Each year, prominent individuals exit the stage for others. The outgoing 2025 is no exception, with Nigeria losing some of its icons from a former president to an activist.

This year, Nigeria lost its immediate past President, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Buhari died on July 13 at the age of 82, according to an X post by his former aide, Mr Bashir Ahmad.

“The family of the former president has announced the passing on of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, this afternoon in a clinic in London. May Allah accept him in Aljannatul Firdaus, Amin,” he posted, citing a statement signed by his late President’s media aide, Mr Garba Shehu.

Mr Buhari was a Nigerian Head of State between 1983 and 1985. He was also the president between 2015 and 2023.

In 1971, he married his first wife, Safinatu (née Yusuf). The marriage produced five children – four girls and a boy. In 1988, Buhari and his first wife, Safinatu, divorced. On January 14, 2006, Safinatu died from diabetes. In November 2012, Buhari’s first daughter, Ms Zulaihat Junaid, died from sickle cell, two days after having a baby at a hospital in Kaduna.^[237]

In December 1989, Buhari married his second and current wife, Aisha. They had five children together – a boy and four girls: Aisha, Halima, Yusuf, Zahra and Amina.

Before becoming president in 2015, Mr Buhari had declared his assets, including $150,000 cash, five homes, two mud houses, farms, an orchard, a ranch of 270 head of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses, a variety of birds, shares in three firms, two undeveloped plots of land, and two cars bought from his savings.

READ ALSO: Buhari, Nigerians were victims of cabal interested in self-enrichment – Ex-NSA

President Buhari was not the only icon who exited the stage in 2025. On February 14, 2025, the nation lost a lawyer, nationalist and co-founder of Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, at the old age of 96. Pa Adebanjo was a founding member of Action Group in the First Republic and was a strong advocate for restructuring Nigeria into a federal state.

In 1962, he was mired in a treasonable felony charge alongside 30 others during the tumultuous period of the Action Group and Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s trial. Due to the perceived political persecution at that time, he fled to Ghana. However, he continued to advocate for equity and justice. He believed that every part of Nigeria deserved a shot at the presidency, which explained why supported a candidate from the South-East in the 2023 presidential election.

As an Awoist, he played politics of ideology and participated in protests. He advocated for public good, welfare of Nigerians and supremacy of the Nigerian constitution. He did not believe that any tribe had superiority over others but was not a tribalist.

Edwin Clark

On February 18, the nation lost one of its democracy icons, Chief Edwin Clark, who died at the ripe age of 97. His death came barely four days after the death of another democracy icon and chieftain of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Pa Adebanjo.

“The Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family of Kiagbodo Town, Delta State, wishes to announce the passing of Chief (Dr.) Sen. Edwin Kiagbodo Clark OFR, CON on Monday, 17th February 2025,” the statement said.

Edwin Clark

The democracy icon and lawyer was, until his death, the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF). The Ijaw leader worked with the administrations of military governor Samuel Ogbemudia and head of state, General Yakubu Gowon,  between 1966 and 1975.

READ ALSO: Nigeria loses another democracy icon, Edwin Clark, days after Adebanjo’s demise

His political journey started during the pre-independence period when he was elected as councillor for Bomadi in 1953. Pa Clark subsequently joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC).

He was among a group of delegates from the Mid-West who opposed confederation at an ad-hoc constitutional conference set up by Gowon in 1966.

The delegation’s mandate was to uphold Nigeria’s unity and when proposals of a loose federation were tabled, the region’s delegates asked for adjournment. He was appointed midwestern Commissioner of Education and later Commissioner for Finance. As Commissioner for Education, he was active in the establishment of a Mid-west College of Technology which became the foundation of the University of Benin.

During the Second Republic, he was a member of the National Executive Committee of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and was the treasurer of the party in Bendel State (now, in part, Delta State and previously the Mid-Western Region province). In 1983, he was elected senator.

Beginning in 1996, Clark became a self-described leader of the Ijaw nation. He supported the Ijaw ethnic group in Delta State during an ethnic crisis in Warri and led Ijaw leadership delegations to meet political leaders.

