FLASHBACK: 'I feel fine' - First words of Obasanjo after his release from prison in 1998

President Olusegun Obasanjo is one of Nigeria's statesmen. The former who ruled from 1999 to 2007 is regarded by a section of Nigerians as the best the country has experienced.

All wasn't rosy for the statesman, however, as he was detained by the then General Sani Abacha and was only released after his demise in 1998.

A video of ex-President Obasanjo speaking after his release has resurfaced. In the video, he simply said: "I feel fine. It is nice to be back at home," when asked how he felt after his release.

Obasanjo, a former general and military ruler was imprisoned on charges of plotting a coup to depose General Sani Abacha in 1995. While in prison, Obasanjo became a born-again Christian.

He took office on May 29, 1999 as the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule, is now commemorated as Democracy Day, a public holiday in Nigeria. For most of his first term, he spent traveling abroad.

In 2003, Obasanjo was re-elected in a tumultuous election that had violent ethnic and religious overtones. With high oil prices, Obasanjo’s government oversaw a doubling of Nigeria’s average economic growth rate to six percent. And as a result, he left Nigeria almost debt-free.

Obasanjo was embroiled in controversy regarding his “Third Term Agenda,” a plan to modify the constitution so he could serve a third, four-year term as President.

However, the bill was not ratified by the National Assembly. Later Obasanjo denied involvement in this so-called “Third Term Agenda.”

In 2008, he was appointed by the United Nations as a special envoy for Africa and had since overseen democratic elections on behalf of the African Union and Ecowas in countries across the continent.

His current home is Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun State, where he is a nobleman as the holder of the chieftaincy titles of the Balogun of the Owu Lineage and the Ekerin Balogun of the Egba clan of Yorubaland.