President Buhari has revealed that he lost two of his children from his late first wife, Safinatu Buhari, to sickle cell anemia
Safinatu was the First Lady of Nigeria from 1983 to 1985. She was the first wife of Muhammadu Buhari.
She met the then General Muhammadu Buhari at the age of 14 and they got married in 1971 when she was 18.
They had 5 children namely; Zulaihatu (deceased), Magajiya-Fatima, Hadizatu-Nana, Safinatu Lami and Musa (deceased).
When Muhammadu Buhari’s government was overthrown by Ibrahim Babangida, she relocated to Kaduna with her children. However, they divorced in 1988.
During the feature in a documentary titled, ‘Essential Muhammadu Buhari’ shown on Friday night December 23, at a private dinner organized by his family and very close associates, to celebrate his 80th birthday tagged “Celebrating A Patriot, a Leader, an Elder Statesman,” President Buhari stated that he had insisted that his second wife must be AA genotype so that his children will not inherit the S from his AS genotype, having lost two of his children by his late wife to sickle cell anemia.