{"id":169498,"date":"2025-07-14T20:41:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T19:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari"},"modified":"2025-07-14T21:45:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T20:45:42","slug":"southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari","title":{"rendered":"Southern, Middle Belt leaders forum mourns Buhari"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, says late former President Muhammad Buhari\u2019s name shall find a permanent place in the annals of Nigerian history.<\/p>\n<p>SMBLF also said it received the news of the passing of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) GCFR, former Nigerian military Head of State and immediate past civilian President, \u201cwith much sadness and deep introspection.<\/p>\n<p>Oba Oladipo Olaitan and Dr Citrus Pogu, of the Afenifere and Middle Belt Forum respectively in a joint statement noted, \u201cNotwithstanding his sterling military career, Buhari committed himself to democratic principles as he was undaunted by several failed electoral contests until he won the Presidential Election in 2025 after the third attempt, making his return to national relevance through democratic contest was thus historic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The statement said though his eight-year civilian presidency was marked by mixed outcomes, including economic challenges, insecurity, and reform efforts, it remains a defining era in Nigeria\u2019s democratic journey.<\/p>\n<p>The statement added, \u201cSMBLF acknowledges Buhari\u2019s unyielding belief in the democratic process. His name shall find a permanent place in the annals of Nigerian history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group\u2019s extended their heartfelt condolences to his family, loved ones, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, praying that his soul finds eternal rest.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, says late former President Muhammad Buhari\u2019s name shall find a permanent place in the annals of Nigerian history. SMBLF also said it received the news of the passing of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) GCFR, former Nigerian military Head of State and immediate past civilian [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":169497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[97,2636,254,18014],"class_list":["post-169498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-buhari","tag-middle-belt","tag-nigeria","tag-southern"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Southern, Middle Belt leaders forum mourns Buhari - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, says late former President Muhammad Buhari\u2019s name shall find a perman ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Southern, Middle Belt leaders forum mourns Buhari\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, says late former President Muhammad Buhari\u2019s name shall find a perman ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T19:41:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T20:45:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/sm_1752513466.062166.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Southern, Middle Belt leaders forum mourns Buhari\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-14T19:41:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T20:45:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari\"},\"wordCount\":223,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/sm_1752513466.062166.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Buhari\",\"Middle Belt\",\"Nigeria\",\"Southern\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/southern-middle-belt-leaders-forum-mourns-buhari\",\"name\":\"Southern, Middle Belt leaders forum mourns Buhari - 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