Olusegun Obasanjo

==Presidency (1999–2007)==
===First term===
[[File:Seal of the President of Nigeria.svg|thumb|right|[[Seal of the president of Nigeria|Seal of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria]] ]]After having it [[exorcism|exorcised]], Obasanjo moved into the [[Aso Villa|presidential complex]] at [[Aso Rock]] in May.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=176}} On 29 May he took the presidential oath in Abuja's [[Eagle Square, Abuja|Eagle Square]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=183}} While appointing his new government, he selected an even number of ministers from the north and south of Nigeria, although the fact that a majority were Christian upset some Muslim northerners. Critics generally characterised Obasanjo's cabinet as being too old and conservative, as well as lacking in experience, especially when dealing with economic matters.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=184}} During his first administration the levels of freedom experienced by Nigerians increased; [[freedom of the press]] allowed for considerable criticism of the president.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=195}}

In the initial months of his presidency, Obasanjo retired around 200 military officers, including all 93 who held political positions, thus making a coup by experienced officers less likely.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=183}} He also moved the Defence Ministry from Lagos to Abuja, ensuring it was brought under more direct government control.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=183}}

===Second term===
Obasanjo was re-elected in a tumultuous [[2003 Nigerian presidential election|2003 election]] that had violent ethnic and religious overtones. His main opponent, fellow former military ruler General [[Muhammadu Buhari]], was Muslim and drew his support mainly from the north. Capturing 61.8% of the vote, Obasanjo defeated Buhari by more than 11&nbsp;million votes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Annual Abstract of Statistics, 2012|url=http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/pages/download/253|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128143355/http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/pages/download/253|archive-date=28 January 2015|access-date=3 April 2015|website=National Bureau of Statistics|publisher=National Bureau of Statistics|pages=595–596|format=PDF}}</ref>

In November 2003, Obasanjo was criticized for his decision to grant asylum to the deposed [[Liberia]]n president, [[Charles Taylor (Liberia)|Charles Taylor]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Habeeb I. Pindiga|date=10 November 2003|title=Asylum for Taylor an impeachable offence – MD Yusufu|url=http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/2003/nov/10/0226.html|access-date=25 November 2009|publisher=Daily Trust}}</ref> On 12 June 2006, he signed the [[Greentree Agreement]] with Cameroonian President [[Paul Biya]] which formally put an end to the [[Bakassi]] peninsula border dispute.<ref>{{cite web|title=UN, Agreement Transferring Authority Over Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon 'Triumph for the Rule of Law' Secretary-General says in Message for Ceremony |url=http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11745.doc.htm|access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref> Even though the [[Senate of Nigeria|Nigerian Senate]] passed a resolution declaring that the withdrawal of Nigerian troops from the Bakassi Peninsula was illegal, Obasanjo gave the order for it to continue as planned.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1 August 2008|title=Nigeria to appeal Bakassi delay|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7537020.stm|access-date=31 March 2010}}</ref>

In his second term, Obasanjo continued to ensure the expansion of the country's police force, which rose to 325,000 in 2007.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=185}}
Ongoing rural violence between Muslims and Christians in Plateau State led Obasanjo to declare a state of emergency there in May 2004, suspending the state government and installing six months of military rule.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=192–193}} On 22 August 2005, the then governor of Abia State, [[Orji Uzor Kalu]], submitted a petition alleging corrupt practices against Obasanjo to the EFCC.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inside EFCC report on corruption allegations against Obasanjo|url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/269831-inside-efcc-report-on-corruption-allegations-against-obasanjo.html|access-date=26 May 2018|website=Premium Times|date=26 May 2018}}</ref>

