EX PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO

Olusegun Obasanjo

Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu 

Obasanjo, GCFR, 

[1][2] (/oʊˈbɑːsəndʒoʊ/; Yoruba: Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ [olúʃɛ̙́ɡũ ɒ̙básandʒɒ̙́];[3] born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian military and political leader who served as military head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. Ideologically a Nigerian nationalist, he was a member of the People's Democratic Party.

Chief

Olusegun Obasanjo

GCFR

5th and 12th President of Nigeria

In office

29 May 1999 – 29 May 2007

Vice President

Atiku Abubakar

Preceded by

Abdulsalam Abubakar

Succeeded by

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua

In office

13 February 1976 – 30 September 1979

Vice President

Shehu Musa Yar'Adua

Preceded by

Murtala Muhammed

Succeeded by

Shehu Shagari

Federal Minister of Petroleum Resources

In office

1999–2007

Preceded by

Dan Etete

Succeeded by

Edmund Daukoru

3rd Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters

In office

29 July 1975 – 13 February 1976

Preceded by

Joseph Edet Akinwale Wey

Succeeded by

Shehu Musa Yar'Adua

Federal Minister of Works and Housing

In office

1974–1975

Personal details

Born

Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo

5 March 1937 (age 83)

Abeokuta, Western Region, British Nigeria

(now Abeokuta, Ogun, Nigeria)

Political party

Peoples Democratic Party 

(1999–2015; 2018– present)

Spouse(s)

Bola Alice (Wife)

Esther Oluremi (ex-wife)

Lynda (ex-wife, deceased)

Stella Abebe (deceased)

Mojisola Adekunle (deceased)

Children

Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, amongst others

Alma mater

Mons Officer Cadet School

Royal College of Defence Studies

National Open University of Nigeria  (PhD)

Website

Military service

Nickname(s)

Baba Africa

Allegiance

 Nigeria

Branch/service

 Nigerian Army

Years of service

1958–1979

Rank

General

Battles/wars

Congo Crisis

Nigerian Civil War

Born in the village of Ibogun-Olaogun to a farming family of the Owu branch of the Yoruba, Obasanjo was educated largely in Abeokuta. Joining the Nigerian Army, where his specialism was in engineering, he spent time assigned in the Congo, Britain, and India, rising to the rank of major. In the latter part of the 1960s, he played a major role in combating Biafran separatists in the Nigerian Civil War, accepting their surrender in 1970. In 1975, Murtala Mohammed seized power in a coup and established a military junta with Obasanjo as part of its ruling triumvirate. After Mohammed's assassination the following year, the Supreme Military Council  appointed Obasanjo as head of state. Continuing Murtala's policies, Obasanjo oversaw budgetary cut-backs with an expansion in access to free school education. Increasingly aligning Nigeria with the United States, he emphasised support for groups opposing white minority rule in southern Africa. Following the 1979 election, Obasanjo handed over control of Nigeria to the newly elected civilian president, Shehu Shagari.

In 1993, Sani Abacha seized power in a military coup. Obasanjo became an outspoken critic of the human rights abuses taking place under Abacha's administration. In response, in 1995 Obasanjo was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured; while in prison he became a born again Christian. He was released following Abacha's death in 1998. Entering electoral politics, Obasanjo became the People's Democratic Party's candidate for the 1999 presidential election, which he comfortably won. He was re-elected in the 2003 election. Influenced by Pan-Africanist  ideas, he was a keen supporter of the formation of the African Union and served as its chair from 2004 to 2006. Attempts to change the constitution to abolish term limits  were unsuccessful and brought criticism. In retirement, he earned a PhD in theology from the National Open University of Nigeria.

Obasanjo has been described as one of the great figures of the second generation of post-colonial African leaders. He received praise both for overseeing Nigeria's transition to representative democracy in the 1970s and for his Pan-African efforts to encourage cooperation across the continent. Critics accused him of corruption and of overseeing human rights abuses, as well as focusing on his avoidance of constitutional norms and their perception that he became too interested in power during his presidency.

More coming