Nigeria is celebrating Democracy Day, a public holiday to commemorate the restoration of democracy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

May 29th was set aside in May 1999, when the newly elected Olusegun Obasanjo took office as the President of Nigeria, ending multiple decades of military rule that began in 1966 and interrupted only by a brief period of democracy from 1979 to 1983.

The process of ending the era of military administration started in 1998 with a promise from then head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar to transit to democracy, and accordingly, a new constitution was adopted on May 5th, 1999.

Elections were held and retired Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo was elected and sworn in on the 29th of May 1999 as the new president.

The end of military rule brought about a new era of regular elections as well as the return of civil liberties, free press and an end to arbitrary arrests and torture, although human rights violations still occur regularly.