Nigerian Leaders since Independence: General Sani Abacha (1993-1998)

General Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was military ruler and politician. He ruled Nigeria from 1993 to 1998. A Kanuri from Borno by tribe, Abacha was born and brought up in Kano State. He attended the Nigerian Military School, Kaduna and Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, England before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1963.

Political involvements
General Abacha took part in the countercoup of July 1967, from the conceptual stage, and might have been a participant in the Lagos or Abeokuta phases of the January 1966 coup. He was also a prominent figure in three coup d’etats of later decades, the first two of which brought and removed General General Muhammadu Buhari from power in 1983. When General Ibrahim Babangida was named President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1985, Abacha was named Chief of Army Staff. He was later appointed Minister of Defence in 1990.
Abacha took over power from the interim government of Chief Ernest Shonekan, who was put into place by General Ibrahim Babangida after his annulment of the 12 June 1993.
Alleged human rights abuses.

Nigerian Leaders since Independence: General Muhammadu Buhari (1983-1985)

Muhammadu Buhari (born December 17, 1942) is a Major General in the Nigerian Army and a former military ruler of Nigeria from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985.. His ethnic background is Fulani, and his faith is Islam. He is a native of Daura in Katsina State of Nigeria.

First involvement in Politics
Having joined the army in 1962, Buhari first came to widespread public attention in 1976 when he became the Minister or Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources under then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then he served as Governor of the newly created North Eastern State during the regime of Murtala Mohammed. He later became head of the newly created Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC in 1977.

President Buhari
Major-General Buhari was selected to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup d’etat that overthrew civilian President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983. At the time, Buhari was head of the Third Armored Division of Jos. Buhari was appointed Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Tunde Idiagbon was appointed Chief of General Staff (the de facto No. 2 in the administration). Buhari justified the military's seizure of power by castigating the civilian government as hopelessly corrupt, and his administration subsequently initiated a public campaign against indiscipline known as "War Against Indiscipline" (WAI). Aspects of this campaign included public humiliation of civil servants who arrived late for work whilst guards were armed with whips to ensure orderly queues at bus stops.

Nigerian Leaders since Independence: General Olusegun Obasanjo (1976-1979)

Oluṣẹgun Mathew Okikiọla Arẹmu Ọbasanjọ from Abeokuta in Ogun State, South-West Nigeria was born on 5th March 1937 and served as Head of State between 13 February 1976 to 1 October 1979. He became Head of State after General Murtala Mohammed whom he served as Chief of Staff was assassinated in an aborted coup.

Career
General Obasanjo enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1958. He served at 1 Area Command in Kaduna. Promoted to Chief Army Engineer, he was made commander of 2 Area Command from July 1967, which was re-designated 2 Division Rear, and then the Ibadan Garrison Organisation. During the Nigerian Civil War, he commanded the Army's 3 Marine Commando Division that captured Owerri, effectively bringing an end to the civil war.