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: Chief Ernest Shonekan (1983)

Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (born 9 May 1936 in Lagos, south-west Nigeria) is a British -trained Nigerian lawyer, industrialist, politician and traditional chieftain.He was appointed as interim President of Nigeria by General Ibrahim Babangida on 26 August 1993. Shonekan's transitional administration only lasted three months, as a palace coup led by General Sani Abacha forcefully dismantled the remaining democratic institutions and brought the government back under military control on 17 November 1993.
The son of an Abeokuta -born civil servant, he was one of six children born into the family. Shonekan was educated at Church Missionary Society Grammar School. He also attended and received a law degree from the University of London.

Nigerian Leaders since Independence: Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993)

Image: http://babajidesalu.wordpress.com
General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, popularly known as IBB, was a Nigerian Army officer and Military Head of State. He ruled Nigeria from his coup against Major General Muhammadu Buhari on August 27, 1985 until his departure from office on August 27, 1993 after his annulment of elections held on June 12 that year.
He married Maryam (1948–2009), who later became First Lady of Nigeria. They have four children: Muhammadu, Aminu, Aishatu, and Halimatu. Maryam Babangida died from ovarian cancer complications on December 27, 2009.

Ibrahim Babangida was born in 1941 in Minna, Niger State. He hails from the Gwari ethnic group. Babangida studied at the India Military School in 1964, the Royal Armoured Centre from January 1966 until April 1966. He attended Advanced Armoured Officers' course at Armored School from August 1972 to June 1973. He also underwent the Senior Officers' course, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji from January 1977 until July 1977, and the Senior International Defence Management Course, Naval Post graduate School, U.S in 1980.

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.

Nigerian Leaders since Independence: General Murtala Mohammed (1975-1976)

General Murtala Ramat Mohammed (November 8, 1938 – February 13, 1976) was a Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria from 1975 until his assassination in 1976. He was born 8th November 1938 in the Kurawa Quarters of Kano City. He enrolled into the Nigerian Army after high school, and trained at Sandhurst Royal Academy, the Catterick School of Signals, and the Joint Services' Staff College, all in England.

General Mohammed and the Civil War
During the Civil War, Mohammed was General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army’s 2nd Division.. This division was responsible for the legendary beating back of the Biafran Army from the midwestern region, as well as crossing the River Niger and linking up with the 1st Division, which was marching down from Nsukka and Enugu.
Mohammed's encounter with disaster during the war happened shortly after, as he attempted to cross the River Niger to Biafra. Despite the recommendation of his superiors at Army Headquarters in Lagos that he wait for the bridge, which had been blown up by the retreating Biafran forces, to be rebuilt, he insisted on a riverine crossing. Twice he was beaten back, but he steadfastly kept resolve and finally made it through on his third attempt. Shortly after this, Mohammed fed up with reprimands from Army HQ, decided to quit his command and left for an extended holiday in the United Kingdom, but not before threatening to resign his commission. His historic military fits during the war won him National acclaim and respect even from his adversaries.