In one of his last interventions, Mr Clark spoke about the tax reforms proposed by the Bola Tinubu administration. The reforms had stirred controversies, with the North claiming it was meant to impoverish the region.

In his intervention, the democracy icon proposed that only restructuring would resolve the entire issue.

“Mr. President, the ongoing controversies around this tax reform, to me, highlights the need for a full and comprehensive constitutional review of the country’s fiscal federalism,” Mr Clark said in January 2025.

“In addition, there is need for political consensus building to foster dialogue among political stakeholders to ensure that tax reforms have broad-based support and are sustainable across political transitions.

“If we must live together as one country, Restructuring is a sine qua non. The issues raised for and against the tax bill, are all among issues which will be addressed if we restructure the country and produce a new constitution, or adopt the 1963 Republican Constitution. Giving priority to restructuring will give room for the overhauling of the tax system of the country.

“It is lack of restructuring that has led us to the quagmire we are today as a people; that is why we are here today. This brings to mind my usual slogan, that ‘except we restructure Nigeria, non-restructuring will kill Nigeria,” he wrote.

Peter Rufai

On July 3, Nigerians wept, having lost a former Super Eagles captain and World Cup goalkeeper, Mr Peter Rufai, at a Lagos hospital.

He was 61. ‘Dodo Mayana,’ as he was fondly called, was part of the Super Eagles team that won the Afican Cup of Nations in 1994. He earned 65 caps for Nigeria and took part in two World Cups. In his earlier days, Mr Rufai had been one of the world’s best goalkeepers and was almost impenetrable between the sticks.

Peter Rufai

Born in Lagos, Rufai began his career in his country, playing with Stationery Stores and Femo Scorpions. He spent 6 years in Belgium, with Sporting Lokeren^[3] and K.S.K. Beveren.

 In the 1993–94 season he played for Dutch’s Go Ahead Eagles, before moving to Portugal to play for Farense. In 2003, he returned to Spain to set up a goalkeeper’s school.

Christian Chukwu

On April 12, Nigeria lost its former Super Eagles captain and head coach, Mr Christian Chukwu, at age of 74. Mr Chukwu captained the national team to its first-ever Africa Cup of Nations title in 1980 and finished as a runner-up in 1976 and 1978.

Born in Enugu State, Mr Chukwu led the Enugu Rangers FC team that won the Africa Cup Winners Cup in 1977.

He was assistant coach of the first team to win a FIFA World Cup trophy for Nigeria – the Golden Eaglets that triumphed at the FIFA U16 World Cup in China in 1985.

Christian Chukwu

He was also the assistant coach of ‘The Golden Generation,’ the 1994 class of Super Eagles that qualified Nigeria for its first FIFA World Cup finals. In October 1998, he became the coach of the Kenya national team. From 2003 to 2005, he coached Nigeria, leading the Super Eagles to reach the semifinals at the 2004 African Cup of Nations.

Mike Ejeagha

On June 7, music icon and Igbo folklorist, ‘Gentleman’ Mike Ejeagha died at the age of 95. The ‘Gwo gwo gwo ngwo’ crooner was among those whose song entertained Nigerians of all walks of life.

In 2018, Nigerian singer, Kcee,  asked for his permission to use some of his songs, including: ‘Ome ka agu’ and ‘Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche.’ Similarly, in July 2024, his 1983 song, ‘Ka Esi Le Onye Isi Oche,’ gained currency globally currency due to a viral dance challenge inspired by comedian Brain Jotter. The phrase ‘gwo gwo gwo ngwo’ has become popular among all tribes in Nigeria, including those who do not understand what it means in the native Igbo language.

Mike Ejeagha

The Enugu State-born musician started his career playing ogene with his friends. In 1945, he joined Coal Camp Boys, a local music group in Enugu, playing during burials and weddings. After completing his primary education in 1948, he continued to pursue his passion for music.

Before the Nigerian-Biafran War, Ejeagha had released several singles in collaboration with another musician, CT Onyekwelu. In 2013, he concluded a legal suit for producing a music video without the label’s approval. The case was withdrawn as Enugu State Government intervened in the matter.