===Third term agenda===
Obasanjo was embroiled in controversy regarding his "Third Term Agenda", a plan to modify the [[Constitution of Nigeria|constitution]] so he could serve a third, four-year term as president. This led to a political media uproar in Nigeria and the bill was not ratified by the [[National Assembly of Nigeria|National Assembly]].<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/12/AR2006051200518.html ''Bid to Allow Nigerian a Third Term Hits Snag''] – [[Washington Post]]. Published: 13 May 2006. Access date: 18 July 2012.</ref><ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5410583 ''Nigeria Rejects Term-Limit Change in Constitution''], [[NPR]], 17 May 2006. Includes transcript. Accessed 19 July 2012.</ref> Consequently, Obasanjo stepped down after the [[2007 Nigerian general election|April 2007 general election]].<ref>{{cite web|date=29 March 2009|title=President of Nigeria loses bid for a 3rd term|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/16/news/lagos.php|access-date=23 April 2011|publisher=International Herald Tribune}}</ref> In an exclusive interview granted to [[Channels TV|Channels Television]], Obasanjo denied involvement in what has been defined as "Third Term Agenda". He said that it was the National Assembly that included tenure elongation amongst the other clauses of the [[Constitution of Nigeria]] that were to be amended. Obasanjo stated: "I never toyed with the idea of a third term."<ref>{{Cite news|date=7 April 2012|title=National Assembly initiated 3rd term – Obasanjo |language=en-US|work=Vanguard News|url=http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/04/national-assembly-initiated-3rd-term-obasanjo/|access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref>

Obasanjo was condemned by major political players during the Third Term Agenda saga. Senator [[Ken Nnamani]], former [[president of the Nigerian Senate]], claimed Obasanjo informed him about the agenda shortly after he became senate president. He said: "Immediately, I became senate president, he told me of his intentions and told me how he wanted to achieve it. I initially did not take him seriously until the events began to unfold." He also insinuated that Eight Billion Naira was spent to corrupt legislators to support the agenda, asking: "How can someone talk like this that he didn't know about it, yet money, both in local and foreign currencies, exchanged hands." [[Femi Gbajabiamila]] corroborated Nnamani's account but put the figure differently, stating: "The money totaled over N10 billion. How could N10bn be taken out of the national treasury for a project when you were the sitting President, yet that project was not your idea? Where did the money come from?" In the following quotes, Nnamani said US president [[George W. Bush]] warned Obasanjo to desist from his plan to contest presidential election for the third term. He commented: "If you want to be convinced that the man is only telling a lie, pick up a copy of the book written by [[Condoleezza Rice]], a former US secretary of state. It is actually an [[autobiography]] by Rice. On page 628 or page 638, she discussed Obasanjo's meeting with Bush, how he told the former American President that he wanted to see how he could amend the Constitution so that he could go for a third term. To his surprise, Bush told him not to try it. Bush told him to be patriotic and leave by 29 May 2007."<ref>{{cite web|title=Obasanjo is a joker, liar, he was behind third term – Nnamani, others |website= Punchng.com |url=http://www.punchng.com/news/obasanjo-is-a-joker-liar-he-was-behind-third-term-nnamani-others/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927082343/http://www.punchng.com/news/obasanjo-is-a-joker-liar-he-was-behind-third-term-nnamani-others/|archive-date=27 September 2013|access-date=10 August 2013}}</ref>

===Economic, social and foreign policies===
'''Economic policy'''[[File:Visitation of Olusegun Obasanjo with Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei and President Mohammad Khatami- January 12, 1999.jpg|thumb|Obasanjo with the Iranian President [[Mohammad Khatami]] in 1999|left]]With the oil revenue, Obasanjo created the Niger Delta Development Commission and implemented the Universal Basic Education Program to enhance the literacy level of Nigerians. He constituted both the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Resuscitated the National Fertilizer Company in Kaduna and (Onne) Port Harcourt. Obasanjo increased the share of oil royalties and rents to the state of origin from 3 to 13 percent.<ref name="WB">{{cite web|title=Leadership, Policy Making, and Economic Growth in African Countries: The Case of Nigeria|url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTPREMNET/Resources/489960-1338997241035/Growth_Commission_Vol3_Leadership_Growth_Ch6_Leadership_Policy_Making_Economic_Growth_African_Countries_Case_Nigeria.pdf|access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref>

Before Obasanjo's administration, Nigeria's GDP growth had been painfully slow since 1987, and only managed 3 percent between 1999 and 2000. However, under Obasanjo, the growth rate doubled to 6 percent until he left office, helped in part by higher oil prices. Nigeria's foreign reserves rose from $2&nbsp;billion in 1999 to $43&nbsp;billion on leaving office in 2007.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

