Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Since Nigeria became a republic in 1963, 14 individuals have served as head of state of Nigeria under different titles. The incumbent president Bola Tinubu is the nation's 16th head of state. Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari both served two non-consecutive periods as head of state, first as military officers and then later as civilians.
Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo GCFR [1] [2] (// ⓘ; Yoruba: Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ [olúʃɛ́ɡũ ɔbásanɟɔ] ⓘ; born c. 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian general and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 2007.
Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), [2] commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, was a Nigerian politician, statesman, and revolutionary leader who served as the 3rd and first black governor-general of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963 and the first president of Nigeria during the First Nigerian Republic (1963–1966). [3]
Yakubu Dan-Yumma "Jack" Gowon [1] GCFR (born 19 October 1934) is a Nigerian former Head of State and statesman who led the Federal military government war efforts during the Nigerian Civil War. [2] Gowon delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquished" speech at the war's end to promote healing and reconciliation. [3]
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912, in the Northern Nigeria Protectorate (modern-day Bauchi State).His father, Yakubu Dan Zala, was of Gere ethnicity, [6] and his mother Fatima Inna was of Gere and Fulani descent.
Herbert Macaulay was born on 14 November 1864 on Broad Street, Lagos, [4] [5] to the family of Thomas Babington Macaulay and Abigail Crowther. His parents were children of people captured from what is now Nigeria, resettled in Sierra Leone by the British West Africa Squadron, and eventual returnees to present day Nigeria. [6]
Buhari's second retirement, now 1 year, 188 days, is currently the shortest, Yakubu Gowon's retirement, now 49 years, is the longest in Nigeria's history. At age 90, Gowon is also the oldest of the seven living heads of state. Shehu Shagari who died in 2018 aged 93 is the nation's longest-lived head of state.
Muhammadu Buhari GCFR (Hausa pronunciation ⓘ; born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian statesman who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. [2] [3] A retired Nigerian Army major general, he served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power from the Shehu Shagari civilian government in a military coup d'état.