By Ghazali Ibrahim
The political life of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is heading to the big screen, as his memoir My Watch is being adapted into a major international film production.
The project came to public attention after actress Sandra Jegede announced on Instagram that she has a supporting role in the biopic, describing it as a large-scale international production with an A-list cast.
The film is expected to draw heavily from My Watch, Obasanjo’s 2014 memoir that chronicled his years in power and offered pointed reflections on Nigeria’s political evolution.
But My Watch is only part of Obasanjo’s written political legacy.
Before becoming a democratically elected president in 1999, Obasanjo first ruled Nigeria as a military head of state from 1976 to 1979, following the assassination of General Murtala Mohammed.
During that period, he oversaw the country’s transition programme that eventually handed power to a civilian administration in 1979, a move that earned him international recognition as one of Africa’s few military leaders to voluntarily transfer power.
His account of that era was captured in his earlier book, My Command, published in 1980. In it, Obasanjo detailed the internal workings of the military government, the political calculations behind the transition process, and the challenges of governing a country emerging from instability.
Together, My Command and My Watch form a two-part narrative of Obasanjo’s time at the helm, first as a soldier-statesman navigating post-coup Nigeria, and later as a civilian president presiding over the country’s return to democracy in 1999.
His second stint in office is often associated with major economic reforms, debt relief negotiations with the Paris Club in 2005, and the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector. Yet it was also marked by political controversy, including tensions with critics and the failed attempt to amend the constitution for a possible third term.
The forthcoming film adaptation of My Watch therefore arrives with a wide canvas.
If finally released to the audience, the film could offer historical storytelling on African leaders both in Nigeria and internationally.
