Olusegun Obasanjo

== Pre-presidency (1979–1999) ==
Before he left office, in April 1979, Obasanjo promoted himself to the role of general;{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=94}} as a four-star general he continued to receive a salary from the state.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=100}} Having left office in October, he returned to Abeokuta.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=94}} Following a six-week course at an agricultural training college,{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=100}} Obasanjo then set himself up as a farmer, hoping to set an example in encouraging agricultural self-reliance.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=99}} He obtained at least 230 hectares of land in [[Ota, Ogun|Ota]] on which to establish his farm, there moving in to a brick farmhouse.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=99, 100}} There was local hostility to his obtaining so much land, and much litigation was brought against him because of it.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=99–100}} His agricultural activities were organised through his Temperance Enterprises Limited, later renamed Obasanjo's Farms Limited.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=100}} He devoted particular attention to poultry farming;{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=100}} by the mid-1980s, his farm was hatching 140,000 chicks a week.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=101}} He developed farms elsewhere in Yorubaland, and by 1987 he employed over 400 workers at eight locations.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=100}} As did other senior Yoruba figures, Obasanjo sponsored poor students who attended his former school in Abeokuta.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=102}}

Obasanjo grew critical of Shagari's civilian government, deeming the president weak and ill-prepared.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=102}} Nigeria entered economic recession due to fluctuations in global oil prices.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=103–104}} In May 1983, senior military figures asked Obasanjo to take over control in the country again, but he declined.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=104}} In December, they overthrew Shagari without Obasanjo's involvement, in a coup that saw little violence.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=104}} [[Muhammadu Buhari]] became the new military head of state.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=104–105}} Obasanjo was initially supportive of Buhari's government, stating that representative democracy had failed in Nigeria. He praised Buhari's [[War Against Indiscipline]], his halving of imports, and his restoration of a balanced budget.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=105}} In August 1985, Buhari was also overthrown, with the Army Chief of Staff [[Ibrahim Babangida]] taking power.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=105}} Obasanjo was critical of some of the economic reforms that Babangida introduced, including the devaluation of the [[Nigerian naira|naira]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=116}} By 1992, his opposition to Babangida's rule had led him to call for a re-democratisation of Nigeria.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=136}} He also began to reject the economic indigenisation policies of the 1970s, arguing that the constitution should prohibit the confiscation of foreign investments. Instead, he thought the government should emphasise private-led development.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=129}} He became increasingly concerned by rapid population growth, a topic he had ignored while in power, urging Nigerians to have smaller families "in their own economic and national socio-economic interest".{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=128}}

During the eleven years after Obasanjo left office, he published four books.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=108}} In 1980, Obasanjo was a Distinguished Fellow at the [[University of Ibadan]], where he wrote ''My Command'', an account of his experiences during the civil war; it was published in November that year.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=108–109}} Some readers criticised what they saw as Obasanjo's disloyalty to Murtala Muhammed, while [[Robert Adeyinka Adebayo]], a senior Yoruba political figure, urged for the book to be withdrawn to prevent it sowing division.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=109}} A more positive assessment was made by his friend, [[Ken Saro-Wiwa]], who called it masterly but believed that it had involved much editorial assistance.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=110}} In 1987, he published ''Nzeogwu'', a memoir of his friend [[Chukwuma Nzeogwu]], with whom he had served in the Congo.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=111}} 1989 saw the publication of Obasanjo's next book, ''Constitution for National Integration and Development'', in which he warned against Babangida's argument for instituting a two-party system in Nigeria.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=114}} In 1990, his third book, ''Not My Will'', was published. It provided an account of his time governing the country.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=112}}

=== International activities: 1979–1993 ===
[[File:Nelson Mandela 1998.JPG|thumb|right|In 1986, Obasanjo met with [[Nelson Mandela]]. He related that it "was an encounter never to be forgotten. I saw in [Mandela] a South African indeed an African and a world leader of no mean order. He towered physically and metaphorically above all the leaders we met inside South Africa."{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=122}}]]

