LIST OF NIGERIA'S PAST PRESIDENTS AND HEADS OF STATE
By Jumoke Eniola
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| Nigeria |
Quotes
"My pain is not in the millions of middle-class Nigerians seeking refuge in foreign lands, but in the poor lower-class individuals left in Nigeria who have no such choice. Our most vulnerable citizens are dying and I feel helpless"- Jumoke Eniola
"History will judge societies and governments and their institutions, not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor and the helpless." - Cesar Chavez
NAME PERIOD
1. ALHAJI ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA 1960 - 1966
2. CHIEF BENJAMIN NNAMDI AZIKIWE OCT. 1, 1963 – JAN. 16, 1966
3. MAJOR GENERAL AGUIYI IRONSI JAN. 16, 1966 – JUL. 29, 1966
4. GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON AUG. 1, 1966 – JUL. 29, 1975
5. GENERAL MURTALA MOHAMMED JULY 29, 1975 – FEB. 13, 1976
6. GENERAL OLUSEGUN AREMU OBASANJO FEB. 13, 1976 – OCTOBER 1, 1979
7. SHEHU USMAN ALIYU SHAGARI OCT. 1, 1979 – DEC. 31, 1983
8. MAJOR GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI DEC. 31, 1983 – AUG. 27, 1985
9. GENERAL IBRAHIM BADAMASI BABANGIDA AUG. 27, 1985 – AUG. 27, 1993
10. CHIEF ERNEST ADEKUNLE SHONEKAN AUG. 26, 1993 – NOV. 17, 1993
11. GENERAL SANI ABACHA NOVEMBER 17, 1993 – JUNE 8, 1998
12. GENERAL ABDULSALAMI ABUBAKAR JUNE 9, 1998 – MAY 29, 1999
13. GENERAL OLUSEGUN AREMU OBASANJO MAY 29, 1999 – 29 MAY, 2007
14. UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA MAY 29, 2007 - MAY 5, 2010
15. DR. GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN MAY 6, 2010 - MAY 29, 2015
16. MUHAMMADU BUHARI MAY 29, 2015 - Present
So,
Why do we have names? I wonder.
Why do we have names? You ask me.
Why do our leaders have names?
We have names, my child.
We have names, I tell you.
To be called that name.
When a demand is placed on us to recount.
To recount what we have done.
Be it good or evil.
That, my daughter.
That is why we have names.
Jumoke Eniola
Spain
Photo Credit: David Rotimi
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