‘You shall all have a special role to play in making Nigeria a great nation and a happier society. We owe it to our posterity and to African people everywhere to triumph in our enterprise in nation building.‘ -YAKUBU GOWON, Nigeria’s Head of State, 1st October, 1970.

Okay, before I start, me I have a confession to make…lol I am particularly fond of General Yakubu ‘Jack’ Gowon and have a soft spot for him. I really can’t explain why but maybe it was because he was the youngest to become the Head of State (at that time, he was a bachelor and the youngest ruler in Africa), his smartness (especially in uniform) or for his philosophically calm way of handling the things life threw at him, I really can’t say but I promise you to try to be as factual as possible without getting carried away with my sentiments for the fine Angas gentleman from Plateau State. LOL! His green-white coloured biography was the first I bought and read of any Nigerian leader and it was pure fun, I tell you! Now, let’s have the cameras rolling!

OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

BIRTH

EARLY DAYS AND GROWING UP

EDUCATION AND MILITARY TRAINING

LOVE, ROMANCE AND MARRIAGE

FAMILY AND CHILDREN

BECOMING NIGERIA’S YOUNGEST LEADER

AS HEAD OF STATE

GOWON’S CABINET: THE FEDERAL MILITARY GOVERNMENT (FMG)

THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LATE GENERAL MURTALA MUHAMMED, HIS SUCCESSOR

CAREER IN THE MILITARY

ACHIEVEMENTS & EVENTS UNDER GOWON

HIS OVERTHROW

CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM

HIS EXILE

PERSONAL STYLE AND FUN THINGS ABOUT GENERAL GOWON

HONOURS, AWARDS & LEGACY

GOWON TODAY
___________

BIRTH
It all started on a Friday, 19th of October, 1934, in the tiny village of Lur, Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State in North Central Nigeria, the family of Mallam Nde Yohanna Gowon and Mama Saraya Matwok Kurnyang Gowon welcomed a cheeky baby boy to the world. He was fifth out of eleven children (but wait o, people dey born pikin for that time o, if pesin try that one today, omo na die!) The elated family organized a naming ceremony and christened the little baby: YAKUBU CINWA DAN-YUMMA GOWON. The little baby would later become the youngest head of state of the world’s most populous nation.

EARLY DAYS AND GROWING UP

After his birth, Gowon’s parents left the small village for Wusasa in Zaria, Kaduna State to work as missionaries for the Church Missionary Society (CMS). As a result, Nigeria’s 3rd Head of State grew up in the city of Zaria and had some of his education there too.

EDUCATION AND MILITARY TRAINING

While in school in Zaria, Gowon was very outstanding in athletics. While in the first year, he broke the school’s mile record and would later become the boxing captain of the school. That is also in addition to the fact that he was the football goalkeeper, long distance runner and pole vaulter (or is that the secret to his long life ni? Lol! #Just wondering). Gowon actually was initially interested in becoming a teacher but while in school, he was a natural leader and many, including his Principal clamoured for him to join the Army. Until the very last day in a year in 1953, when virtually all of his friends went for the army recruitment exercise, that he felt since all friends were going, he should also join the army. He went to his Principal and told him of his intention to join, his Principal was very excited he even wrote to the adjutant of the army to give him a chance. Gowon was the last person to arrive for the screening and of all of his friends, he was actually the only one chosen to join the Nigerian Army, 24th May 1964 was the day he joined the army, in his own words. A funny incident: when he told his Principal he was going for the exercise but he didn’t have transport fare, his Principal responded that since he was a cross country runner, he could catch up with his colleagues, and that was what he did

-St. Bartholomew Christian Missionary School, Zaria, Kaduna State.

-Barewa College (then Government College), Zaria.

-1954: Regular Officers Special Training School (ROSTS), Teshie, Ghana

-1955-1956: Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, United Kingdom (later joined the infantry).

-1962: Staff College, Camberley Joint Service Defence College.

-1965: Joint Staff College, Latimer

-1983: University of Warwick

LOVE, ROMANCE AND MARRIAGE
When Gowon became the Head of State, he was the youngest leader in Africa. But there was something more seductive than his youth and fresh smiles: he was a bachelor. #winks! He was romantically linked to Edith Ike, reportedly his Igbo girlfriend. On the 31st of January, 2003, a case appeared before the Supreme Court of Nigeria (Suit No: SC.64/97) and the appellant was General Gowon (Gowon v. Ike-Okongwu (2003) 6 NWLR (Pt.815)38 with Mrs. Edith Ike-Okongwu, Kayode Ajala and True Tales Publications Limited joined as respondents.