Seeking to retain influence on the global stage, Obasanjo launched the Africa Leadership Forum from his Ota farm.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=120}} From 1981 to 1982, he also sat on the Palme Commission, a group chaired by the former Swedish Prime Minister [[Olof Palme]] which discussed disarmament and international security.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=120–121}} Obasanjo followed this with membership on similar panels for the United Nations, the [[World Health Organization]], and the [[Inter-Action Council of Former Heads of Government]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=121}} When [[Javier Pérez de Cuéllar]], the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|UN Secretary-General]], fell ill, Obasanjo was considered as a potential successor.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=126}} After Pérez de Cuéllar announced his resignation, Obasanjo began campaigning to replace him. At a vote of the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]], he came third, with Egypt's [[Boutros Boutros-Ghali]] taking on the role.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=130–131}} He left his home on several visits; in 1986 he visited Japan,{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=102}} and in 1987 the U.S.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=114}}

Amid a dispute in the Commonwealth of Nations over the UK's more lenient view of South Africa, it was agreed that an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) would be formed to initiate dialogue with the South African government in the hope of encouraging it toward dismantling apartheid. At the recommendation of Nigeria's Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, [[Emeka Anyaoku]], Obasanjo was nominated to co-chair the group alongside former Australian Prime Minister [[Malcolm Fraser]]. Obasanjo reluctantly agreed.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=121}} In February 1986, he and Fraser travelled to Cape Town where they asked to meet with the imprisoned anti-apartheid activist [[Nelson Mandela]], a prominent member of the banned [[African National Congress]] (ANC). Obasanjo alone was permitted to meet with Mandela; he later commented that he was greatly impressed by him. Obasanjo then met with senior ANC figures in exile in [[Lusaka]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=121-123}}

In March 1986, the entirety of the EPG visited South Africa, during a period of growing domestic unrest and violence.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=122–123}} There they met with senior government figures, including Prime Minister [[P. W. Botha]], whom Obasanjo later described as the most intolerant man he had ever met.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=124}} The EPG's report stated that while a majority of South Africans desired a non-violent negotiated settlement between the government and anti-apartheid groups, the former was unwilling to contemplate this and had made no significant progress towards ending apartheid. The EPG thus proposed that further international pressure was necessary. A Commonwealth committee accepted the report's findings, with the UK dissenting; this left Obasanjo further frustrated with Thatcher.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=125}} The Commonwealth then commissioned him to head a committee to determine what the Frontline States needed to defend themselves from South African incursions.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=127}}

After Botha was replaced by [[F. W. de Klerk]], the latter freed Mandela from prison. One of Mandela's first foreign trips was to Nigeria, where he visited Obasanjo at his home.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=126}} Two months later, Obasanjo led a Nigerian delegation to South Africa for talks with prominent political figures. In September 1991, he visited again, where he urged the Zulu leader [[Mangosuthu Buthelezi]] to engage in negotiations with other factions to help end apartheid and hold a fully representative election.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=126}}

Obasanjo also worked on developments elsewhere in Africa. He visited Angola twice during 1988, contributing to efforts to end the civil war there.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=126}} He also visited Sudan three times between 1987 and 1989, unsuccessfully encouraging negotiations to end the [[Second Sudanese Civil War]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=127}} He then served as an [[Election monitoring|observer]] at the [[1994 Mozambican general election]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=131–132}} In 1994 and 1995, he visited Burundi, where he worked to calm tensions between the [[Hutu]] and [[Tutsi]] ethnic groups.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=132}} He had begun calling for closer integration across Africa, proposing this could be achieved through the formation of six regional confederations.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=129}} In June 1987, he had sketched out plans for an [[Africa Leadership Forum]], which would help to provide skills and training for politicians from across the continent. It began holding meetings, known as the Farm House Dialogues, from Obasanjo's home about six times a year.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=127}} It also held quarterly international meetings and issued a quarterly magazine, ''Africa Forum'', between 1991 and 1993.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=128}}

===Opposing Abacha: 1992–1995===
Obasanjo voiced concern that, despite his professed claims to support a return to democracy, Babangida had no intention of stepping down as military head of state.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=138–139}} After the presidential primaries were cancelled in 1992, Obasanjo and [[Anthony Enahoro]] launched the [[Association for Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=140}} The group's inaugural meeting brought together 31 domestic political figures at Ota in May 1993.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=140}} An [[1993 Nigerian presidential election|election followed in June 1993]], which saw low turnout. [[Moshood Abiola]] of the [[Social Democratic Party (Nigeria)|Social Democratic Party]] (SDP) claimed victory, but this was challenged in court. Babangida then annulled the election result, promising a second election soon after. The SDP opposed any second election as they argued that their candidate had already won the first.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=141-142}} Babangida then agreed to step down in favour of an interim civilian government, led by [[Ernest Shonekan]], which took power in August 1993 and set out plans for new elections in February 1994.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=143–144}}

