Nigerian leader to retire to farm

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Nigeria's outgoing President, Olusegun Obasanjo, says he will return to his multi-million dollar farm in his home state when he stands down next week.

"I'm going back to my farm, but I am getting old and so I will not be able to run the farm hands-on," he said.

Mr Obasanjo's Ota Farm occupies a vast expanse of land in the town of Ota in Ogun State in south-western Nigeria.

He will also accept "only a few" of the many international roles being offered to him, he says.

"There are people in the international arena who are calling me for this and calling me for that. I cannot accept everything. I will accept a few."

He says he is also looking forward to his new role as the chairman of the governing party's board of trustees, a position that will ensure that he remains influential in the affairs of Nigeria.

"And then I have a library which I am developing. We haven't had anything like that in Nigeria, or indeed in Africa. So, I'll pay a bit of attention to that," he said on state-owned national television.

Mr Obasanjo also said he was looking forward to working with UK Prime Minster Tony Blair and South African leader Thabo Mbeki on a new body designed to help African countries attain economic prosperity.

My Obasanjo stands down next Tuesday after eight years as Nigeria's president.

He is to hand over government to Umaru Yar'Adua at a ceremony in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says Mr Yar'Adua won last month's presidential election by a landslide, a victory dismissed by the opposition as "stolen".

Mr Obasanjo openly backed Mr Yar'Adua in the election, citing his "financial prudence, honesty and humility" as reason for his support.

Local and international observers say the elections were marred with widespread irregularities.