In 1969, he got married to his heartthrob and a nurse, Miss Victoria Zakari. It was during the civil war and some condemned the event as flamboyant and extravagant.

READ MORE HERE>>>http://.com/yakubu-gowon-nigerias-wartime-leader/

First!
Was thinking about u not writing anything on gowon... Before now, u wrote on all d past Mil presidents, leaving out gowon and obj. 9ice

Always a delight to read your articles. Keep up the good work.

Total RUBBISH!!! who cares about Gowan. I'm sure he has a special place in the pits of hell waiting for him.

@freewilly, hate to agree with u, what is to celebrate in all these x leaders that r supposed to be in jail if we had a decent govt.
go on with one nigeria they call him then, more lyk go on with 36 nigeria now. def. achieved nuffin IMO.
any nija 1 uragua 1 now

The comments on this thread will be summarized in only ONE word: HATRED! Surely, if any one comes soundly BEATEN in a contest, he will have NOTHING GOOD to say about the linchpin of such colossal conquest! So, guys enjoy yourself but the history of what happened will never be re-written!

Not a fan of Yakubu Gowon. "walks out of thread ".

berem: Not a fan of Yakubu Gowon. "walks out of thread ".

LOL You try joor!

Nobody on here has a reason to by hateful towards Gowon.
I'm an Igbo, my family lost members in the civil war, I'm still man enough to say that Yakubu Gowon was a great man. Ikemba General Ojukwu himself died a friend of Yakub Gowon.

If you're the leader of a nation, and it's threatened with civil war, you do what you have to do. Not even a mad man would have done otherwise. Gowon is akin to an Abraham Lincoln to Nigeria. He kept the nation together and paved the way for reunification. I don't like the fact that he did nothing about the pogroms in the north that even brought him to power, but I still respect him nonetheless. No great warrior

I am a child of Biafra and I also have nothing against Gowon.

I do not think he was behind the massacres of Igbos and in the early days of the crisis, he was probably not in control of his govt and I think the senior officer surrending him were to blame.

i don't know for sure, but he just has never come across to me as somebody capable of genocide.

Well done jare Gowon. hatred would kill some people

Thanks General Yakubu Gowon for doing your best and honouring your oath of office to keep the country together

Despite the fact that I have nothing against him as a person.

The fact that he presided over the massacres of Igbos in 1966-67 , which precipitated the civil war is a huge stain on his legacy which he can never recover from.

GenBuhari: Despite the fact that I have nothing against him as a person.

The fact that he presided over the massacres of Igbos in 1966-67 , which precipitated the civil war is a huge stain of his reign which he can never recover from.

But Gowon's people in plateau are now victims of the same massacres, i all the same agree with you that Gowon was magnanimous in Victory not allowing some of the Nigerian military Generals to make igbos Thrid class citizens after the war

Am not a fan of this dude, too extravagant during his reign. Great write up as usual , always enriching my knowledge in general

I will never like this man for once, if this foolish man had acted as he should during the pogroms of 1966 there would never had been a civil war, there would never been a reason/excuse for biafra, there would have never been this strong ethnic oriented politics, Nigeria would have never been hijacked by the neo-colonialist since we knew the war was what opened the door for them.
As if his dilly dallying with the Brits has not destroyed us so far, i also read from wikileaks how he undermined the efforts of well meaning Nigerians in the Pfizer polio scandal that took the lives of Nigerian children. it was documented how the Brits used him before and during the civil war, how he was used even after the civil war, now the Americans torpedoed him again against Nigerians, i think he is just a reactionary scum like Obasanjo, a resident spy/puppet, an unrepentant reactionary and a dirty bastard above all.

I agree with almost everything you said , but I just think he is clueless and not evil psychopath that is Obasanjo.

thoth: I will never like this man for once, if this foolish man had acted as he should during the pogroms of 1966 there would never had been a civil war, there would never been a reason/excuse for biafra, there would have never been this strong ethnic oriented politics, Nigeria would have never been hijacked by the neo-colonialist since we knew the war was what opened the door for them.
As if his dilly dallying with the Brits has not destroyed us so far, i also read from wikileaks how he undermined the efforts of well meaning Nigerians in the Pfizer polio scandal that took the lives of Nigerian children. it was documented how the Brits used him before and during the civil war, how he was used even after the civil war, now the Americans torpedoed him again against Nigerians, i think he is just a reactionary scum like Obasanjo, a resident spy/puppet, an unrepentant reactionary and a dirty bastard above all.

