Nigeria’s first executive president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari is dead. He died,Friday, at the National Hospital, Abuja after a brief illness .
Bello Shagari, his grandson, confirmed his death in a tweet.
“I regret announcing the death of my grandfather, H.E Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who died right now after brief illness at the National hospital, Abuja,” he tweeted.
The deceased was president in the second republic, from 1979 to 1983, before he was overthrown in a coup by Muhammadu Buhari.
Shagari would have been 94 on February 25, 2019.
Shagari served as the first and only President of Nigeria‘s Second Republic (1979–1983), after the handover of power by General Olusegun Obasanjo‘s military government. Shagari also served seven times in a ministerial or cabinet post as a federal minister and federal commissioner from 1958–1975.
Shagari was made the Turaki of the Fula Sokoto Caliphate in 1962 by the Sultan of Sokoto Siddiq Abubakar III. Turaki means an officer at court, in this case referring to the sultan’s court at the palace of Sokoto. In addition, he also holds the chieftaincy titles of the Ochiebuzo of Ogbaland, the Ezediale of Aboucha and the Baba Korede of Ado Ekiti.
He worked as a teacher for a brief period before entering politics in 1951 and in 1954 was elected to the federal House of Representatives. At 93, he died on 28th December 2018.
