Search results
Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo GCFR [1] [2] ( / oʊˈbɑːsəndʒoʊ / ⓘ oh-BAH-sən-joh; Yoruba: Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ [olúʃɛ́ɡũ ɔbásanɟɔ] ⓘ; born c. 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian retired military officer and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its ...
- Obasanjo’s Second Coming
- Pan-Africanism as Personal Philosophy
- Controversies Galore
- Humble Beginnings
The years between 1979 and 1999 witnessed political instability, corruption in public office, economic collapse and decay of social infrastructure. Becoming president in 1999, Obasanjo introduced an anti-corruption regime with three agencies: the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Comm...
Obasanjo’s vision for Africa, which manifested in his public policies as a leader, brought back memories of the radical pan-Africanism of the 1960s. For example, British Petroleum was nationalised in 1979 as a sanction against Britain for supporting apartheid in southern Africa. His administration granted asylum to leaders and financed the anti-apa...
Obasanjo is, however, not free from controversies. His administration’s Operation Feed the Nation is dismissed sometimesas having been used to advance his own personal cause. He has also been described in some quarters, by either political opponents or some Yoruba ethnic leaders, as someone who often put other ethnic groups ahead of his own. He has...
Obasanjo’s legacies are better appreciated when viewed against his humble background. He was born into a poor family in Ibogun-Olaogun, a farming settlement in Owu-Egba, near Abeokuta, south-west Nigeria. In 1958he joined the Nigerian Army, where he specialised in engineering. He had military training in the Congo, Britain and India. He fought on t...
Nigerian; Military ruler 1976–9, President 1999–2007 Obasanjo, a Christian from the Yoruba-speaking south-west of Nigeria, joined the Nigerian army in 1958, undergoing officer training in England. In 1970 he accepted the surrender of Biafran rebel troops at the end of the country's civil war.
Sep 28, 2017 · Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo continues to wield significant influence in Nigeria. Credit: Friends of Europe. As the lift in his luxury London hotel rushes upwards to the 11 th floor, Olusegun Obasanjo squeezes my arm warmly as he recounts his busy schedule of late.
Aug 4, 2021 · Obasanjo is arguably the most prominent of Nigeria’s ‘civil soldiers’—ex-military men who, by virtue of the wealth, influence, and power they gained over decades of military rule, went on to occupy important political positions within democratic Nigeria.
Mr. Obasanjo is one of the most distinguished elder statesmen of Africa. He served as President of the Republic of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, and before that as the Head of the Federal Military...
Jun 2, 2023 · Many uphold Obasanjo as a reformer, visionary leader, and defender of democracy in Nigeria, and Africa. Obasanjo mediated peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front on the mandate of the African Union, and secured a ceasefire agreement on the Tigray War on November 2, 2022.
