General Yakubu Gowon led our country at a most difficult period in the course of which we fought a three-year civil war, it stands to reason that he would definitely represent several things to several people. I am also aware of the charge against Gowon, especially with regard to some of the choices he made as a leader the repercussions of which we are still grappling with today. While those are legitimate issues that deserve interrogation, they are not the essence of this intervention which is about the person of Yakubu Gowon.
For a man who ruled this country for as long as nine years and has been around in Nigeria for more than three decades after he returned from exile abroad, it is amazing that there has never been any scandal (financial, political or moral) around Gowon or members of his family. In the particular case of his wife, you hardly see her in any event except those attended by her husband and we are talking of a woman, if we believe all that are in the history books, who once commanded the attention of our nation by her beauty and grace.
In a milieu where the ethos of the leadership elite is that enough is never enough, the Gowons are in a class by themselves. In all the stories of fuel subsidy payment scams, there has not been a Gowon involved and you will not find that name among the private jet owners. In none of the public enterprises that have been privatized has the name of Gowon (or his children) ever been mentioned as one of the buyers or promoters of the bidding companies. I am also not aware of any big edifice anywhere in Nigeria to which someone would point and say “Gowon owns it”.
As a former leader, Gowon carries himself with so much dignity that you cannot but admire him while he lives an almost-perfect family life that you wonder why he chose the military rather than follow his parents into the Christian missionary field. Whatever may be anybody’s misgivings about the stewardship of Gowon as Head of State, what is not in doubt is that he commands respect by the exemplary manner in which he has lived his life outside public office.

elmodee7:
Happy birthday to the general. Slayer of flat headed savage rebels

the bomber of arewa and the raper of afonja. Kudos

kettykin:
I still don't know why this Man is not recognised and respected the way other heads of state are , OBJ , Abdulsalami .seems to carry more respect

because he didnt hand over power to civilians

kettykin:
I still don't know why this Man is not recognised and respected the way other heads of state are , OBJ , Abdulsalami .seems to carry more respect

because he is a traitor

kettykin:
I still don't know why this Man is not recognised and respected the way other heads of state are , OBJ , Abdulsalami .seems to carry more respect

He is recognized and well respected too.

He is just not a very public person.

Centcanada:
because he is a traitor

How is a traitor?

BluntTheApostle:


How is a traitor?

War criminal.
Genocide;
6 million people killed;
In a civilized world ;
Thats a life sentence.
Genocide.

9jah:


War criminal.

How? I have checked the UN list of war crimes, and I did not see any which anyone can claim Gowon perpetrated.

Genocide;

When? Proof of genocide.

6 million people killed;

You expect people not to die? It was a war. Even riots claim lives.

In a civilized world ;
Thats a life sentence.
Genocide.

In a civilized war, you need proof before you can even accuse someone of war crimes.

pennywys:

Crazy man
He send zoo soldiers to kill and maim innocent Biafrans, rape our mothers and grandmothers, thousands of children died of starvation in the lasting civil war that left a great vacuum in our hearts and history
He forced us to remain in this contraption called Nigeria. May his remaining days be darker, may he never find rest the after life, and may his generations to come never find peace on the surface of this earth.

We shall tell these stories to our generations

And you think your curse will work?

He has lived this long despite curses from right and left from those who won't move on.

Azikwe and Ojukwu both moved on before they died. I can't say about Chinua Achebe, though. But you people need to move on.

Birthday while his people are living in fears....

Falseprofet2:


D founder of nysc- the policy that has become a disaster for nigerian youths; killing them as they travel to terrorists enclaves for PPA and also during elections

I see a progressive govt some day coming in and scrapping nysc
I see a reform for nysc to better adjust to new realities

So you want to blame him for the failed NYSC too

The fact that NYSC has failed to achieve its goal is not the fault of the founder, but subsequent governments which failed to reposition or modify the scheme.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASS MURDERER
MAY YOU LIVE LONG TO SEE WITH YOUR EYES.

kettykin:
I still don't know why this Man is not recognised and respected the way other heads of state are , OBJ , Abdulsalami .seems to carry more respect

We don't care about him and his killer friends

BluntTheApostle:


How? I have checked the UN list of war crimes, and I did not see any which anyone can claim Gowon perpetrated.



