Who is olusegun obasanjo in nigeria

In , he served as Commander of the Engineering Corps. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in During his tenure, he began an ambitious nationwide barrack construction projects.

Several years before, he made friends with Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu about whom he wrote the book, Nzeogwu , among many other works.

He introduced the National Pledge to stoke up Nigerian nationalism and indigenized the lyrics of the national anthem. General Obasanjo also confirmed the movement of the Federal Capital from Lagos to Abuja in accordance with the Murtala-Obasanjo policy programme.

General Obasanjo was the first Head of State and Government on the African continent to ever relinquish power to a democratically elected government peacefully and voluntarily. It was a dark era when African leaders found it fashionable to hang on to power even in the face of popular opposition. In , this former Head of State became a very important prisoner when the military dictator, General Sani Abacha, clamped a phony coup plot charge on him.

It is believed that General Obasanjo who was abroad at the time when the alleged coup plot was uncovered and was warned by friends that he had been fingered by the regime as an accomplice, boldly returned home. As was widely expected, he was found guilty and banished to a regional local prison in Yola where it was intended that he would die. It is now generally believed among his friends that prison experience made him a new creature. Second, he was drawn closer to God he became truly convinced of the need for a true democracy and saw the tragedy of military rule.

Later in , he also published his memoirs titled Sermons from Prison. Obasanjo and Mandela stand out today as two distinguished African democrats who were jailed for unjust causes, rescued by divine providence and still actively involved in chasing a past greatness for Africa.

Olusegun Obasanjo has been described by many as the father of modern Nigeria due to his contribution to the national development during his two-term tenure.

He is an international statesman with a passion for conflict resolution and mediation. In he was appointed by the United Nations as a special envoy for Africa and has since overseen democratic elections on behalf of the African Union and Ecowas in countries across the continent.

President Obasanjo had a distinguished military career, was a member of the UN Peace Keeping Mission to Congo, and received the instrument of surrender on behalf the Nigerian Government from the opposing forces in the Nigerian Civil War that lasted from to He rose to the rank of full General and became the Nigerian Head of State on the assassination of the then Military Head of State in This led to the abolition of the military government, the end of the state of siege which had come about with the arrival of the military regime in , and the legalization of political parties.

Obasanjo served until October 1, , when he handed power to Shehu Shagari, a democratically elected civilian President, becoming the first leader in Nigerian history to surrender power willingly.

In late , however, the military seized power again. Obasanjo, being in retirement, did not participate in that coup, nor did he support it. During the dictatorship of Sani Abacha — , Mr. Obasanjo spoke out against the human rights abuses of the regime, and was imprisoned with the claim of planning a coup. He was released only after Abacha's sudden death on 8 June In the elections — the first democratic elections in sixteen years — he decided to run for the presidency as the candidate of the People's Democratic Party, PDP.

President Obasanjo won the elections and was later also re-elected in Within the period of his presidency, he played an instrumental role in bringing democracy back to the country.