...

dayokanu: Well done jare Gowon. hatred would kill some people

Thanks General Yakubu Gowon for doing your best and honouring your oath of office to keep the country together

Why are you talking with two sides of your mouth? you are thanking Gowon for keeping the country together, and yet you had blamed him for not allowing igbos to go . na wah for you o!

Well, he did his part as head of state.

berem: Why are you talking with two sides of your mouth? you are thanking Gowon for keeping the country together, and yet you had blamed him for not allowing igbos to go . na wah for you o!

Where did I blame him for not allowing Ibos to go?

There is a proper way to secede from a union and if they dont follow it, they deserve to be crushed like it was done

dayokanu:

There is a proper way to secede from a union and if they dont follow it, they deserve to be crushed like it was done

mtscheeew! nonsense talk.

Don't mind him madam. He is not serious.

berem: mtscheeew! nonsense talk.

Which part of it is not serious.

isnt there a way of pulling out of a union? if you decide to do it the way Ojukwu did, then he should be ready for war the same way it happened in the balkans

dayokanu: Which part of it is not serious.

isnt there a way of pulling out of a union? if you decide to do it the way Ojukwu did, then he should be ready for war the same way it happened in the balkans

you are still annoying me with your silly talks. This thread is not about the biafran war or Ojukwu. you better refrain from derailing the thread. Nonsense!

berem: you are still annoying me with your silly talks. This thread is not about the biafran war or Ojukwu. you better refrain from derailing the thread. Nonsense!

So whats the thread about?

The thread mentioned Gowon, mentioned wartime. Can you discuss civil war without mentioning Ojukwu?

GenBuhari: Don't mind him madam. He is not serious.

Yes My General, he shouldn't be taken serious. Dayo is a professional clown. smh.

General, what happened to the Buhari fan thread? it's not been trending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqPZP-NYV0U

dayokanu:

So whats the thread about?

The thread mentioned Gowon, mentioned wartime. Can you discuss civil war without mentioning Ojukwu?

dayo, dayo, dayo, ugboro ole ka m kporo gi? kpa cha anya gi o na abali a! kwara onweghi ugwu. buru kwa nsogbu gi pu o m n'iru. This thread is not about Ojukwu ka m gwaka gi.

I need yo to go there and bump it .

I need your ideas about how to make it to start trending

berem: Yes My General, he shouldn't be taken serious. Dayo is a professional clown. smh.

General, what happened to the Buhari fan thread? it's not been trending.

GenBuhari: I need yo to go there and bump it .

I need your ideas about how to make it to start trending

That's a huge task you are giving me. Anything for you my General. "runs to look for thread "

berem, gbanikiti, ugboro ole ka m kporo gi? kpa cha anya gi o na abali a! kwara onweghi ugwu. buru kwa nsogbu gi pu o m n'iru. This thread is not about Ojukwu ka m gwaka gi.

Berebere kan ki sina, Eni bere oro lo fe idi e gbo. Ko si bi a se peri ilasa, ti a ko ni peri ikoko ti a fi se. Ko si bi a se fe soro nipa ogun abele ti a ko ni soro de ibi arugun omo, abinpabe omo, omo po bi osan bo, Ajantala omo to se irungbon yeuke bi ti odaran yen. Nigba ti oran de le shebi o fere ge lo si ilu abijan ni

dayokanu: berem, gbanikiti, ugboro ole ka m kporo gi? kpa cha anya gi o na abali a! kwara onweghi ugwu. buru kwa nsogbu gi pu o m n'iru. This thread is not about Ojukwu ka m gwaka gi.

Berebere kan ki sina, Eni bere oro lo fe idi e gbo. Ko si bi a se peri ilasa, ti a ko ni peri ikoko ti a fi se. Ko si bi a se fe soro nipa ogun abele ti a ko ni soro de ibi arugun omo, abinpabe omo, omo po bi osan bo, Ajantala omo to se irungbon yeuke bi ti odaran yen. Nigba ti oran de le shebi o fere ge lo si ilu abijan ni

This boy na real Clown! Enjoy the thread with your anti Ojukwu comments. am outta here!