аÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û

Olusegun Obasanjo 1-2-by José Cruz/ABr-

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Olusegun Obasanjo

Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, GCFR was born on 5 March 1938 in Ibogun-Olaogun, Western Region, British Nigeria.

He is a Nigerian political and military figure who presided over the country as its head of state from 1976 to 1979 and then as its president from 1999 to 2007.

He is an ideologically committed Nigerian nationalist who served in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from 1999 to 2015 and the African Democratic Congress(ADC) since 2018.

One of the finest leaders of the second generation of post-colonial African leaders, Obasanjo has been praised.

He was praised for guiding Nigeria’s transition to representative democracy in the 1970s as well as for his Pan-African initiatives to promote unity on the continent.

Here are 10 interesting facts about Olusegun Obasanjo.

1. Only he and his sister Adunni Oluwole Obasanjo managed to get through childhood

Obasanjo 1978-by Schumacher, Karl H-

Matthew Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo was born in the hamlet of Ibogun-Olaogun in southwest Nigeria.

His parents were Amos Adigun Obaluayesanjo “Obasanjo” Bankole and Bernice Ashabi Bankole.

He was the first of nine children where only he and a sister (Adunni Oluwole Obasanjo) survived childhood.

2. His date of birth is unknown

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, is the only military Head of State or President whose actual birthday is unknown.

Despite being an approximation because there are no surviving records from the time, his later passport stated that he was born on March 5, 1938. He believes his birthday is March 5, 1938.

3. He assumed office following the passing of his Chief Murtala 

One of the few deputy presidents in Nigeria to assume office following the passing of their chief is Obasanjo.

General Murtala Muhammad was killed during a coup against the Nigerian government that Colonel Buka Suka Dimka conducted in February 1976.

The wrong person was killed in an attempt on Obasanjo’s life as well. Obasanjo attended a Supreme Military Council meeting after the murder.

Despite his professed wish to leave politics, the Council was able to persuade him to succeed Murtala as Head of State.

While 39 people suspected of participating in Dimka’s coup were put to death, Obasanjo relocated into the Dodan Barracks out of concern for more attempts on his life. 

4. He is the only president to have lost both his wife and first lady while in office

Obasanjo met Stella Abebe during a trip to London, and they wed in 1976. Stella was his second wife, and she gave birth to three children of his.

Stella Obasanjo, the First Lady of Nigeria, passed away on October 23, 2005, one day after receiving an abdominoplasty in Spain.

The doctor, identified only as “AM,” was given a year in prison in Spain in 2009 for carelessness and was also compelled to make compensation of around $176,000 to her son.

5. He was the first head of state on the African continent to ever relinquish power to a democratically elected government

Obasanjo TASUED XclusiveAfrica-by Mtriller-

President Obasanjo came into office as a result of the 1976 murder of military leader General Murtala Mohammed.

He assumed the role of head of state in his capacity as deputy, but he remained dedicated to Nigeria’s return to civilian rule.

In 1979, under President Obasanjo, the military stepped aside and handed power to a democratically elected president, returning Nigeria to civilian rule.

He was the first head of state and government to ever transfer power peacefully and freely to a democratically elected administration on the African continent.

20 years after ceding power to civilian governance, President Obasanjo returned to power in Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 after winning two elections.

6. He is one of the only Nigerian presidents to have served as both civilian President and military Head of State in the nation’s history

Obasanjo with Bush-by Eric Draper-

President Olusegun Obasanjo has a distinguished military career and played a key role in ending the Nigerian Civil War in 1970. He governed Nigeria as the head of a military administration from 1975-1979

His administration formed the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution Drafting Committee unveiled the N20 currency, and launched “Operation Feed the Nation,” which later gave rise to the “Green Revolution.”

Then again, as a democratically elected civilian president from 1999-2007. His democratically elected administration undertook a number of anti-corruption and transparency efforts.

It implemented important banking reforms, instituted universal primary education, and liberalized a number of industrial sectors.

7. He is an author

Several of President Obasanjo’s writings were influenced by his brief wrongful detention for his claimed involvement in a military coup in 1995.

These include Exemplary Youth in a Difficult World, The Animal Called Man (1999), and Guide to Effective Prayer (2001). He also released his autobiography, Sermons from Prison, in 2000.

8. Today, Olusegun Obasanjo is considered the father of modern Nigeria

Obasanjo-by Lord Ru-

The Father of Modern Nigeria award was given to former president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2018.

The honor was highly merited, according to Ochi Ode Emmanuel, Chairman of the Middle Belt Traditional Council, who gave the former President the medal at his home in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He stated that despite not being the current President, the Middle Belt Traditional Council unanimously decided to honor Obasanjo with this award for his valiant traits.

Obasanjo has received numerous honors and distinctions, including being named a special envoy for Africa by the United Nations in 2008.

9. He was appointed co-chair of the InterAction Council

Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria, was named co-chair of the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government during the 32nd Annual Plenary Meeting in Newport, United Kingdom.

When President Obasanjo took office again in 1999, he took a break from the InterAction Council, of which he was a founding member. The first African member to hold the chairperson is President Obasanjo.

10. Obasanjo was repeatedly accused of corruption throughout his career

Throughout his career, Obasanjo was charged with corruption on numerous occasions, despite his insistence that his dealings were honest.

After his imprisonment in the 1990s, Obasanjo’s detractors asserted, he lost his humility and grew more convinced that it was his divinely mandated destiny to rule Nigeria.

As a result, they said, he began to see himself as a messianic figure. According to Obasanjo’s detractors, he had become corrupted by power.

Especially, during his second time in office, became motivated by the concept of holding onto power permanently.

He attracted some animosity from Yoruba people during his first term as head of state because they felt he should have done more to further their ethnic group’s interests in politics.

Various people view Obasanjo as a great Nigerian, an African hero in the mold of Nelson Mandela, or a significant thinker. Some others think he’s just a despot trying to impose his will on the world.

Regardless of how others perceive him, Obasanjo might just be another prominent local farmer who was fortunate enough to lead his nation and Africa in a variety of ways.