Olusegun
Obasanjo
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria was born on 5 March 1937 in Abeokuta, Ogun
state.
In 1958, after High School, General
Obasanjo enlisted into the Nigerian Army and was trained at the Mons Officers
Cadet School, Aldershot, England. He also underwent military training at
various institutions including the Royal College of Defence Studies, London;
Indian Army School of Engineering; Indian Defence Staff College; School of
Survey, Newbury, England; Royal College of Engineering; Regular Officers
Special Training School, Teshie, Ghana.
He served with
the United Nations Peace-Keeping Force in the Congo, 1960-1961;
Commander,
Engineering Corps, 1963;
General Officer
Commanding, Third Marine Commando Division during the Nigerian Civil War;
Led the
Division to end the war and accepted surrender of Biafran forces in January
1970;
Commander,
Nigerian Army Engineering Corps, 1970-1975;
Federal
Commissioner for Works Commissioned into Nigerian Army in 1959;
Service with
the United Nations Peacekeeping and Housing, 1975;
Chief of Staff,
Supreme Headquarters, 1975-1976;
Member, Supreme
Military Council, 1975-179;
Lieutenant-General, 1976 and General, 1979;
Head of the Federal Military Government of
Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, 1976-1979;
He presided
over the voluntary transition to civil democratic rule in 1979;
He contested
and won the 1999 presidential election on the ticket of the PDP;
He holds the
national award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria (GCFR) among other laurels.