practice.
This is the final irony of African leadership:
They steal from Africa,
live abroad,
treat abroad,
educate abroad,
vacation abroad,
but return home only in a coffin.
Indeed, what they refused to build in life — functional hospitals, quality schools, sustainable economies — they cannot escape in death. They are lowered into the earth of a continent they looted, watched over by the people they failed, guarded by institutions they weakened, and praised by sycophants they empowered.
President Buhari, like many before him, missed the opportunity to make Nigeria — and by extension, Africa — livable, dignified, and respected. Instead, he governed with detachment, ruled with distance, and left with his legacy contested and his promises largely unfulfilled.
In the end, he returns home — not to lead, not to fix, not to redeem — but to be buried.
Indeed, Nigeria, and Africa at large, is only good as a burial ground.
The continent that cannot keep her leaders alive now faithfully keeps their remains.
Indeed, Africa is a Cemetery.
Melah Yusuf Ibrahim Maimuruchi — A Citizen of the Cemetery.
Indeed, Africa is a Cemetery
We mourn — with the tired familiarity of history, the passing of President Muhammadu Buhari, former leader of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who, true to the legacy of many African heads of state, took his final breath not on African soil, but in a London hospital.
It is a story we know too well.
Once again, a man who presided over a nation with neglected hospitals, underpaid doctors, and decaying infrastructure sought refuge in the former colonial capital when illness struck. He could not trust the healthcare system he supervised for eight years — and who could blame him? Like his peers, he did not invest in it.
In life, Africa was never enough.
Not for his health — that was for London.
Not for his children’s education — that was for the UK.
Not for leisure — that was for Paris and Dubai.
Not for wealth — that was hidden in Zurich.
Not even for development — that was outsourced to foreign corporations.
And now, in death, the same land that was not good enough to live in has suddenly become good enough to be buried in. The Nigerian government has announced that President Buhari will be buried in Daura, Katsina State — a town still waiting for the dividends of the democracy he championed in speeches but neglected in practice.
This is the final irony of African leadership:
They steal from Africa,
live abroad,
treat abroad,
educate abroad,
vacation abroad,
but return home only in a coffin.
Indeed, what they refused to build in life — functional hospitals, quality schools, sustainable economies — they cannot escape in death. They are lowered into the earth of a continent they looted, watched over by the people they failed, guarded by institutions they weakened, and praised by sycophants they empowered.
President Buhari, like many before him, missed the opportunity to make Nigeria — and by extension, Africa — livable, dignified, and respected. Instead, he governed with detachment, ruled with distance, and left with his legacy contested and his promises largely unfulfilled.
In the end, he returns home — not to lead, not to fix, not to redeem — but to be buried.
Indeed, Nigeria, and Africa at large, is only good as a burial ground.
The continent that cannot keep her leaders alive now faithfully keeps their remains.
Indeed, Africa is a Cemetery.
Melah Yusuf Ibrahim Maimuruchi — A Citizen of the Cemetery.
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