Former Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai has described the late President, Muhammadu Buhari, as a commander-in-chief who never minced his words about degrading and subduing the Boko Haram terrorist group.

General Buratai, who was appointed by the president in 2015 to lead the Nigerian Army in the fight against insecurity, said Buhari found in him someone who could decipher him and apply the given directives.

Buratai was speaking in an interview with Voice of Nigeria’s Security and Defence Correspondent, Nokai Origin from Katsina, the home state of the late leader, as he and other high-ranking government officials await the arrival of the remains of President Buhari into Nigeria for final internment.

Buratai, who is also a former Nigerian Ambassador to the Benin Republic, said he knew his Commander-in-Chief as one who was result-oriented and delivered on promises made to Nigerians amid challenges in the Northeast theatre.

“He even envisaged, based on intelligence reports, that the Northwest, after the Northeast, the Northwest will be another epicenter of destabilization and insecurity, and he never waited a day to give directions on how the Northwest should be tackled, and he also addressed it very well, the way he should.”

“We thank God for his life, and he has left a legacy that we will ever continue to cherish, as a nation, and of course, as individuals, especially the military, whom he has served in different capacities, and also nationally. And I’m glad the federal government has declared the period of opening seven days of mourning.”