{{Quote box
| width = 25em
| align = left
| quote = General Sani Abach reminds one of a man, who with other do-gooders proposed a meal for the blind man. As soon as the others turned their back, this seemingly good Samaritan […] went back to snatch the pot of soup from the blind man for himself. Again, most of us Nigerians, as spectators, applauded. Under all sorts of excuses, there was no shortage of partakers in the meal. And they were not troubled by the moral implications.
| source = — Obasanjo, on Sani Abacha's coup, 1994{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=146}}
}}

Meanwhile, [[Sani Abacha]] consolidated his control of the military and in November 1993 pressured Shonekan into resigning, allowing himself to take power.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=144}} Obasanjo had telephoned Abacha prior to the coup, urging him not to take this course of action.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=145}} After Abacha had seized power, he asked Obasanjo to meet with him. The latter did, but refused to support Abacha's government until it announced a date for its own departure. Abacha then abolished the existing political parties and democratic institutions and called for politicians from various backgrounds to join his Federal Executive Council; Obasanjo refused to nominate anyone for this council.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=145}}

Obasanjo began warning that Nigeria was headed towards another civil war along ethnic divisions,{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=146}} and in May 1994 he and Yar'Adua launched the National Unity Promoters, a group dedicated to preventing this outcome.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=148}} In June, Abiola unilaterally declared himself Nigeria's president and was arrested for treason. Although Obasanjo refused to endorse Abiola's claim, he did advise Abacha not to arrest him.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=147}} He then led a group of traditional leaders at a meeting in which they attempted to initiate a dialogue between Abacha and Abiola.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=147}} His refusal to support Abiola angered many Yoruba and Obasanjo's property in Yorubaland was attacked.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=148}} Obasanjo was upset by what he saw as punishment for not backing Yoruba sectarian interests.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=148}}

In March 1995, Obasanjo was in Denmark for a UN Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen. While there, he heard that Yar'Adua had been detained and that he would probably face the same fate if he returned to Nigeria. He nevertheless argued that he had done nothing wrong and thus agreed to return.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=149}} Once at Lagos Airport, his passport was confiscated and the next day, police picked him up from his Ota home.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=149}} The police accused Obasanjo of links to a coup against Abacha being plotted by Colonel [[Lawan Gwadabe]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=152}} Obasanjo was moved between various detention centres, while former US President Carter personally contacted Abacha requesting Obasanjo's release. Obasanjo was then returned to Ota, where he was placed under [[house arrest]] for two months, during which time he was denied access to media, the telephone, or visitors.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=152-153}}

Another of those accused of being involved in the plot, Colonel Bello-Fadile, a military lawyer, had been tortured, during which he signed a statement that he had gone to Ota to inform Obasanjo about the coup as it was in preparation. This was used as evidence to charge Obasanjo with concealment of treason, a capital offense under Nigerian law.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=153}} He was then taken to the State Security Interrogation Centre at Ikoyi.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=153}} Abacha insisted that Obasanjo be tried before a military court, which took place on 19 June 1995.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=153}} At the trial, Obasanjo denied that Bello-Fadile had ever met with him. Bello-Fadile also maintained that he had signed the statement implicating Obasanjo under duress, but the court rejected this retraction.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=153}}
On 14 July, the court sentenced Obasanjo to 25 years in prison; Yar'Adua and fourteen others also accused of being part of the conspiracy were sentenced to death.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=153}} Obasanjo later called it his "saddest day".<ref>{{cite web|title=Obasanjo reveals 'saddest day' of his life|url=http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/223539-obasanjo-reveals-saddest-day-life.html|website=PREMIUM TIMES|date=14 February 2017|publisher=Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji|access-date=5 May 2017}}</ref> After the US President [[Bill Clinton]] stated that his country would embargo Nigerian oil if these executions took place, Abacha commuted their sentences to imprisonment and reduced Obasanjo's sentence to 15 years.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=153}}

