By Muhsin Ibrahim People have spread false news about General Muhammadu Buhari's death a million times. At one point, many claimed–and several others believed–that he had actually died and was replaced by a body-double called Jibril from Sudan. The real Buhari has today passed on. He was 82. This is yet another reminder to us all that we will leave this world; it is simply a matter of time. Another reminder is that we will only die when our appointed time comes, because many have wished Buhari dead for several years, for several reasons. The man often reappeared looking even more refreshed than before. Not any longer. Buhari's presidency (2015-2023) shattered the image we had of him. If he had not been elected president not once but twice, we might have been mourning the death of our Mandela. Instead, we are mourning the death of just a former president today. They say we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, and that is quite right. We will also die; we would not want the livin...
Reflections on power and history: Lessons from Ceaușescu's Romania By Muhsin Ibrahim History is essential for our understanding of the world. It tells us what happened in the past, why things are happening now (i.e. context) and what will likely happen in the future. Nothing beats this vital knowledge. A few years ago, we arrived in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. On the flight, I read about some African dictators, from Addis Ababa to Bangui, Kampala to Kinshasa, among others. I kept imagining how those tyrants, whose regimes mostly ended in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, were thinking while reigning. Nevertheless, when we visited the house and massive parliament building of Nicolae Ceaușescu, the infamous Romanian communist dictator, everything fell into place. Power is transient. Mr Ceaușescu ruled this Balkan country for 25 years. Going through some of the structures he left behind, one would assume he never thought of dying. However, in December 1989, demonstrations, riots and...