Yakubu Gowon Turns 88 Today

Yakubu Gowon (born 19 October 1934), affectionately known as Jack Gowon, is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquished" speech at the war's end in an effort to promote healing and reconciliation.
The Nigerian Civil War is listed as one of the deadliest in modern history, with some accusing Gowon of crimes against humanity and genocide. Gowon maintains that he committed no wrongdoing during the war and that his leadership saved the country.

An Anglican Christian from a minority Ngas family of Northern Nigeria, Gowon is a Nigerian nationalist, and a believer in the unity and oneness of Nigeria. Gowon's rise to power following the July 1966 counter-coup cemented military rule in Nigeria. Consequently, Gowon is the longest serving head of state of Nigeria, ruling for almost nine years until his overthrow in the coup d'état of 1975 by Brigadier Murtala Mohammed.

Early life

Gowon is a Ngas (Angas) from Lur, a small village in the present Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State. His parents, Nde Yohanna and Matwok Kurnyang left for Wusasa, Zaria as Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionaries in the early days of Gowon's life. His father took pride in the fact that he married the same day as the future Queen Mother Elizabeth married the future King George VI. Gowon was the fifth of eleven children. He grew up in Zaria and had his early life and education there. At school, Gowon proved to be a very good athlete: he was the school football goalkeeper, pole vaulter, and long-distance runner. He broke the school mile record in his first year. He was also the boxing captain.

Early career

Gowon joined the Nigerian Army in 1954, and received his commission as a second lieutenant on 19 October 1955, his 21st birthday. He was trained in the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK (1955–56), Staff College, Camberley, UK (1962) as well as the Joint Staff College, Latimer, 1965. He saw action in the Congo as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, both in 1960–61 and in 1963. He advanced to battalion commander rank by 1966, at which time he was still a lieutenant colonel.

Head of state

In 1966, Gowon was chosen to become head of state. Up until then, Gowon remained strictly a career soldier with no involvement whatsoever in politics, until the tumultuous events of the year suddenly thrust him into a leadership role, when his unusual background as a Northerner who was neither of Hausa nor Fulani ancestry nor of the Islamic faith made him a particularly safe choice to lead a nation whose population was seething with ethnic tension.

Gowon promoted himself twice as Nigerian Head of State. Gowon was a Lt. Colonel upon his ascendancy to the top of the new Federal military government of Nigeria on August 1, 1966 however other senior military officers such as Commodore Joseph Wey, Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe, and Colonel Robert Adebayo were a part of the government and their military seniority to Gowon was awkward. To stabilize his position as Head of State, Gowon promoted himself to Major-General just before the start of the civil war hostilities in 1967 and to full General at the end of the civil war in 1970.

Overthrow

On 29 July 1975, while Gowon was attending an OAU summit in Kampala, a group of officers led by Colonel Joe Nanven Garba announced his overthrow. The coup plotters appointed Brigadier Murtala Muhammed as head of the new government, and Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo as his deputy.

Years in exile

Gowon subsequently went into exile in the United Kingdom, where he acquired a Ph.D. in political science as a student at the University of Warwick. His main British residence is on the border of north London and Hertfordshire, where he has very much become part of the English community in his area. He served a term as Churchwarden in his parish church, St Mary the Virgin, Monken Hadley.

Personal life

Gowon married Miss Victoria Zakari, a trained nurse in 1969 at a ceremony officiated by Seth Irunsewe Kale at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakubu_Gowon

Congratulations sir.

The person above me na just say I loose guard small na why you make ftc fess.


Congratulations country man

WOW, nice, they are all old or dead now, that's life, life is like a story, leave a good life and die.

Stop putting unnecessary things your heard or telling your children about them. Life is short, all those 80+ years can be likened to 8 seconds.

A very great man.

Happy birthday.

Happy Birthday to one of the last……………………….hmmm

this man that has a lot of controversies surrounding his name , hbd

One of the originators of the problems of Nigeria

Happy birthday sir

Happy Birthday Sir

Happy birthday to one of the founding personnels of the country's many problems

Happy birthday papi

Thunder fire him today
A man who mastermind the massacre of our people
His wickedness shall never be forgotten on the face of this earth

Wirewire1m:
One of the originators of the problems of Nigeria

Ome of? This is the man who destroyed nigerias future. If only the aburi accord agreement was follpwed accordongly, we would have been a great nation

One of the very few people that enjoyed Nigeria.

Happy Birthday, Jack.

.

HBD sir & enjoy your old age in peace.
This is what that sick old bat should emulate instead of allowing the foul spirit of emilokan to posses him & expose him to mockery & insults.

Gowon can walk and do things on his own,
OBJ can walk and do things on his own including exercise
While one baba wey dey claim 10years younger than d two generals no fit waka without falling, baba no fit wear cloth urinating on his body

Not interested

A great man, but he was indirectly the cause of a genocide in eastern Nigeria,
Genocide, killings are the result of wars, that is why I keep telling our fellow brothers from the East peaceful agitation is the best way to go, because when the war comes the common man and his children will bear the brunt.
"Cheers "

Bastard .The chief architect of today's useless Nigeria .
The states you hastely created to destroy the regional government is the reason we are in this mess today.

Kano no longer have Groundnut pyramids.
No more textiles in Kaduna.
Where are the massive Cocoa in the southwest ?
What about cassava in the south east ?

Everybody now waits for money from Abuja.

We hope we get it right in 2023 so that hope and employment will return to Nigeria.

He should tell TINUBU to either step down for Peter Obi or allow a free and fair election

Why does he look younger than agbado maester

Happy birthday Gowon the champion of Nigeria's Unity

Aburi Accord . God preserves his life to see the mess Nigeria turn to.