|
|
Article: NIGERIA - Profile - Olusegun Obasanjo.
- Article from:
- APS Review Downstream Trends
- Article date:
- August 23, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Input Solutions. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
A Christian and an ethnic Egba Yoruba, Obasanjo was born on March 5, 1937 in Abeokuta, capital of Ogun state, about 100 km north of Lagos. He attended Baptist Boys' High School along with Moshood Abiola (a Yoruba Muslim who won the presidential election in June 1993, was later jailed by Gen. Abacha and died in prison just before his release in June 1998). Obasanjo worked as a teacher for a year before joining the army in 1958. After training in Britain and India, he rose quickly within the ranks. During the Biafran civil war, when the Ibo tried to secede, he was put in charge of a commando unit which obtained the surrender of the rebel leader, effectively ending the war ...