Olusegun Obasanjo

=== Pre-Civil War career: 1966–1967 ===
Obasanjo flew back to Nigeria in January 1966 to find the country in the midst of [[1966 Nigerian coup d'état|a military coup]] led by Major [[Emmanuel Ifeajuna]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=20}} Almost all of those involved in organising the coup were from the [[Igbo people]] of southern Nigeria. Obasanjo was among those warning that the situation could descend into civil war.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=21}} He offered to serve as an intermediary between the coup plotters and the civilian government, which had transferred power to the military Commander-in-Chief [[Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=21}} As the coup failed, Olusegun met Ironsi in Lagos. Ironsi soon ended [[federalism]] in Nigeria through his unification decree in May 1966, something which inflamed ethnic tensions.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=21–22}} In late July, [[1966 Nigerian counter-coup|a second coup took place]]. In Ibadan, troops of northern Nigerian origin rebelled and killed Ironsi, also massacring around two hundred Igbo soldiers. General [[Yakubu Gowon]] took power.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=22}}

While this coup was taking place, Obasanjo was in [[Maiduguri]]. Hearing of it, he quickly returned to Kaduna. There, he found that northern troops from the Third Battalion were rounding up, torturing, and killing Igbo soldiers.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=22}} The [[Governor of Northern Nigeria]], [[Hassan Katsina]], recognised that although Olusegun was not Igbo, as a southerner he was still in danger from the mutinous troops. To protect them, Katsina sent Olusegun and his wife back to Maiduguri for ten days, while the violence abated. After this, Obasanjo sent his wife to Lagos while returning to Kaduna himself, where he remained until January 1967. At this point he was the most senior Yoruba officer present in the north.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=22}}

In January 1967, Obasanjo was posted to Lagos as the Chief Army Engineer.{{sfnm|1a1=Iliffe|1y=2011|1p=23|2a1=Derfler|2y=2011|2p=76}} Tensions between the Igbo and northern ethnic groups continued to grow, and in May the Igbo military officer [[C. Odumegwu Ojukwu]] declared the independence of Igbo-majority areas in the southeast, forming the [[Biafra|Republic of Biafra]].{{sfnm|1a1=Iliffe|1y=2011|1p=24|2a1=Derfler|2y=2011|2p=76}} On 3 July, Nigeria's government posted Obasanjo to Ibadan to serve as commander of the [[Western State (Nigeria)|Western State]].{{sfnm|1a1=Iliffe|1y=2011|1p=25|2a1=Derfler|2y=2011|2p=76}} The fighting between the Nigerian Army and the Biafran separatists broke out on 6 July.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=24}} On 9 July, Ojukwu sent a column of Biafran troops over the Niger Bridge in an attempt to seize the Mid-West, a position from which it could attack Lagos. Obasanjo sought to block the roads leading to the city. The Yoruba commander [[Victor Banjo]], who was leading the Biafran attack force, tried to convince Obasanjo to let them through, but he declined.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=25–26}}