He was able to secure debt pardons from the [[Paris]] and [[London]] club amounting to some $18&nbsp;billion and paid another $18&nbsp;billion to be debt free. Most of these loans were accumulated from short-term trade arrears during the exchange control period. (Point of correction). Most of these loans were accumulated not out of corruption but during a period 1982–85 when Nigeria operated exchange control regime that vested all foreign exchange transactions on the central bank of Nigeria. When Obasanjo took office, Nigeria's economy was in a poor state. Inflation had averaged about 30% a year throughout the 1990s, and by 2001 around 20% of Nigerian adults were unemployed.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=201}} Poverty was widespread, with Obasanjo's government seeking to alleviate this by paying N3,500 a month to around 200,000 people to conduct routine tasks such as sweeping and mending roads.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=201}} This project was then replaced with a National Poverty Eradication Programme which focused on generating youth employment, rural infrastructure, and conservation.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=201}} In 2000, Obasanjo's government doubled the legal minimum wage.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=205}}

He invited the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to review Nigeria's economy and offer advice on how to improve it;{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=202}} they warned that the government was overspending.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=205}} In 2001, Obasanjo declared himself "a believer in market efficiency" and related that he had seen the damage caused by "public sector mismanagement" first hand.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=204}} However, while expressing his commitment to the [[Washington Consensus]] of free markets, privatisation, and limited state expenditure, government expenditure as a share of GDP rose from 29% in 1997 to 50% in 2001.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=204}} In January 2000, Nigeria received a US$1 billion stand-by loan, which allowed the government to enter debt rescheduling negotiations with its creditors.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=202}} Obasanjo's government benefited from high international oil prices during his first presidential term. It planned both to increase Nigeria's oil output and to produce increasing quantities of liquefied natural gas, which was first exported from the country in 1999.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=204-205}}

Obasanjo was determined to abolish the petrol subsidy, increasing prices to commercial rates. The [[Nigerian Labour Congress]] called a general strike in protest for June 2000 and Obasanjo ultimately compromised, reducing the subsidy rather than abolishing it. This situation allowed Obasanjo to be portrayed as an "enemy of the poor" on the public imagination.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=206}} To further reduce expenditure, Obasanjo turned to privatisation, forming a National Council on Privatisation in July 1999. When he took office, Nigeria's federal government owned 588 public enterprises, accounting for over 55% of external debt, and Obasanjo hoped that many of these, although not those involved in oil production, could be sold off.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=207}} Privatisation was not popular with Nigeria's population, having only 35% support according to a 2000 opinion survey.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=208}} Obasanjo was also keen to negotiate debt reduction.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=210}} He insisted that Nigeria's debts were so large as to be unpayable and that they threatened its economy and democracy. Although Canada, Italy, and the U.S. cancelled Nigeria's debts, these were small, and the country's major creditors, the largest of which was the UK, refused.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=210–211}}

Obasanjo blamed many of Nigeria's economic problems on endemic corruption;{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=203}} in 2000, [[Transparency International]] ranked it the world's most corrupt country.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=204}} Several days after taking office he presented an Anti-Corruption Bill to the National Assembly, although this aroused much opposition from critics who thought it gave the government excessive powers. Compromises were reached that watered-down Obasanjo's proposals, allowing him to sign the new law in June 2000.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=203}} There is no evidence that corruption declined in Nigeria in Obasanjo's first term, and his government did nothing to check Nigeria's endemic low-level corruption, which was widespread at the state and local government levels.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=204}}[[File:Vladimir Putin 6 March 2001-1.jpg|thumb|Obasanjo with [[Russian President]] [[Vladimir Putin]] in the [[Kremlin]] in 2001]]

Public health was also a key issue in Nigeria. During the 1990s, Nigeria had spent about 0.2% of its GDP on public health services, the joint lowest percentage in the world. Obasanjo's government increased this to over 0.4%.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=200}} The most urgent health crisis impacting Nigeria was the [[HIV/AIDS]] epidemic, with Obasanjo immediately ordering a situation report on the topic after taking office.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=200}} He then established a Presidential Committee on AIDS, which he headed as chair, and created a National Action Plan Committee to prepare a campaign for 2000–03 which would focus on publicity, training, counselling, and testing to combat the virus. To advance public health more broadly, he launched a new primary care campaign that used local government funds to try and build a clinic in every one of Nigeria's 774 local government areas.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=200}}
'''Foreign policy'''[[File:obasanjo with rumsfeld.jpg|thumb|Obasanjo with [[Donald Rumsfeld]] at [[The Pentagon]] in 2001]]

