Olusegun Obasanjo

==Personal life==
Obasanjo lived a polygamous lifestyle.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=101}} Obasanjo married his first wife, [[Oluremi Obasanjo|Oluremi Akinlawon]], in London in 1963;{{sfnm|1a1=Iliffe|1y=2011|1p=16|2a1=Derfler|2y=2011|2p=74}} she gave birth to his first child, [[Iyabo Obasanjo|Iyabo]], in 1967.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=39}} Iyabo had a close relationship with her father.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=101–102}} Oluremi was unhappy that Obasanjo maintained relationships with other women and alleged that he beat her. They divorced in the mid-1970s.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=40}} That decade, Obasanjo began a common-law relationship with [[Nigerian Television Authority|NTA]] reporter Gold Oruh who bore him two children.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=40}} He married his second wife, Stella Abebe, in 1976, having met her on a visit to London.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=40}} He married Stella in 1976 and they had three children.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=102}} Obasanjo's other partners include businesswoman Lynda Soares who was murdered by car thieves in 1986.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=102}}<ref>Blaine Harden, ''Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent'', p. 283.</ref> On 23 October 2005, the President lost his wife, [[Stella Obasanjo]], [[First Lady]] of Nigeria, after she died following an [[abdominoplasty]] in Spain. In 2009, the doctor, known only as 'AM', was sentenced to one year in jail for negligence in Spain and ordered to pay restitution to her son of about $176,000.<ref name="Doctor jailed over former first lady's lipo death">{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/22/2692955.htm|title=Doctor jailed over former first lady's lipo death|date=22 September 2009|access-date=22 September 2009|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Company]]}}</ref> He was largely private about his relationships with these women.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=101}} Some of his children were resentful that he gave them no special privileges and treated their mothers poorly.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=102}} One of his sons, Adeboye Obasanjo is a [[brigadier general]] in the [[Nigerian army]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Obasanjo decorates son shot by Boko Haram with Brigadier General rank|url=https://dailypost.ng/2022/01/20/obasanjo-decorates-son-shot-by-boko-haram-with-brigadier-general-rank/?amp=1|access-date=20 October 2022|publisher=Daily Post|date=20 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=PHOTO: Obasanjo decorates son with new rank of brigadier-general|url=https://www.thecable.ng/photo-obasanjo-decorates-son-with-new-rank-of-brigadier-general/amp|access-date=20 October 2022|publisher=The Cable|date=20 January 2022}}</ref>
[[File:Secretary Blinken Meets with African Union High Representative for the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo (51581405896).jpg|left|thumb|US Secretary of State [[Antony Blinken]] meets with Obasanjo in October 2021]]
Ethnically, Obasanjo is Yoruba, a cultural identification he reflected in his speech and choice of clothing.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=1}} However, he always foregrounded his Nigerian identity above his Yoruba one,{{sfnm|1a1=Iliffe|1y=2011|1p=13|2a1=Derfler|2y=2011|2p=84}} repeatedly stating that "I am a Nigerian who happens to be a Yoruba man. I am not a Yoruba man who happens to be a Nigerian."{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=13}}
Throughout his life he expressed a preference for rural over urban life.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=8}} He has been a lifelong teetotaller.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=16}} He has been characterised as having a sense of discipline and duty,{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=12}} and emphasised what he saw as the importance of leadership.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=13}} He was meticulous at planning,{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=28–29}} and Iliffe called him an "instinctively cautious man".{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=45}} Obasanjo always emphasised the importance of deferring to seniority, a value he had learned in childhood.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=8}}
Iliffe described Obasanjo as a man with "great physical and intellectual energy" who "exercised power with skill and ruthlessness, sometimes unscrupulously but seldom cruelly".{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=3}} Derfler similarly stated that, although Obasanjo could appear "boorish and dull", he had a "sharply perceptive mind" and the capacity to be "tough and ruthless".{{sfn|Derfler|2011|p=86}} He had, according to Iliffe, a "remarkable capacity for work".{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=28}} He was cautious with money, living modestly and seeking financial security by investing in property.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=39}} He is softly-spoken.{{sfn|Derfler|2011|p=86}}

In his sixties, Obasanjo would regularly work 18 to 20 hour days, getting very little sleep. He would start each day with prayers.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=184-185}} Obasanjo suffers from diabetes and high blood-pressure. He enjoyed playing squash.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=100-101}}

Obasanjo's writings after his imprisonment reflected his commitment to Biblical literalism.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=158}} He called the Darwinian theory of evolution a "debasing, devaluing and dehumanising" idea.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=158}} After his release from prison his writings placed far less emphasis on traditional culture as a guide to morality, calling on fellow Nigerians to reject much of their pre-Christian "way of life".{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=159}} Iliffe noted that Obasanjo's born-again Christianity was "strikingly orthodox" and was aligned with Orthodox Pentecostal teaching. He rejected the [[prosperity gospel]] that was taught by some [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostalists]] in Nigeria. [[Providentialism]] also became a key part of his worldview after his imprisonment.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=159}}

In addition to a variety of other [[Nigerian Chieftaincy|chieftaincy]] titles, Chief Obasanjo is the holder of the title of the '''Olori Omo Ilu''' of Ibogun-Olaogun. A number of other members of his family hold or have held chieftaincies as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/326331-obasanjos-community-gets-secondary-school-as-sons-bag-chieftaincy-titles.html|title=Obasanjo's Community Gets Secondary School As Sons Bag Chieftaincy Titles|date=21 April 2019|access-date=1 February 2020|publisher=The Premium Times of Nigeria}}</ref>