I HATED GOING TO SCHOOL DURING MY CHILDHOOD - BUHARI

President Muhammadu Buhari’s biographer
has revealed how he initially had no interest
in going to school or being a good student.
Growing up everyone had that burden of
striving to become the best in their class
because it was expected of them, but not
everyone excelled in their studies. President
Muhammadu Buhari was one of the students
who didn’t have an interest in studying, if
what his biographer Professor John Paden,
wrote in his biography is anything to go by.
Professor Paden wrote in Buhari’s biography
‘Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of
Leadership in Nigeria’, that he was a reluctant
student (aka slacker) who preferred the
outdoors to the four walls of a classroom.
Here’s what he wrote in a chapter subtitled
‘Schooling and Leadership Values’:
He went on to write how the president made
a serious turnaround and even went on to
become the head boy of his school:
Paden explained that Buhari learnt what it
meant to be a leader, at an early age. He
wrote:
This shows the president had a normal
childhood like every other person abi?
Source:- Naij.com
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“In part because of love for the
outdoors, Buhari was a reluctant
student in his early years. He
would often skip school
altogether, although this always
resulted in beatings with a cane
by the schoolmaster. Only with
the encouragement of Waziri al-
Hasan and Mamman Daura did
he eventually settle down and
take his studies seriously.”
“ ”
“The early years of schooling
were conducted in Hausa;
thereafter, English was used.
Buhari began to do very well in
English, mathematics, and
Arabic, as well general studies.
Buhari also became involved in
cross-country running, in which
persistence and endurance were
key. Buhari would spend nine
years at boarding school, and
fortunately he had good
teachers.”
“ ”
“The loss of his father at an
early age was compensated for
by British teachers who treated
each student as if he was their
own child. Buhari has often said
that in the early days of his
schooling, the British sent their
best teachers out to northern
Nigeria, not their worst. An
American Peace Corps teacher in
the school also impressed Buhari
and the other boys with his love
for biology. Most important, the
simple student dress code meant
that students looked much the
same, except for an occasional
student with a wristwatch. The
British teachers made a point of
disregarding the status of the
fathers of the boys. Every boy
had to make it on his own.
The point became clearer when
he was eighteen years old and
entered a merit-based
competition, sponsored by the
Elder Dempster shipping line, for
selected secondary students to
spend a summer holiday in
Britain. At that time, many of the
northern elite were sending their
sons to the prestigious Barewa
College, and it was not clear that
Buhari had a chance against
such competition.
Buhari had been class monitor in
second form. He was house
prefect in fifth form. In sixth
form, he was house captain and
head boy of the school. His
performance in his studies was
excellent. But his leadership
potential was outstanding. He
was chosen for the summer
scholarship to visit Britain.”


Source :naijaloaded
Edited by DANIEL IKECHUKWU