LIST OF NIGERIA'S PAST PRESIDENTS AND HEADS OF STATE

By Jumoke Eniola 

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 -  May 29, 2023

17. ASHIWAJU AHMED TINUBU                                       MAY 29,2023 - PRESENT

So,

Why do we have names? I wonder. 

Why do we have names? You ask me.

Why do our leaders have names?

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We have names, my friend. 

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 dear.

That is why we have names.

Jumoke Eniola

Spain

Photo Credit: David Rotimi