CHIEF OLUSEGUN OBASANJO

Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo is a Nigerian military general and statesman. He served as Nigeria’s Military Head of State from 1976 to 1979 and later as a democratic president from 1999 to 2007.

He joined the  Nigerian Army in 1958, specialized in engineering, and played a prominent role during the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970. A Nigerian nationalist committed  to restoring democracy, he oversaw the 1979 elections and peacefully transferred power to the newly elected President Shehu Shagari.

As President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, he depoliticized the military, expanded the police, and privatized various public enterprises to limit the country’s spiraling debt. He participated in the formation of the African Union and served as its Chairperson from 2004 to 2006.

Described as “the outstanding member of the second generation of post-colonial African leaders,” Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is praised for overseeing Nigeria’s transition to representative democracy in the 1970s, his Pan-African efforts to encourage cooperation across the African continent, his role in the formation of the African Union, and his achievement in liquidating Nigeria’s external debt.

 On the international stage, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo distinguished himself in several notable areas, including:

• Serving in the Congo during the crisis in the 1960s.
• Being appointed Special Envoy by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Heading Election Observation Delegations for the African Union and the United Nations.
• Successfully mediating peace talks between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front under the auspices of the African Union, culminating in a permanent ceasefire on November 2, 2022..
• Being appointed African Union High Envoy for the Resolution of Hostilities in the Horn of Africa.

A PhD holder in Theology from the National Open University of Nigeria, President Obasanjo is a renowned educationist, motivational speaker, author of various books, outstanding farmer, sports enthusiast, and a speaker of international repute.

He established the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), the first of its kind in Africa. He is also the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute (OOLI), Abeokuta, Nigeria.