===Imprisonment: 1995–1998===
Obasanjo spent the next four months at the Ikoyi Centre, where he was initially chained up in solitary confinement.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=153}} He was then transferred to Lagos' main prison, [[Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison|Kirikiri]], where he spent time in the prison hospital for his hypertension and diabetes.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=154}} Conditions in Kirikiri were overcrowded and unsanitary, with Obasanjo stating that he "would not wish it on my worst enemy".{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=155}} There, Bello-Fadile apologised to Obasanjo for having implicated him, at which Obasanjo forgave him. A note written by Bello-Fadile explaining the situation was then smuggled out of the prison and published, helping to demonstrate Obasanjo's innocence.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=154}}

After several weeks, Obasanjo and the other alleged conspirators were moved to Jos prison in the central plateau, Plateau State where they spent several months. Obasanjo was initially given only the Bible and Quran to read, but gradually allowed a wider range of literature.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=154-155}} Writing material was also granted to him, allowing him to correspond with various people and institutions, and eventually Stella was permitted to visit him once a month.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=155-156}} Both Mandela and [[Pope John Paul II]] called for his release, with Indian and German foundations both awarding him international prizes.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=155}} The Africa Leadership Forum produced two volumes of letters and essays written in his honour; the Forum itself had been forced to relocate to Accra in Ghana to avoid persecution from Abacha's government.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=155-156}}

In early 1996, Obasanjo was moved from Jos to the more remote prison at Yola, Adamawa State. There, he was allowed to cultivate a garden.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=156}} Obasanjo related that in prison he deepened his Christian faith and grew closer to God,{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=156}} becoming a [[born-again Christian]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=157}} From that point, Christianity played a much larger role in his personal world-view. At Yola, he preached 28 weekly sermons after visiting ministers were temporarily banned. He wrote these sermons down, allowing them to be published when he was released.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=157}} Obasanjo also tried to reform some of the younger prisoners, following up on their progress once he became a free man.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=158}} Obasanjo feared that he would be poisoned, particularly amid public speculation that Yar'adua's death had been caused by deliberate poisoning.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=160}}
Abacha died suddenly in June 1998, after which the military commanders appointed Major General Abdulsalami Abubakar as his successor. A week later, Abubakar ordered Obasanjo's release, sending a plane to return him to Ota.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=160}} Eager to return Nigeria to civilian rule, Abubakar dissolved the country's existing parties and institutions and announced a plan that would lead to a civilian president being installed in May 1999.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=164}}

===Campaigning for the presidency: 1998–1999===
Now a free man, Obasanjo travelled to South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where he underwent medical treatment.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=165}} New political parties were forming across Nigeria, one of the largest of which was the [[Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria)|Peoples Democratic Party]] (PDP), an umbrella group that sought to be sufficiently broad that if in power it would deter future coups.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=165}} Prominent PDP members proposed Obasanjo as an ideal presidential candidate. They felt that he could command international respect and that as a military figure he could hold the country together against future coups and secessionist movements. They also argued that Nigeria needed a southern president to balance out its previous northern leadership and that Obasanjo had proved himself as a southerner who had no partisan prejudice against the north.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=166–167}}

Friends and family urged him not to run, saying that he would damage his good reputation or be killed. Obasanjo appeared reluctant, but on 28 October he joined the PDP and a week later announced that he was putting himself forward to be the party's presidential nominee.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=167}} In his campaign, he emphasized his desire to restore what he deemed the legacy of good governance when he left office in 1979.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=168}} At a fundraising dinner, he gained N356 million, of which N120 million had been donated by industrialist [[Aliko Dangote]]. Most of these donations came from military men and the new business class.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=168}} He toured the country, giving speeches and seeking audiences with influential persons; courting state governors was a significant element of his approach.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=169–170}} His campaign overshadowed that of his main rival, [[Alex Ekwueme]], who was widely mistrusted by northerners and the military.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=171}}

The PDP was gaining ground in Nigeria, proving the most successful party in the local government elections of December 1998, the state elections in January 1999, and the Senate and House of Representatives elections in February 1999.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=169}} On 14 February 1999, a PDP convention was called to select its presidential candidate. Obasanjo received 1,658 votes, to 521 for Ekwueme, and 260 for the other five candidates.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=172–174}} Seeking a northerner as the PDP's vice presidential candidate, Obasanjo selected [[Atiku Abubakar]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=174–175}} The presidential election took place on 27 February; Obasanjo's sole opponent was the APP's [[Olu Falae]]. About a quarter of those eligible to vote did so, and there was some rigging although no violence. The official tally gave Obasanjo 63 percent of the vote; he was the loser in all six states of his native Yorubaland.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=175}}