Moment Obasanjo Arrived In Peugeot 504 To Open Murtala Muhammed International Airport In 1979

Moment Gen. Obasanjo arrived in Nigerian-assembled Peugeot 504 to open Murtala Muhammed International Airport in 1979.

Obasanjo used a Peugeot 504 (reportedly unarmored) despite the fact that his predecessor was killed in a unarmored car. 

Shehu Shagari inherited the same Peugeot 504 used by Obasanjo, though he will later dump it for a Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W126).

Video shared shows the moment then Nigerian Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, arrived in a Nigerian-assembled Peugeot 504 saloon car for the commissioning of the newly built Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) on March 15th 1979.

Originally known as Lagos Airport, the new international terminal built at the cost of ₦240 million was renamed after the Military Head of State, Murtala Muhammed, who was assassinated during a failed coup attempt in 1976.

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Moment Gen. Obasanjo arrived in Nigerian-assembled Peugeot 504 to open Murtala Muhammed International Airport in 1979.

This throwback video from over four decades ago comes amid rumpus over recent approval of ₦712 billion for the rehabilitation, upgrade and modernisation of the old terminal of the MMIA, Lagos.

Nigerian-assembled Peugeot 504

While Murtala opted for a Mercedes-Benz 230.6 (W114) limousine, Obasanjo used a Nigerian-assembled Peugeot 504 (reportedly unarmored) as official car, despite the fact that his predecessor was killed in a unarmored car during a coup that brought him to power.

When Alhaji Shehu Shagari assumed office in 1979 as the first democratically elected President of Nigeria, he inherited the same Peugeot 504 used by Obasanjo, though he will later dump it for a more befitting official State Car – a Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W126) luxury sedan.

Ibrahim Babangida, popularly known as IBB, also rode in Nigerian-assembled Peugeot 504 in the early days of his regime, though he later switched to the more luxurious Mercedes-Benz 600 in the latter part of his administration.

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