General Nigeria at 60 – Chronicling the Tenure and Age of Leaders ProvisioSeptember 30, 2020216 views Why We L👀ked Into This »🎨 This post was inspired by a tweet – ‘By Independence Day, Nigeria would have had 30 years, 10 months of democratic rule, 28 years,11 months of military rule, 3 months of civilian interim rule.’ We researched this statement and produced visuals to summarize the findings from the data. Days Spent in Office by Heads of Government in Nigeria By the time President Muhammadu Buhari completes his tenure, he will be the second leader after former President Olusegun Obasanjo to have spent most days as a President/Head of State. This will be 2,923 days (96 months, 1 day). Chief Nnamdi Azikwe is the only President to have spent the least amount of time followed by Umar Musa Yar’Adua. Ages of Leaders at Assumption of Office Between 1966 to 1979, there were three military rulers who occupied office at 31, 36 and 38 years old. The youngest democratic leader remains Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa at the age of 47. There was confusion over Former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s birthday in 2008 after congratulatory messages appeared on newspapers citing July 9, 1951. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo once said he did not know his true age but he remembered his mother gave birth to him on a market day. The Youngest and Oldest Leaders at Assumption of Office The average age of the leaders is 50 years. Comprehensive List of Nigeria’s Leaders from 1960 to 2023 On July 30, 1966, there appeared to be a vacuum in power following the cop that took place the previous day. However, General Yakubu Gowon made his official announcement on August 1, 1966. When a Nigerian leader dies in office (natural death), someone else takes over the next day. This occurred during the deaths of Abacha and Yar’Adua.