Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- 1 A man of controversy
- Part I Making a Career (1937–70)
- Part II Military Rule (1970–9)
- Part III Private Citizen (1979–99)
- Part IV The First Presidential Term (1999–2003)
- 15 Containing conflict
- 16 Salvaging the economy
- 17 Restoring international relationships
- 18 President and politicians
- 19 Re-election
- Part V The Second Presidential Term (2003–7)
- Appendix: Exchange rates
- Bibliography
- Index
15 - Containing conflict
from Part IV - The First Presidential Term (1999–2003)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- 1 A man of controversy
- Part I Making a Career (1937–70)
- Part II Military Rule (1970–9)
- Part III Private Citizen (1979–99)
- Part IV The First Presidential Term (1999–2003)
- 15 Containing conflict
- 16 Salvaging the economy
- 17 Restoring international relationships
- 18 President and politicians
- 19 Re-election
- Part V The Second Presidential Term (2003–7)
- Appendix: Exchange rates
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
On 29 May 1999 – Democracy Day, as he later named it – Obasanjo took the presidential oath in Eagle Square, Abuja, in the presence of Nelson Mandela, heads of state and dignitaries, and the Nigerian public. In his inaugural address, he described himself as ‘a man who has walked through the valley of the shadow of death’. His task, he said, was to restore the morale, the state, and the economy ravaged by fifteen years of military rule:
I am not a miracle worker. It will be foolish to underrate the task ahead. Alone, I can do little. You have been asked many times in the past to make sacrifices and to be patient. I am also going to ask you to make sacrifices, and to exercise patience…. This time, however, the results of your sacrifice and patience will be clear and manifest for all to see …
I am determined, with your full cooperation, to make significant changes within a year of my administration.
He then outlined an unwieldy list of eighteen priorities, headed by attacks on corruption and cynicism, resolution of the crisis in the oil-producing Niger Delta, reduction of military commitments in Liberia and Sierra Leone, reprofessionalisation of the armed forces, harmonious cooperation with the legislature and judiciary, and, above all, ‘to rekindle confidence amongst our people. Confidence that their conditions will rapidly improve and that Nigeria will be great and will become a major world player in the near future.’
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Obasanjo, Nigeria and the World , pp. 183 - 199Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2011