Editorial! Buhari’s Death: A nation’s memory

It is no longer speculation. It is official: Former President Muhammadu Buhari is dead and his body is being interred in Daura, Katsina State. With the dust of this reality yet to settle, one would expect an outpouring of national emotion for a man who ruled Nigeria for eight eventful years.

But what we see…what we cannot deny is a haunting silence at best, and at worst, a collective sigh of national indifference or even hostility. From the streets of Lagos to the tired towns of Zamfara, the mood is not one of mourning, but of muted disinterest.

This reaction or lack thereof is not accidental. It is a response from a people who remember. A people who bore the weight of two terms of leadership that, for many, delivered hardship rather than hope.

And while CSR Reporters deliberately resists the popular temptation to malign the dead, we owe it to the living and the future to draw out the CSR and sustainability implications of leadership that fails to invest in legacy.

It is a bitter truth that must now confront not only the All Progressives Congress (APC), but every public office holder and government official in Nigeria: It is the good that you do that outlives you. And the people do not forget. They carry their own kind of ledger. It is not bound in paper, but in memory, etched in power cuts, inflation, insecurity, collapsed infrastructure, vanished jobs, broken promises, and daily struggles to put food on the table. The Nigeria that Buhari left behind is one that many of its citizens are still trying to escape from within or across borders.

When President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died in 2010, the atmosphere was different. Nigerians mourned deeply not because he had done all things right, but because they believed he had good intentions. Even the blind could feel that he meant well. He was honest, deliberate, soft-spoken, and empathetic. He apologized to Nigerians. He tried to fix the Niger Delta crisis. He was open to dialogue and reform. His was a presidency that was interrupted, not failed. And because of that, his death triggered a national sorrow that was spontaneous and sincere.

Contrast that with the near-dead silence now echoing around Buhari’s passing. CSR Reporters posted a simple farewell to the late president on our LinkedIn page. Not one like. Not one comment. Not one condolence. And we are not alone. Across platforms, from Twitter to TikTok, Nigerians are not weeping. They are remembering and many of them with anger.

This silence, and at times cursing, is Nigeria’s unfiltered audit of a presidency that oversaw escalating poverty, aggressive insecurity, vanishing foreign investments, lopsided appointments, and a national division that deepened across ethnic and religious lines. It is also an audit of a leader who often seemed detached from the pain and voices of his people, who spent months abroad on medical leave while doctors at home went on strike, and who rarely addressed the nation with the kind of heart that brings healing.

CSR REPORTERS thinks, this moment demands reflection. Because it is not just about Buhari. It is a loud signal to the current leadership of the APC and indeed all those who occupy positions of public trust: Power is transient, but legacy is permanent. And legacy is not written by official press releases or rehearsed speeches, it is written in the lives touched, the communities developed, the injustices corrected, and the empathy shown.

Public office is a sacred trust. It is a position that should be held with the knowledge that long after convoys disperse and sirens fade, what will remain is how people felt under your leadership. Did they feel safer? Did they eat better? Did they believe in tomorrow? Did their children go to school? Were their dreams deferred or fulfilled?

A sustainable government is not one that builds monuments or commissions projects on camera. It is one that builds trust. One that listens. One that responds. And one that remembers that the heartbeat of democracy is people, not power.

This moment should be a wake-up call to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the political class. Nigerians are watching. They are measuring. They are noting. They are posting. And they will remember. The hardship today is as real as it was under Buhari, if not worse. Hunger, joblessness, inflated costs of living, insecurity, and policy inconsistency continue to plague a people already stretched to their limits. If nothing changes if no course is corrected then the legacy awaiting the current administration may be even more brutal in the books of public memory.

The call to action is clear: Do better. Let governance be human-centered. Let policies be people-first. Let CSR no longer be the job of only corporations but of the state itself through transparency, accountability, inclusivity, and long-term thinking. Let sustainability be reflected not just in green energy and climate goals, but in social equity, education, and healthcare access. Let empathy lead. Let leaders talk to the people not only through prepared scripts, but with candour, heart, and humility.

At CSR Reporters, our commitment remains to monitor, spotlight, and advocate for good governance and responsible leadership because that is the only way sustainability can be real. The death of former President Muhammadu Buhari must now become a teachable moment for every man and woman in power. Because no matter how high you rise or how tight your security convoy may be, the final judgment comes not from official reports but from the people themselves.

And as we have just seen, the people will not pretend.

Rest well, HE Muhammadu Buhari.