A BOOK REVIEW ON

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO- THE PRESIDENTIAL LEGACY (1999-

2007)

LECTURER: MR AKANMU

MATRIC NUMBERS- 91-120

91 2009072091 Balogun Oyindamola Adenike                       

92 2009072092 Alonge Tosin Peter                       
93 2009072093 Emenogha Faith Ngozika                       
94 2009072094 Sanni Sarah Abimbola                       
95 2009072095 Edema Emmanuel Adeleke                       
96 2009072096 Jeleel Waliyat Oluwaranti                       
97 2009072097 Adewunmi Olabode Segun                       
98 2009072098 Ibrahim Opeyemi Abayomi                       
99 2009072099 Adediran Zainab Modupe                       
100 2009072100 Jimoh Ayomide Dennis                       
101 2009072101 Odetunde Karimat Opeyemi                       
102 2009072102 Francis Faith Ifewoge                       
103 2009072103 Oresanwo Oluwaseyi Luziana                       
104 2009072104 Akinrotimi Omotayo Sunday                       
105 2009072105 Eniosi Motunrayo Oluwakemi                       
106 2009072106 Aserinkan Lateefat Oyinkansola                       
107 2009072107 Abiodun Oluwatoyin Olamide               

108 2009072108 Olubiyi Adebukunola Rachael               

109 2009072109 Raji Faruk Olamide               

110 2009072110 Amoo Rashidat Omotola               

111 2009072111 Abdulfatai Yusuf Ishola               

112 2009072112 Odunuga Sandra Tolulope               

113 2009072113 Oloruntimilehin Ayomide Stephen               

114 2009072114 Okesanya Mary Temitope               

115 2009072115 Sodunola Olalekan Fawas               

116 2009072116 Asimolowo Aderonke Afusat               

117 2009072117 Odusanya Omowonuola Boluwatife               

118 2009072118 Bazuaye Nosa Oluwatobi               

119 2009072119 Adelanwa Kehinde Memunah               

120 2009072120 Falode Yetunde Dorcas               

BOOK TITLE: OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: THE PRESIDENTIAL

LEGACY 1999 TILL 2007

AUTHORS: EMEKA ANYAOKU, BISHOP MATHEW KUKAH, GABRIEL OLUSANYA,

GOKE ADEGOROYE, MARTIN AGWAI, BELLO IMAM, FIDELIS OGWUMIKE, ISRAEL
ADU , FRIDAY OKONOFUA, PETER OKEBUKOLA, VINCENT OLULOYO, EMEKA
ANYAOKU

PUBLISHED BY: BOOKCRAFT AFRICA

PAGES: 402

CHAPTERS: 10

THE BOOK

The book, “Olusegun Obasanjo: The Presidential Legacy 1999 till 2007”which has 402 pages and 10
chapters, was written by 12 authors 10 eminent scholars including former Commonwealth Secretary-
General, Emeka Anyaoku, Bishop Mathew Kukah among others and edited by Oladipo Akinkugbe
CFR, Ahmed Joha CFR, Oye Ibidapo-Obe, Friday Okonofua, and Tunde Idowu. It published by
Bookcraft Africa in 2013. It centers on the achievements and administration of former president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, from 1997 to 2007. Former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela wrote the
forward of the book. He narrated his first time meeting the former president while he was imprisoned
and how he envisioned him to go on to become a great leader

Following the forward was the inaugural speech of Olusegun Obasanjo and then after this was a short
biography of the former president titled “The Man”. This part contained photos of the former
president. A short introduction into the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo was written by Adeola
Adenikiju. After this was the 10 chapters capturing various parts of the Olusegun Obasanjo’s
administration

THE CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE(PEACE, SECURITY AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION)-GABRIEL
OLUSANYA

This centers on Olusegun Obasanjo’s policy on peace and security. It talks about how he inherited
various insecurity issues from the previous government like the aftermath of the civil war and how he
created the Odua people congress, provided material and intellectual additions to the police force,
introduction of small and medium scale enterprises to reduce poverty and indirectly, crime, sending
soldiers to Odi In Niger Delta to raze it to the ground to battle militant activities, his employing of
dialogue after this failed and many more, solving Nigeria-cameroon border dispute and coastal and
illegal oil bunkering

CHAPTER TWO: PUBLIC SERVICE REFORMS –GOKE ADEGOROYE

This chapter focused on the various public service reforms embarked on by Olusegun Obasanjo. His
creation of various ministries and his appointment of various heads of ministry and agencies to battle
corruption and incompetence in various ministries, training of public servants and introduction of a
payroll system.

