Olusegun Obasanjo became Nigeria's fourth military ruler after death of Murtala. General Danjuma and other members of the Supreme Military Council thought it appropriate to make Obasanjo , Murtala's second in command, the new Head of State. Obasanjo had escaped Dimka's bullet by a whisker. He was delayed by a junior officer who had insisted he attend his child's naming ceremony. Nigerians quickly transferred their love and affection for Murtala to Obasanjo. But Obasanjo was not Murtala. He lacked the reformist zealory and the swift action of Murtala. He pandered too much to the dictates of other members of the Supreme Military Council. But he maintained the same stance as Murtala on Angola's independence. He was also faithful to Murtala's promise to return Nigeria to civil rule in 1979. He lifted the ban on politics in 1978
which helped his sagging popularity. The presidential election results were greeted with consternation by Southerners, most especially Yorubas. The Yorubas felt their hero, Obafemi Awolowo, had been robbed of victory by Obasanjo in connivance with Northern oligarchs. This made Obasanjo, a Yoruba man, an object of hate in his region. Till this day, he has not been full accepted by his people.
Alhaji Sheu Shagari became Nigeria's first executive president following the victory of his party, The National Party of Nigeria, in the 1979 Presidential election. It was with bated breath that the nation looked forward to October 1st, 1979, the date of the handover. After thirteen years of uninterrupted military rule, they had become jaded and couldn't wait to see the men in khaki return to the barracks.
Shagari was sworn in amidst fanfare and he rekindled people's hopes with his brilliant inaugural speech. The people were ready to make democracy work this time. This made them wholly support Shagari despite their reservation about the election that brought him to power. But Shagari wasn't prepared for the hard task of leading the nation out of the abyss that years of military rule had plunged it into. He quickly lost himself to the allure of power and forgot why he was voted into office. He was much more concerned about dressing well than how the nation fared. He became malleable to the dictates of his ministers. His ministers and other appointees took advantage of his laissez-faire attitude to corruption to enrich themselves. They stashed miliions of dollars in accounts across Europe. In 1983, he won a controversial re-election. The other candidates in the election rejected the result and tacitly called on the boys in khaki to intervene. Public disenchantment grew too and the people began to echo the call of their leaders. Their calls and murmurs soon reached the ears of ambitious soldiers in the barracks and they wasted no time in sending Shagari packing. On 31st December, 1983, the last day of the year, martial music took over the air wave to the joy of Nigerians.
Muhammad Buhari became the nation's fifth military ruler on the first day into the Orwellian year—1984. He began an anti-corruption fight which led to the arrest and trial of many politicians. Many of them were convicted and given lengthy prison sentences. He, along with his unsmiling deputy, Tunde Idiagbon, launched the War Against Indiscipline (WAI). This was an initiative aimed at instilling an attitudinal change in Nigerians. This initiative was seen as oppressive and draconian by the people. They couldn't understand why soldiers had to beat them to stand in queues. This, along with the biting economic recession, made Buhari's popularity plummet. People began to live in fear and cursed the day they took to the streets to rejoice following Shagari's ouster from office. Buhari's public goodwill took a fatal blow when he introduced Decree4—a decree that made it criminal to publish any news against his government. The attempt to gag the press was an act the people couldn't bear. They cried out loud enough and their cries reached the ears of a gap-toothed general....To be continued.

Having witnessed the mass euphoria that greeted the ascension to office of President Buhari which has since given way to despair, I felt compelled to take a look at history and see how his predecessors fared with public goodwill. The third part will be available soon

Weldone op. You're doing a good non-partisan job.