The history of Nigeria under President Olusan Obasanjo
(May 1999 - 2003)

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The contemporary political history in general of Nigeria

The general strike of June 2000

Nigerian military safeguards its future

By Norm Dixon, Green Left Weekly, 19 May 1999. Nigeria's corrupt military and business elite has been busy safeguarding its future, even though it succeeded in placing its favoured candidate, former military dictator Olusegun Obasanjo, in the president's post at the February 27 election.

President Obasanjo Cleans Up The Military

By Remi Oyo, IPS, 13 June 1999. To prevent the military from seizing power again, Obasanjo, who is himself a former military leader, has retired 116 military officers, who had held political offices since 1985. He fired Maj-Gen Patrick Aziza, the Chairman of the military tribunal that convicted him of complicity in the 1995 coup against the late dictator Gen Sani Abacha.

Nigeria rules out IMF monitoring

Financial Times, 3 August 1999. Nigeria's new government has ruled out British proposals that IMF officials monitor the handling of finances from within the central bank. According to Adamu Ciroma, the finance minister, there is no reason to doubt the government's commitment to economic reforms, such as the privatisation of ailing state-run industries.

Behind the strife, economic and political problems in Nigeria

By Peter Cunliffe-Jones, Daily Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg), 6 March 2000. The violence of last week has been blamed on Nigeria's stagnant economy, with parliament haggling over the government's 2000 budget since last November. While the worst bloodshed to wrack Nigeria in 30 years may be subsiding, President Olusegun Obasanjo faces a heap of untackled economic and political problems.

Afenifere backs NLC

By John Ighodaro, Vanguard, Friday 9 June 2000. The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere has condemned the recent hike in fuel prices, saying the reason given by the Federal Government for the increase has exposed the failure of the PDP-led government. The 50% hike in oil price has left an average worker poorer.

The People of Nigeria resist the IMF

By Kwesi Owusu, Jubilee 2000 Africa Initiative, 19 June 2000. The mass protests against the IMF induced fuel price hike. The people test the democratic mantle of President Obasanjo's government, particularly its capacity to accommodate mass political dissent. The inept introduction of the price hike by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was a guaranteed trigger to popular outrage.

Atiku Abubakar And the Northern Question

By Stephen Longe, Post Express (Lagos), 8 November 2000. As the Vice-President in the Obasanjo regime, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is in the eye of fire. How does he address the much orchestrated issue of maginalisation of the North without ruffling feathers, without kicking up a political storm?

2000: Year Of A Costly Strike

By Victor Ahuma-Young, Vanguard Daily (Lagos), 5 January 2001. The year 2000 was quite eventful, bring hope for workers but not so much for the employers and the unemployed. For state governments, workers in virtually every state, Lagos, Plateau, Borno, Kwara, Kogi, Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Enugu and several others embarked on strike. Here brief quotes from the period.

Leader Faces Pent-Up Anger Across Nigeria

By Dulue Mbachu, The Washington Post, 10 February 2002. President Olusegun Obasanjo refuses to say whether he will run for reelection. I am leaving the decision to God. His reticence is not surprising. With the expectations that accompanied Obasanjo's election and the end of military rule in 1999 now largely unmet, impatience is building.

Which God Does The President Serve?

By Sam Nda-Isaiah, Daily Trust (Abuja), 24 June 2002. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo berated his critics and said that those who criticise him do not know God. If he has done so much for Nigerians as he claims, why aren t his countrymen and women clapping for him? Most Nigerians face hardship and poverty occasioned by this government's obtuseness.

Obasanjo to back wider female participation in PDP

By Madu Onuorah and Mohammed Abubakar, The Guardian (Nigeria), 10 January 2003. Inundated by complaints alleging marginalisation of women in the PDP primaries, President Obasanjo has pledged to support change in the party's constitution to encourage more women electoral candidates. He promised to reconcile the ranks of the PDP in order to consolidate the party and win the forthcoming presidential polls.