Nigerian History Series – General Yakubu Gowon

General Yakubu Gowon – Born in 1934

General Yakubu Gowon was born on 19 October 1934, in Lur – a village in present day Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State, in Northern Nigeria.

Early Years

Yakubu was the fifth of eleven children. His missionary parents moved to Wusasa in Zaria when he was quite young. This is where he had his early life and education.

He was a keen athlete and so he excelled at goalkeeping, pole vault and boxing. He also enjoyed long distance running and as a result, he broke the school mile record in his first year.

Education

Gowon joined the Nigerian Army in 1954. He trained at the renowned Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England from 1955 to 1956. He received further education and training at the Staff College in Camberley in 1962.

In 1965, he attended the Joint Staff College, Latimer in England. He was twice on the frontline as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Congo, from 1960 to 1961 and in 1963.

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During his military career, he rose from second lieutenant in 1955 to lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to battalion commander in 1966.

1966 Military Coup

The military coup of January 1966 led to the overthrow of Nigeria’s civilian government. Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi became Head of State, and made Yakubu ‘Jack’ Gowon Nigeria’s youngest military Chief of Staff at the age of 31.

The coup disproportionately targeted northern and western leaders. Gowon retuned from England a few days earlier and only narrowly escaped being on the hit list.

The perceived failure of Gowon’s predecessor – Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi – to meet Northern demands for the prosecution of the coup plotters inflamed northern anger.

Head of State (1966 – 1975)

The counter coup of July 1966 saw Gowon emerge as the Head of State. Up until then, he had no involvement in politics.

Yakubu Gowon’s background was unusual because he is a Northerner but neither Hausa nor Fulani. Nor is he of the Islamic faith.

This made him a particularly safe choice to lead a nation whose population was reeling from ethnic tension.

Gowon was ruler during the deadly Nigerian Civil War, with an estimated death toll of 3 million civilians recorded. The war lasted thirty months and ended in January 1970.

At the end of the war, Gowon declared that there was neither victor nor vanquished.

In this spirit, he followed up with an amnesty for the majority of those who had participated in the Biafran uprising.

The following years were to be a period of rehabilitation, reconstruction, and reconciliation. The idea was to repair the extensive damage done to the economy and infrastructure of the Eastern Region.

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The worldwide oil-price boom of 1973, increased the federal government’s ability to undertake these tasks. Unfortunately, some of these efforts never materialised.

Nigeria enjoyed an exponential, oil-fuelled, economic upturn, with increased earnings from oil revenues. This period also saw a rapid increase in corruption, mostly perpetuated by federal government officials.

The Head of State himself was never found complicit in any corrupt practices, but he was often accused of turning a blind eye to the activities of his allies and staff.

Nigerianization & Corruption

At the height of the oil boom in 1972, General Gowon introduced the Indigenization Decree and several sectors of the economy became closed to foreign investment.

According to some, this had negative repercussions on the Nigerian economy. Although its immediate impact was unnoticeable, many including the foreign press severely criticized the move.

The decree provided gains to several well connected Nigerians, and proved detrimental to other non-oil sectors of the economy. There were reports of a rise in corruption and stories of fake import licenses being issued.

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In October 1974, Gowon announced an indefinite postponement of return to civilian rule. This was a blatant contradiction of his earlier promise when he assumed office.

Such was the level of corruption that the port of Lagos became jammed with hundreds of ships trying to unload 20 million tons of cement in the summer of 1975.

The port could only process one million tons of cargo per year. However, agents of the Nigerian government had managed to sign contracts with over 60 different international suppliers. The contracts were poorly drafted and in favour of the suppliers.

Gowon’s government did not act swiftly. And when it eventually did, the government decided to impose an embargo on all inbound shipping. This tied up the country in litigation all around the world.

1975 Nigerian coup d’état

Amid allegations of unprecedented levels of corruption within his government, these scandals gave rise to discontent within the army. On 29 July 1975 while Gowon was attending a summit in Kampala, a group of officers announced his overthrow.

It was a bloodless coup which saw the appointment of Brigadier Murtala Muhammed as head of the new government.

Gowon went into exile in the United Kingdom, where he gained a Doctorate degree in Political Science, from the University of Warwick.

He was implicated in the coup d’état of February 1976 which led to the murder of his successor – General Murtala Muhammed. He was subsequently declared wanted by the Nigerian government, stripped of his rank and had his pension cut off.

Second Republic President – Shehu Shagari – pardoned Gowon, while military ruler – General Ibrahim Babangida – restored his rank in 1987.

Charity work & Award

Gowon is involved in the global fight against guinea worm. He works in partnership with the Global Fund of Geneva on the HIV Eradication programme.

He is the founder of the Yakubu Gowon Centre – an organization that focuses on entrenching good governance and help in the control of infectious diseases.

In November 2004, the World Peace Prize Awarding Council awarded Gowon with the World Peace Prize Top Honour. This was in recognition of promoting economic growth, maintaining national stability and organizing a symbolic peace conference in the African region.