One of Obasanjo's major tasks, in which he succeeded, was to improve Nigeria's international reputation, which had been tarnished under Abacha.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=217}} He spent over a quarter of his first term abroad, having visited 92 countries by October 2002.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=217}} In October 1999, Obasanjo launched a South African-Nigerian Bi-National Commission to discuss cooperation between the two countries, the largest powers on Sub-Saharan Africa.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=220}} Obasanjo retained Nigeria's close ties with the U.S., bringing in U.S. advisers to help train the Nigerian military.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=219}} He had close ties with U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]] and also got on with Clinton's successor [[George W. Bush]]; Bush visited Abuja in 2000, and Obasanjo visited Washington DC in 2006.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=219}} Pursuing warmer relations with the U.K. than he had in the 1970s, he attended his first Commonwealth Conference in November 1999 and hosted that in December 2003, where he received an honorary knighthood from British Queen [[Elizabeth II]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=219}}

On taking office, Obasanjo had vowed to withdraw Nigerian troops from Sierra Leone. In August 1999, he announced a schedule for their withdrawal, although this was suspended while a UN peacekeeping force was assembled, to which Nigeria provided 4000 troops. This force withdrew in 2005.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=218}} Amid turmoil in Liberia, Obasanjo ordered Nigerian troops into the country in August 2003; they passed into a UN command two months later.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=219}} Obasanjo granted Liberia's ousted leader [[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]] refuge in Nigeria, although subsequently returned him to Liberia to face trial for war crimes at the request of new Liberian President [[Ellen Johnson Sirleaf]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=218–219}} 

Eager to keep Nigeria out of domestically unpopular conflicts, he refused requests for the Nigerian military to participate in an [[ECOMOG]] intervention in the [[Guinea-Bissau civil war]] and the 2002 peacekeeping mission to the Côte d'Ivoire. At the UK's request, he assisted in a mediation with [[Robert Mugabe]]'s Zimbabwe government over the latter's encouragement of the violent seizure of white-owned farms. Along with South African President [[Thabo Mbeki]] and Australian Prime Minister [[John Howard]], he was part of a team tasked with dealing with Zimbabwe by the Commonwealth.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=219–220}} Obasanjo and Mbeki visited Zimbabwe three times to work on quiet diplomacy, unsuccessfully urging Mugabe to either retire or form a power sharing government with the opposition [[Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai|Movement for Democratic Change]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=220}}

'''Confronting ethnic and religious tensions'''
[[File:Obasanjo with Bush.jpg|left|thumb|Bush talks with Obasanjo during a [[G8 Summit]] France, June 2003]]
Shortly after Obasanjo's election, the place of Islamic [[sharia law]] became a major debate in Nigerian politics. Since the country's independence, sharia had been restricted to civil cases between Muslims in the northern states; criminal cases were not governed by sharia law, something that offended some Muslims.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=190}} In September 1999, the Governor of [[Zamfara State]], [[Ahmed Sani]], announced the full introduction of sharia as the basis of that state's penal code, although specified that it would only apply to Muslim residents and not the non-Islamic minority. This sparked alarm among Christian minorities across northern Nigeria, with protests and counter-protests generating violence, especially in Kaduna.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=190}} Across Nigeria, Christian opinion was very hostile to the introduction of sharia as the basis of state penal systems.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=191}} Both houses of the National Assembly urged Obasanjo to take the issue to the Supreme Court.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=191}} He was eager to avoid this, not wanting the role of sharia to become a constitutional issue.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=192}} Publicly he sought to distinguish what he called "genuine sharia" from "political sharia", praising the former while insisting that the latter was a fad that would fizzle out.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=191}} By refusing to intervene, Obasanjo drew criticism for a lack of courage from many southerners, while Muslim hardliners in the north mocked him.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=192}} Amid popular demand from Muslim communities, four more northern states adopted sharia penal law in 2000 and seven more in 2001. Obasanjo later stated that the issue was the biggest challenge he ever faced as president.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=192}}

