Early life and first term as head of state
Obasanjo was born in
Ogun State, grew up in
Owu, and he enlisted in the army in 1958. He trained at
Aldershot, was commissioned as an officer, and fought against the
Biafran secessionists in the
Nigerian Civil War. Although he did not directly participate in the
military coup of
July 29, 1975, led by
Murtala Mohammed, he supported it and was named Mohammed's deputy in the new government.
As chief of staff of Supreme Headquarters, Obasanjo was Mohammed's deputy and had the support of the military. He had earlier commanded the federal division that took
Owerri, effectively bringing an end to the civil war. In 1976, he was marked for assassination along with Mohammed and other senior military personnel by coup ploters, lead by army col. Dimka. But one colonel was mistaken for Obasanjo, and was subsequently killed together with Murtala on
February 13 1976. A low profile security policy adopted by Murtala in guarding very important persons allowed the plotters easy access to their targets. However, the coup was foiled because they missed Obasanjo and General
Theophilus Danjuma, chief of army staff and
de facto number three man in the country. The plotters also failed to cut off the communication line, although they were able to take over the radio station to make their announcement. Obasanjo and Danjuma where able to establish a chain of command and re-established security in
Lagos, thereby regaining control. Obasanjo was made head of state in a meeting of the Supreme Military Council. Keeping the chain of command established by Murtala Muhammad in place, Obasanjo pledged to continue the programme for the restoration of civilian government in 1979 and to carry forward the reform programme to improve the quality of public service.
The model for the
second republican constitution, which was adopted in 1979, was modelled on the
Constitution of the United States, with provision for a
President, Senate, and
House of Representatives. The country was now ready for local elections, to be followed by national elections, that would return Nigeria to civilian rule.
The military regimes of Murtala Muhammad and Obasanjo benefited from a tremendous influx of oil revenue that increased 350 percent between 1973 and 1974, when oil prices skyrocketed, to 1979, when the military stepped down. Increased revenues permitted massive spending; this spending, however, was poorly planned and concentrated in urban areas. The oil boom was marred by a minor recession in 1978-79, but revenues rebounded until mid-1981. The increase in revenues made possible a rapid rise in income, especially for the urban middle class. There was a corresponding inflation, particularly in the price of food, that promoted both industrialisation and the expansion of agricultural production. As a result of the shift to food crops, the traditional export earners — peanuts, cotton, cocoa, and palm products — declined in significance and then ceased to be important at all. Nigeria's exports became dominated by oil.
Industrialisation, which had grown slowly after
World War II through the civil war, boomed in the 1970s, despite many infrastructure constraints. Growth was particularly pronounced in the production and assembly of consumer goods, including vehicle assembly and the manufacture of soap and detergents, soft drinks, pharmaceuticals, beer, paint, and building materials. Furthermore, there was extensive investment in infrastructure from 1975 to 1980, and the number of parastatals — jointly government- and privately owned companies — proliferated. The Nigerian Enterprises Promotion decrees of 1972 and 1977 further encouraged the growth of an indigenous middle class.
Plans were undertaken for the movement of the federal capital from
Lagos to
Abuja, a more central location in the interior of the country. Such a step was seen as a means of encouraging the spread of industrial development inland and of relieving the congestion that threatened to choke Lagos. Abuja also was chosen because it was not identified with any particular ethnic group.
Heavy investment was planned in steel production. With
Soviet assistance, a steel mill was developed at
Ajaokuta in
Kogi State, not far from Abuja. The most significant negative sign was the decline of industry associated with agriculture, but large-scale irrigation projects were launched in the states of
Borno, Kano, Sokoto, and
Bauchi under
World Bank auspices.
Education also expanded rapidly. At the start of the civil war, there were only five universities, but by 1975 the number had increased to thirteen, with seven more established over the next several years. In 1975 there were 53,000 university students. There were similar advances in primary and secondary school education, particularly in those northern states that had lagged behind.
Obasanjo served until
October 1, 1979, when he handed power to
Shehu Shagari, a democratically elected civilian president; this made Obasanjo the first leader in Nigerian history to surrender power willingly. In late 1983, however, the military seized power again. Obasanjo, being in retirement, did not participate in that coup, and did not publicly support it.
