Helmut Schmidt vs Umaru YarAdua

Schmidt became Chancellor of West Germany on May 16, 1974, succeeding Willy Brandt. He took office during the 1970s oil crisis and economic recession, inheriting a period of stagflation and high unemployment.

Schmidt implemented austerity measures and energy conservation policies to address the oil crisis. He reduced public spending and promoted nuclear power, but unemployment rose to over one million by 1975.

Schmidt advocated for NATO's dual-track policy of deploying Pershing II and cruise missiles in Western Europe while offering arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union. This decision aimed to counter Soviet SS-20 missiles and sparked massive peace protests in West Germany.

Schmidt lost a constructive vote of no confidence on October 1, 1982, when the Free Democratic Party switched coalition partners to support Helmut Kohl's CDU. This ended his eight-year chancellorship and marked a shift to conservative rule.

Umaru Yar'Adua won the April 2007 presidential election as the candidate of the People's Democratic Party. The election was widely criticized by domestic and international observers for widespread fraud and irregularities, but Yar'Adua was inaugurated on May 29, 2007.

Yar'Adua initiated a presidential amnesty program for militants in the Niger Delta region in June 2009. The program offered disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration in exchange for an end to attacks on oil infrastructure, leading to a significant reduction in violence.

Yar'Adua died on May 5, 2010, after a prolonged illness. His death triggered a constitutional crisis as he had been absent from the country for medical treatment for months, leading to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan assuming acting powers before eventually becoming president.