When Obasanjo came to power, he was appalled that Nigeria was experiencing widespread unrest and violence, resulting in thousands of deaths. This violence was being exacerbated by a rapidly growing population which brought with it spiralling urbanisation and competition for scarce land in rural areas.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=185}} To deal with this, Obasanjo doubled the country's police force from 120,000 to 240,000 between 1999 and 2003.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=185}} Little was done to deal with police brutality, with the torture of suspects remaining widespread under Obasanjo's administration.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=195}} Also fuelling the violence were ethnic tensions, with different ethnic and regional groups calling for greater autonomy, leading various commentators to predict the breakup of Nigeria. For Obasanjo, keeping the country united became a major priority.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=185–186}} Only on select occasions would he turn to the military to quell unrest, preferring not to have to mobilise the army unless state governors requested it.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=186}} In his words, "we must utilise military force only when all else has failed. That is my own principle and philosophy."{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=194}} He saw greater value in forgiveness, amnesty, and reconciliation to achieve harmony than in retributive criminal justice of perpetrators.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=193}} Under Obasanjo's presidency, the levels of violence and disorder in Nigeria declined.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=194}}[[File:LulaObasanjo.jpg|thumb|Olusẹgun Obasanjo and the [[President of Brazil]], [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva|Lula da Silva]], in 2005]]
A major hub of secessionist sentiment was in the Niger Delta region, where indigenous groups wanted to retain a far greater proportion of the proceeds from the area's lucrative oil reserves. In July 1999, Obasanjo sent the National Assembly a bill to create a Niger Delta Development Commission to formulate and implement a plan for dealing with the region, something he hoped would quell violence there. Amid much debate, the commission was finally launched in December 2000.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=187–188}} In November 1999, he also [[Odi massacre|sent two army battalions into the Niger Delta region]] to apprehend the [[Asawana Boys]], an [[Ijaw people|Ijaw]] group who had captured and killed police officers in [[Odi, Nigeria|Odi]], [[Bayelsa State]]. The military destroyed most of the town; the government claimed that 43 had been killed, but a local NGO put the number of civilian deaths at 2,483.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=187, 193}} Obasanjo described the destruction as "avoidable" and "regrettable" and visited Odi in March 2001; he refused to condemn the army, apologise for the destruction, pay compensation or rebuild the town, although the Niger Delta Development Commission did the latter.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=194}}

In 2000, Obasanjo banned the [[Oodua Peoples Congress]] (OPC), a Yoruba nationalist group involved in violence against other ethnicities, and ordered the arrest of its leaders.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=188}} In September 2001, violence between indigenous Christians and northern Muslim traders in [[Plateau State]] resulted in around 500 deaths before the army moved in and regained control. Obasanjo then visited and urged reconciliation. In October 2001, Muslim demonstrators in Kano killed around 200 Igbo in response to Nigeria's support for the [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|U.S. bombing of Afghanistan]]. Obasanjo then visited to urge reconciliation but was booed by residents.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=192}} Also in October, soldiers had been sent to calm tensions between the [[Jukun people (West Africa)|Jukun]] and [[Tiv people|Tiv]] communities along the borders between [[Benue State|Benue]] and [[Taraba State|Taraba]] states; a Tiv militia then captured and killed them in [[Zaki-Biam]]. Obasanjo ordered the army in, where they rounded up and killed as many as 250 to 300 local men. Obasanjo visited the area in 2002 and apologised for the excessive use of force.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=194}}
[[File:Olusegun Obasanjo with George Bush March 29, 2006.jpg|left|thumb|Obasanjo with [[George W. Bush]] in March 2006]]
In January 2002, Obasanjo ordered the mobile police to break-up the [[Bakossi Boys]], a vigilante group active primarily in Abia and Anambra states which was responsible for an estimated two thousand killings. He had hesitated doing so before due to the popular support that the group had accrued through fighting criminal gangs, but felt able to move against them after their popularity waned.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=189}} That same month, an ammunition dump at the Ijeka barracks near Lagos exploded, potentially resulting in as many as a thousand deaths. Obasanjo visited immediately.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=194}} Violent unrest had also continued in Lagos, and in February 2002, troops were sent into the city to restore stability. In April 2002, Obasanjo proposed legislation that would allow for the proscription of ethnic-based groups if they were deemed to promote violence, but the National Executive rejected this as an overreach of presidential power.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=188}}

Some public officials like the [[Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria|Speaker of the House of Representatives]] and [[President of the Senate of Nigeria|President of the Senate]] were involved in conflicts with the President, who battled many impeachment attempts from both houses.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nigeria: House gives reasons for Obasanjo impeachment threat|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/34153/nigeria-house-gives-reasons-for-obasanjo-impeachment-threat|access-date=3 April 2015|work=IRIN News|date=5 September 2002}}</ref> Obasanjo managed to survive impeachment and was renominated.