In 1998, following the death of Nigeria's notorious dictator General Sani Abacha, a new era began for Nigeria.

Former Nigerian leaders, including Abacha, had promised transition programs to modernize the country's public services and encourage unity and nationalism in a land rife with ethnic and religious tensions. But it wasn't until General Abdulsalami Abubakar succeeded Abacha that the government implemented a plan to give Nigeria's people the power to choose their leaders.

Abubakar's plan called for Nigeria to start on the road to democratic, civilian leadership, starting with the election of local leaders and leading to the election of a civilian head of state in a poll that would be administered by an independent electoral commission.

After a short campaign — and despite the chronic claims of irregularities that plague the Nigerian voting process — Olusegun Obasanjo was elected president and formally inaugurated on May 29, 1999 as the first civilian president of a Nigerian republic newly bent on implementing democracy.

After the 1999 election, former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Walter Carrington told the NewsHour,
"If Nigeria can get it right, it could be a force for great good in the continent. And I'm hoping that with the election of General Obasanjo that he will be able to restore Nigeria to that position of leadership."

An ethnic Yoruba — one of Nigeria's dominant groups out of some 250 — Obasanjo was born in the mainly Christian southwest in 1937.

Joining the army in 1958, he first made his mark on the political landscape as a soldier in the 1967-1970 civil war over the Biafra region's attempted secession.

In 1976, an unsuccessful coup killed Murtala Muhammed, who was then the country's military leader. Obasanjo was chosen as his successor, and he accepted the post, pledging to deliver on many of Muhammed's initiatives. These included guaranteeing a constitutional right to democratic participation in government, and a return to orderly civilian rule. In 1979, amid more accusations of a corrupt election, Obasanjo lost the presidency to Alhaji Shehu Shagari.

Obasanjo's criticism of subsequent military leaders, and his alleged role in a coup plot to unseat General Abacha, landed him in prison in 1995. He was one of several key political figures released from prison in 1998, when General Abubakar took over as head of state.

Nigerians from across a wide ethnic spectrum generally welcomed Obasanjo as president, seeing it as a sign of political progress after 16 years of military rule. Hopes were high that he could improve the country's infrastructure and turn much-needed attention to its lagging economy.

Before Obasanjo's inauguration, a council of military leaders who had helped write Nigeria's past legislation wrote a new constitution, based on one that was suspended in 1979. It includes provisions for a bicameral legislature — the National Assembly — which includes a 360-member House of Representatives and a 109-member Senate.

Three main political parties usually control the majority of the legislature's seats: the People's Democratic Party of Nigeria, the All People's Party and the Alliance for Democracy.

Under the constitution, the executive branch and the office of president are granted strong federal powers. The legislature and judiciary, which suffered heavily during military rule, continue to be accused of irregularities and corruption.

Although Obasanjo's election is key to Nigeria's democratic record, the 36 state governors elected in 1999 and 2003 also play an important role in the leadership. Nigerian states have wide autonomy in their own affairs. In 2000, for example, some northern, predominantly Muslim states controversially reinstated Islamic law.

One of Obasanjo's stated goals was to stabilize the economy and improve basic public services — like electricity and water supplies. However, according to most Western media analysis, Obasanjo's first term as president made little progress in improving Nigeria's economy or its public services. Some two-thirds of Nigeria's people still live on less than $1 a day, according to the Economist magazine.

"Power outages are frequent. Some parts of Nigeria are in darkness for months or weeks. The taps have been dry for the past year," a Nigerian housewife near Lagos told the BBC in May 2000.

In addition, stabilizing Nigeria has proven difficult. More than 10,000 people have died in ethnic and religious fighting since Obasanjo took office, and outsiders have criticized his administration for not using the military to stop the violence.

Looking to the future, Obasanjo points to the potential of a joint proposal he crafted with South African President Thabo Mbeki to develop an economic initiative called the New Partnership for Africa's Development or NEPAD.

NEPAD endeavors to create a partnership of African leaders as well as a blueprint for their countries to develop an economic path of sustainable growth in the hopes of extricating themselves from poverty and underdevelopment.

Despite the setbacks, the West continues to view Nigeria as an important ally. In 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton paid a formal visit to the country and met with Obasanjo to discuss the country's future — the first visit by an American president to Nigeria since Jimmy Carter's visit in 1978.

During a visit to Washington in 2001, President Obasanjo told reporters, "Everywhere in the world, democracy is a process, and it keeps going."

"It's not an event," he continued. "And Nigerian democracy — the last that one would call an event — we have started. We are not struggling; we are a maturing democracy. We are doing everything necessary to sustain it."

-- By Maureen Hoch, Online NewsHour

Former Nigerian leader General Abdulsalami Abubakar, July 1998

"It is quite clear from the efforts we have made to reach out to the people that Nigerians want nothing less than true democracy in a united and peaceful country. It is clear that Nigerians want a country where fairness, justice and equity are not mere slogans but principles put into timely and indiscriminate practice. Nigerians want true democracy which must be based on a sound democratic foundation to ensure fulfillment and sustenance."