Buhari is originally from Niger Republic, he told us – Col Nyiam

Colonel Tony Nyiam (rtd), a former unit commander who served under Maj.Gen Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), says President Buhari once told his colleagues in the army that he is originally from Niger Republic, a landlock country bordering the President’s known Nigerian state of Katsina.

Col. Nyiam (rtd) who made the revelation while speaking in a recent interview with Arise TV, said that Buhari had declared that most of his family members are Nigeriens even though “he owes allegiance to Nigeria.”

He however, said the loyalty of the President to Nigeria cannot be questioned citing that “against all the pressure given by other people that Shagari should pull out and allow the Chadians have their way, General Buhari refused”.

He said; “General Muhammadu Buhari was my boss, the General Officer Commanding when I was commanding a unit under him. He went against Shagari to defend Nigerian interest against Chadians.

“In one of the briefings, when he was briefing us he openly told us that his family, most of his family are from Niger and that he is a Nigerian officer and that he owes allegiance to Nigeria and I admired Buhari then, that a man whose family is partially from the Niger Republic and yet is loyal to Nigeria, this was against all the pressure given by other people that Shagari should pull out and allow the Chadians have their way, General Buhari refused.”

Nyiam added; “So why is Buhari now so different, I think the answer to that maybe his wife may answer it because the wife has been battling those who have been holding the president hostage. The President is no more General Muhammadu Buhari some of us knew who was a patriot.”

The issue of the President’s nationality has been a disturbing issue in some quarters of the country, with one version claiming he is “Jubrill from Sudan” as being championed by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnandi Kanu.

Also the comments from high profile Nigerians like the one by former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode in 2019 that Buhari was a citizen of Niger Republic, has further fuelled the President Buhari Niger connection narrative.

“When a non-Nigerian (Buhari) accuses a bona fide Nigerian of being a foreigner, you begin to appreciate why those that have insisted on calling Nigeria a zoo may have a point.

“It is only in Nigeria that a man whose father was from Niger Republic can accuse others of being foreigners,” Fani-Kayode had tweeted.