CHAPTER THREE: DE-POLITICIZATION OF THE ARMED FORCES- MARTIN AGWAI

This centers on the various attempts of the former president to curb politicization of the armed forces
by introducing policies like compulsory retirement, appointments of new military heads, training and
budgetary allocations to the military

CHAPTER FOUR : ANTI CORRUPTION CRUSADE – BELLO IMAM

This consisted tabular illustration of comparism and documentation of various number of people
arraigned for corruption and the progress and statistics of each quarter of the administration. It also
included his introduction of the ICPC, independent corrupt practices commission and the EFCC,
economic financial crimes commission

CHAPTER FIVE: EMPLOYMENT JOB CREATION AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION-

FIDELIS OGWUMIKE

This contains graphical and statistical details of various employment, job creation and poverty
alleviation schemes by Olusegun Obasanjo

CHAPTER FOUR: AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY- ISRAEL ADU

This chapter contains well detailed analysis of the role of Agriculture in economic development and
various policies like tax elimination, subsidy on agricultural products and various agricultural loan
schemes.

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE HEALTH SECTOR- FRIDAY OKONOFUA

This focuses on the former president’s contribution to the sector like the allocation of funds to the
sector, to HIV/AIDS patients, promotion of primary health care, health care reforms, maternal and
child care policies,

CHAPTER EIGHT: EDUCATION SECTOR- PETER OKEBUKOLA

This started with an analysis of the previous condition of the education sector in Nigeria, then
proceeded to explaining some of his policies like increasing basic education from 6 to 9 years,
introduction of adult and formal education and also teacher education

CHAPTER NINE: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY – VINCENT OLULOYO

This chapter begins with discussing the role of science and technology, the condition of science and
technology in Nigeria, and the policies of Olusegun Obasanjo in promoting science and technology
and budgetary allocation for each year. Under his administration, various agencies on science and
technology was set up.

CHAPTER TEN: NIGERIA AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY- EMEKA

ANYAOKU

This focused on Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration and his attempt to foster diplomatic ties with
other nations in a bid to ensure Nigeria had good diplomatic ties with other countries. This included
the return of Nigeria to commonwealth after suspension and inclusion in other international
organizations like United Nations.

PROS

The book contained well detailed research on some of the achievements of the former president. It
provided graphical, statistical and well detailed examination of the administration. It also contained
coloured images of some events which helps to fully picture some of the explanations. The language
was also formal, narrative and also not complicated, allowing the book to be understood by even a
layman.

The division of each chapters into various heading also helped in understanding the various thematic
ideas behind each chapter. Adequate paragraphing and font size was used. Also, the aesthetics of the
front page, the back page and also the text were right for the topic of discuss. The book was also
written in narrative style, and also using formal style where necessary whenever it came to facts and
figures. It also tried to be as objective as possible, sometimes in few moments mentioning some
shortcomings of the administration

CONS

The book’s major problem was its inability to draw a line between subjectivity and objectivity. It
focused mainly on the major achievement of the administration and not the problems. One would even
wonder if it was a public relations tool of the former president. The book also made previous
administrations appear like a failure not even mentioning any previous achievements of the
administration before his. Although the introduction promised objectivity, it also tried to make an
excuse for the subjectivity in the book by quoting macavelli saying “the leader who leaves office
without making an enemy has not done his work well. It also states that the book was evidence based,
and intentionally did not focus on evidence in areas the administration failed in.

The book also confused a biographical report of his administration for a biographical story of his life
adopting a conversational and narrative style which made once doubt the credibility of the authors
objectivity. This is largely due to the fact the book tried to make excuses for him wherever he failed
and also downplayed his failures by using a “story telling” style to elicit compassion for him. We can
as well say, who pays the piper dictates the tune, as the book turned out to be a narration of his
administration rather from a first person point of view than a third person point of view. Allowing for
too much empathy where unnecessary.