Shehu Shagari

Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari, Turakin Sakkwato (born May 25, 1925) was the President of Nigeria's ill-fated Second Republic (1979 - 1983), after the handover of power by General Olusegun Obasanjo's caretaker government.

Shagari is a northerner of Fulani extraction and holds the title of Turakin Sakkwato in the Sokoto Caliphate. He was a schoolteacher for a brief period before entering politics in 1954, when he was elected into the federal House of Representatives .

Rampant corruption under Shagari's administration, including an election marked by accusations of fraud, coupled with a decline in world oil prices, led to a marked deterioration in the national finances under Shagari's watch, while religious and political violence became so endemic that his overthrow by General Muhammadu Buhari on New Year's Eve in 1983 was actually looked upon with relief by most of the Nigerian public at the time.

See also

• List of Presidents of Nigeria
• Sokoto