Tinubu’s Tribute to Late President Buhari Exemplifies Epideictic Rhetoric at Its Finest
Editor’s note: In this piece, political communication expert, Toks Oguntuga listens closely to President Tinubu’s farewell to Buhari. He explains how the tribute teaches quietly, turning memories of a late president into lasting standards for character, service, and public trust.
On July 17th, 2025, at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu delivered what may be remembered as one of the most rhetorically accomplished speeches in modern Nigerian presidential history. In honour of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu offered more than ceremonial eulogy; he performed an oratorical feat, a public act of epideictic rhetoric that not only mourned the man but elevated the nation’s moral compass.
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In his words,
“Let us honour him not only with words, but with humility in power, discipline in service, compassion in governance, and fearlessness in the pursuit of justice.”
These were not the hollow tones of statecraft. They were, rather, an invocation, a recalibration of our collective ethos.
What unfolded was a choreographed act of national pedagogy, where the late President’s virtues became not just memorialized qualities, but enduring civic benchmarks. As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar,
“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.”
Yet here, Tinubu defies that tragic premise. He exhumes the good, catalogues it, amplifies it, and sanctifies it for posterity.
With the stylistic precision of Cicero and the ethical weight of Aristotle’s ethos, Tinubu presented Buhari not as a statesman of transient policy, but as an archetype of enduring virtue. The tribute constructs Buhari as Mai Gaskiya—the Truthful One—an incorruptible custodian of national conscience. His virtues were rendered through artful juxtaposition:
“Pious without show, kind without condescension, just without cruelty.”
These antitheses are no mere adornments; they are moral architecture, designed to define Nigerian identity.
And therein lies the speech’s strategic genius. For in commemorating the man, Tinubu delineates the national values we must henceforth hold sacred: integrity, temperance, patriotism, discipline. He reminds us that Buhari’s legacy is not about economic metrics or geopolitical calculus. It is about moral steadiness in the tempest of leadership.
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Tinubu’s speech is deeply rooted in communal performativity. In a high-context society such as Nigeria, the unspoken often speaks loudest. The tribute’s diction, cadence, and invocations to Allah and Aljannah Firdaus transcend religious ritual; they are instruments of national solidarity. The President’s careful weaving of Islamic idiom with universal moral themes underscores a unifying rhetoric that transcends faith and ethnicity, anchoring Buhari’s legacy in both the sacred and the civic.
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Perhaps it's most Shakespearean flourish appears in its quiet acknowledgment of imperfection.
“President Buhari was not a perfect man; no leader is. But he was a good man, a decent man, an honourable man.”
In this line, Tinubu wields rhetorical decorum with surgical precision. It is a shield against critique and a mirror of humility. As the Bard once wrote,
“Give me that man / That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him / In my heart’s core.”
Tinubu, here, situates Buhari not merely in political memory, but in the nation’s moral bloodstream.
The tribute was also rich in kairos, perfectly timed, impeccably toned. Delivered amidst political transition and growing national introspection, it became a vehicle for defining what Nigeria should expect from its future: not merely competence, but character. Not merely efficiency, but ethical gravity.
In a nation weary of disillusionment, where democratic faith is often eroded by elite impunity, Tinubu’s rhetoric offers a moment of moral coherence. It is a performative act of nation-building, a reminder that the republic is not only governed by laws but sustained by shared values.
This is why the speech matters. Beyond lamentation, beyond protocol, Tinubu used the death of a leader to breathe life into a national ideal.
And in the final reckoning, it is perhaps as Shakespeare wrote in Henry VIII:
“Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water.”
But for once, Nigeria may have witnessed a leader who dared to etch virtue in stone.
N.B.: Whoever wrote that speech should take a bow. It is a beautiful work of rhetoric. The president’s communication team only needs to work on the president’s mediocre delivery.
'Toks Oguntuga holds a PhD in Presidential Crisis Rhetoric and brings over ten years of experience navigating complex political and communication landscapes. He is an accomplished academic researcher, skilled in strategic communications, political analysis, and speechwriting.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng.
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