Yakubu Gowon

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Yakubu Gowon

Yakubu Dan-Yumma Gowon (pronounced Ngowong ), also called Jack , (born October 19, 1934 in Lur ) was President of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975 .

soldier

Gowon is the son of a Christian missionary and comes from the state of Plateau in the country's Middle Belt . Shortly after Yakubu was born, his parents moved near Zaria , in the state of Kaduna . He joined the army in 1954 and became a second lieutenant on October 19, 1955 . He received his training in the Gold Coast (Ghana) and Great Britain , at times also in Sandhurst . In 1961 he took part in the United Nations operation in Congo . After training at Staff College in Camberley, he was transferred to the Congo for a second time. By 1966 he rose to lieutenant colonel and was commanding a battalion . Up until that time he had not appeared politically.

In a bloody military coup against the civilian government of President Nnamdi Azikiwe in January 1966, many leading figures from the north and west of the country were killed, including Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa . The putschists, in turn, were predominantly Igbo , including the new President Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi . Gowon became Chief of Staff of the Army.

president

Gowon himself was not involved in the coup on July 29, 1966, in which Ironsi was overthrown and murdered. The new rulers, led by Murtala Mohammed , finally chose him as the new president. He rejected Ironsi's plans to transform Nigeria from a federal to a centralized state.

Conflict with Ojukwu

Pogroms against Ibo in many regions of Nigeria led to tensions with the eastern region, which is predominantly inhabited by Ibo, under the military governor Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu . Gowon met with him on January 4th and 5th, 1967 in Aburi, Ghana, where both sides were able to reach an agreement. When Ojukwu withdrew the oil revenues of his region from the central government in Lagos , Gowon announced on May 5, 1967, that the country would be divided into twelve states instead of three regions, whereby the state with a predominantly Ibo population had neither oil deposits nor access to the sea would have remained.

Biafran War

Ojukwu responded on May 30, 1967 with the declaration of independence for the Republic of Biafra . For the next 30 months, conquering the breakaway eastern region of Gowon was a priority. In doing so, he was able to rely on the material help of Great Britain and the Soviet Union . The war, which killed around 100,000 soldiers and at least a million civilians, ended on January 12, 1970 when Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo accepted the Biafra surrender .

With the end of the war, Gowon opted for a policy of reconciliation under the motto no victor, no vanquished (no victor, no defeated) and announced an amnesty for most of the people involved in the secession . His post-war program was under the motto Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation ("Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation").

Fall

With the help of increasing oil revenues, Gowon was able to initiate extensive infrastructure and social programs. The 1972 ban on foreign majority holdings in many areas of the Nigerian economy was later to hurt the country very much, as it allowed a few Nigerians with good contacts to make large profits.

On October 1, 1974, contrary to previous promises, Gowon declared that a return to civilian government would not be possible in 1976 and postponed this indefinitely. An important event at the end of his presidency was the signing of the Lagos Treaty on May 28, 1975, establishing the ECOWAS economic community . Under the leadership of Murtala Mohammed, he was deposed on July 29, 1975 while attending the summit of the Organization for African Unity in Kampala .

Exile and return

Gowon went into exile in England after his fall . He studied political science at the University of Warwick and made his Doctor of Philosophy . After the assassination of his successor on February 13, 1976, he was linked to the events; however, the allegations were dropped in 1981 by President Shehu Shagari and he was able to return. For a while he was a member of the Nigerian Senate.

For several years he has been devoting himself to social issues such as improving the water supply in slums and fighting the Guinea worm , the latter together with the foundation of former American President Jimmy Carter . He continues to speak out on political issues and takes part in international conferences on educational and social issues. On July 20, 2005, he became Chairman of the Nigerian Bid Committee for the 2014 Commonwealth Games .

Quotes

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“The trouble with military rule is that every colonel or general is soon full of ambition. The navy takes over today and the army tomorrow. "

“The problem with military governments is that any colonel or general is quickly gripped by ambition. Today the navy takes power and tomorrow the army. "

Trivia

The German embassy in Abuja was at Yakubu Gowon Crescent .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gowon, Yakubu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gowon, Yakubu Dan-Yumma; Gowon, Jack
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Nigerian politician, President of Nigeria (1966–1975)
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Lur