Muhammadu Buhari, politician, farmer, and immediate past President of Nigeria, will be 82 on December 17, 2024. Born on December 17, 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, he attended Primary School in Daura, Middle School, and the Katsina Provincial Secondary School from 1956 to 1961.

At 19, he enrolled in the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) in 1962. In February 1964, the college was upgraded to the Officer Commissioning Unit of the Nigerian Army and renamed the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).

From 1962 to 1963, Buhari underwent officer cadet training at Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, England. In January 1963, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant and appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta. From November 1963 to January 1964, he attended the Platoon Commanders’ Course at the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna. In 1964, he attended the Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, United Kingdom.

From 1965 to 1967, Buhari served as Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion and was appointed Brigade Major, Second Sector, First Infantry Division, April 1967 to July 1967. Lieutenant Buhari alongside other young officers from North took part in the July counter-coup, which ousted General Aguiyi Ironsi, replacing him with General Yakubu Gowon.

Buhari ran in the 2015 presidential election as a candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party and won after three attempts. He was re-elected in the 2019 general elections. He exited office on May 29, 2023 after the expiration of his second term in office.

Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon, politician, administrator and philanthropist will be 65 on December 19, 2024. Born on December 19, 1959, he is a graduate of political science from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), he went into a private business, which major in IT services immediately after graduation.

He contested election into the Lagos State House of Assembly on the platform of the Democratic Party of Nigerian (NDP) and won. In 1999, he also contested under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) as Chairman of Mushin Local Council Area of Lagos State and won.

In 2007, he was elected Senator to represent Lagos West Constituency on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) and was in April 2011 returned to the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

He is currently one of the chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State.

Senator Olubukola Abubakar Saraki, politician and former Senate President will be 62 on December 19, 2024. Born in the United Kingdom to Olusola Saraki and Florence Morenike on December 19, 1962, Saraki attended Corona School, Victoria Island, Lagos, before proceeding to King’s College, also in Lagos.

Thereafter, he moved on to Cheltenham College, United Kingdom and graduated in 1981. Subsequently, he earned an M.B.B.S from London Hospital Medical College of University of London in 1987.

Saraki returned to Nigeria in 1989 after working at Rush Green Hospital, London, as a medical officer for a year. Upon his return, he worked in the Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria Limited for almost a decade and rose to the position of executive director.

In 2000, President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as Special Assistant to the President on Budget. While in office, he initiated the Fiscal Responsibility Bill.

Subsequently, he served on the Economic Policy Coordination Committee and formulated some key economic policies for the country.

Saraki served two tenures as Kwara State Governor under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was also elected Senator in 2011 to represent Kwara Central Senatorial District also under PDP. Resuming as Senator, he was appointed Chairman of, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology.

He was re-elected to the Senate in 2015 under the All Progressive Congress (APC); this time around time, he was unanimously re-elected the Senate President.

Saraki was the first serving Nigerian governor to be awarded the National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in 2010. Other former governors also received the award that year.

He was appointed to the leadership council of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstove, an initiative led by the United Nations Foundation.

On April 19, 2019, he was appointed the “Ambassador-at-Large” of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC).

Compiled by Gbenga Akinfenwa, [email protected] or [email protected]