When? Proof of genocide.



You expect people not to die? It was a war. Even riots claim lives.



In a civilized war, you need proof before you can even accuse someone of war crimes.

The British shield the likes of Gowon and Obasanjo without the British shield ,both will be in jail.
Indeed as the slaughtering of the Igbo progressively worsened, Prime Minister Wilson was unashamedly unfazed when he informed Clyde Ferguson (United States State Department special coordinator for relief to Biafra) that he, Harold Wilson, ‘would accept a half million dead Biafrans if that was what it took Nigeria to destroy the Igbo resistance to the genocide’. Such was the grotesquely expressed diminution of African life made by a supposedly leading politician of the world of the 1960s – barely 20 years after the deplorable perpetration of the Jewish genocide. As the final tally of its murder of the Igbo demonstrates, Nigeria probably had the perverted satisfaction of having performed far in excess of Wilson’s grim target. Predictably, it was to Wilson that the Nigerians turned to, in 1969, to ‘sort out’ the international revulsion generated by the latter’s destruction of the ICRC aircraft as we have already stated.

Without British active involvement in the perpetration of the Igbo genocide, it was highly unlikely that this crime would have been committed. Nigeria did not have an arms-manufacturing capacity then to embark on this terror without external support. Many years later, Nigeria still does not have such an internal military capability. It still relies heavily on Britain, currently the world’s leading arms exporter to Africa, for its supplies.

Most of the key actors in the civil war are still alive. Personalities like Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo still have breath in their nostrils, they appear to have got off free from any forms of sanctions from Africa (and the world) for what are, unquestionably, crimes against humanity. They should come down from their high horses and explain why the government was silent when the Igbo race was being decimated. Gowon should apologise for turning a blind eye when thousands of Igbos were killed under his watch.

The consequences of this Genocide against Biafrans has been catastrophic for Africa. Several regimes elsewhere in Africa are ‘convinced’ of the conclusions that they have drawn from this crime by their Nigerian counterpart: ‘We can murder targeted constituent people(s) at will within the state we control, haul off their prized property and livelihood, comprehensively destroy their cities, towns, villages, communities – precisely their age long, priceless, inheritance. There will be no sanctions from Africa – and the world’. As a result, the Igbo genocide becomes the clearing site for the haunting killing fields that would snake across the African geographical landscape in the subsequent 40 years, with the murders of additional 12 million Africans, since January 1970, by regimes in further genocide in Rwanda, Darfur and Zaïre/Democratic Republic of Congo and other killings in Liberia, Ethiopia, Congo Republic, Somalia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, South Sudan, and Burundi.

9jah:


The British shield the likes of Gowon and Obasanjo without the British shield ,both will be in jail.
Indeed as the slaughtering of the Igbo progressively worsened, Prime Minister Wilson was unashamedly unfazed when he informed Clyde Ferguson (United States State Department special coordinator for relief to Biafra) that he, Harold Wilson, ‘would accept a half million dead Biafrans if that was what it took Nigeria to destroy the Igbo resistance to the genocide’. Such was the grotesquely expressed diminution of African life made by a supposedly leading politician of the world of the 1960s – barely 20 years after the deplorable perpetration of the Jewish genocide. As the final tally of its murder of the Igbo demonstrates, Nigeria probably had the perverted satisfaction of having performed far in excess of Wilson’s grim target. Predictably, it was to Wilson that the Nigerians turned to, in 1969, to ‘sort out’ the international revulsion generated by the latter’s destruction of the ICRC aircraft as we have already stated.

