He strongly invested in the infrastructure. He also expanded the educational sphere as the number of universities significantly increased. However, he was accused of political repressions, especially against the opposing activist Fela Kuti. In , during dictator Sani Abacha's regime, Olusegun Obasanjo was imprisoned after speaking about human rights abuse.
The accusations of participation in the alleged coup were fabricated against him, based on the testimony he gave through torture. At first, he was sentenced to death, but then his sentence was reduced to thirty years in prison. During his three years in jail, Olusegun became born again Christian.
In , when Sani Abacha suddenly died, Obasanjo was released from jail. He described his trial experience as the saddest day of his life. A year after his release, Obasanjo won the presidential elections, garnering He was sworn in as the President of Nigeria on May 29th, He became the first democratically elected President after sixteen years of Nigerian military rule. Breaking: Obasanjo, Saraki, other PDP chieftains in closed-door meeting as race for elections gets intense.
He focussed on establishing strong diplomatic relationships between Nigeria and Western countries. Obasanjo mostly travelled abroad in an attempt to win some support. He also went on peacekeeping missions to Liberia and Sierra-Leone, which he got international praise for. The United States and Britain were happy to have an alliance with the African country whose government is critical of Zimbabwe's abusive situation under Robert Mugabe.
In contrast, other countries in Africa had a softer position towards it. Even though some officials had conflicts with Obasanjo and attempted to impeach him, he survived it. In , Obasanjo won the election against his main opponent General Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler. Obasanjo won by His second term attracted more criticism, mainly for his decision to give political asylum to Charles Taylor.
There was also a dispute about the Greentree Agreement, which was about withdrawing Nigerian troops from the Bakassi Peninsula. He was also accused of plans to change the constitution to serve three terms as President. It is widely known as the Third Term Agenda. Top facts about Pat Sajak: Age, wife, net worth, salary, is he gay? For a while, Obasanjo continued to take part in the countries politics.
His responsibilities were nominating people for governmental positions and controlling the strategy. However, later he resigned from this board and withdrew from political activities. 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. General Obasanjo upturned his earlier record — first African military Head of State to handover power to a civilian government, when he successfully handed-over the mantle of power to a democratically elected government following on May 29, , a feat unrivaled in the 47 year history of the country.
Today, General Olusegun Obasanjo has retired to his farm in Ota. Although he has retired, he is not tired. The circumstances of his civilian presidency were as controversial as the man himself.
Coming at the time it did after Chief MKO Abiola lost his mandate and having been accused by a section of his Yoruba people for having supported the annulment of the presidential election, he was considered an unlikely successor to that mandate. That was partly why the South West made him look like an orphan in the election giving him the least regional vote. But Obasanjo seemed like one destined to rewrite the rulebooks.
About us Contact us FAQ. Log In Subscribe Renew Alerts. 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.
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