Without British active involvement in the perpetration of the Igbo genocide, it was highly unlikely that this crime would have been committed. Nigeria did not have an arms-manufacturing capacity then to embark on this terror without external support. Many years later, Nigeria still does not have such an internal military capability. It still relies heavily on Britain, currently the world’s leading arms exporter to Africa, for its supplies.

Most of the key actors in the civil war are still alive. Personalities like Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo still have breath in their nostrils, they appear to have got off free from any forms of sanctions from Africa (and the world) for what are, unquestionably, crimes against humanity. They should come down from their high horses and explain why the government was silent when the Igbo race was being decimated. Gowon should apologise for turning a blind eye when thousands of Igbos were killed under his watch.

The consequences of this Genocide against Biafrans has been catastrophic for Africa. Several regimes elsewhere in Africa are ‘convinced’ of the conclusions that they have drawn from this crime by their Nigerian counterpart: ‘We can murder targeted constituent people(s) at will within the state we control, haul off their prized property and livelihood, comprehensively destroy their cities, towns, villages, communities – precisely their age long, priceless, inheritance. There will be no sanctions from Africa – and the world’. As a result, the Igbo genocide becomes the clearing site for the haunting killing fields that would snake across the African geographical landscape in the subsequent 40 years, with the murders of additional 12 million Africans, since January 1970, by regimes in further genocide in Rwanda, Darfur and Zaïre/Democratic Republic of Congo and other killings in Liberia, Ethiopia, Congo Republic, Somalia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, South Sudan, and Burundi.

This is a biased account.

And it doesn't even make sense.

What is war crime?

The blockade is not a crime, as far as non-international war is concerned.

The only war crime I can think of is the Asaba massacre.

OloshoMan:
When is this SIMP gonna die

You termed a Gown a simp. All I know is that he's never a weak man

Kayberg:
I'll just like to ask one question, "Was the civil war necessary?"

Ojukwu was stubborn. A peace talk was arraigned for them twice, Ojukwu and Gowon, at Ghana, but Ojukwu resisted. Nah stubbornness

BluntTheApostle:


This is a biased account.

And it doesn't even make sense.

What is war crime?

The blockade is not a crime, as far as non-international war is concerned.

The only war crime I can think of is the Asaba massacre.

I hate injustice
I hate evil
I hate people who supports genocide
Dont you ever comment on my post again
I hate you
And everyone that support your kind
Bye

Nigerialabalaba:

He is actually, only way older and above dem in military hierarchy. Those 2 no be him set.

You think say e easy to win a war as a sitting Head of State? As he dey so, he did what no other Head of State alive or dead did, he led and won a war for Nigeria. He is already immortalised and will one day be on a national currency. It's because he still dey alive dem never do am. Gen Gowon na a global icon and national legion.

a country that always celebrates mass murderers.
that is how the other one killed 1k people and he was giving an airport and #20 note

Nigerialabalaba:
when you reach house ask your papa why two of una no get sense

Nha so e pain u reach?

kettykin:
I still don't know why this Man is not recognised and respected the way other heads of state are , OBJ , Abdulsalami .seems to carry more respect

He has the blood of my fathers in his hands!

This guy and sunny Ade got this same line of life t live. Rich and long life. That shit is so rare. Happy birthday sir.

Stanchem029:

Anthony m okeke is a cursed scamm@r from the pit of hell. He is a serial impersonator, please stay away from him.

Wonder why Seun can't ban his IP address...

The Ignorant one

kettykin:

Did he really win a war or starve innocent women and children forcing Biafra to surrender to save lives

was he supposed to keep feeding you?
Una no really serious

Solatium:




When did Dollar become yard stick for measuring comfort/success?
How many of those abroad even receive $1500 after tax?

i say you no get sense you begin dey brag of how you are ruining an imaginary business that can outlive your ancestral generation,
You outburst doesn't come to my surprise, it's typical of every brainless ipobian

You're such a jobless !diot.
Please go and take ur drugs pls.
I'm busy

EddyNumerouno:
87 years. wow.

how old is buhari again?

72