Yakubu Gowon

Yakubu Gowon , 1934-, Nigerian head of state. After entering the Nigerian army in 1954, he advanced (1966) to battalion commander. After Nigeria's second bloody coup in 1966, he was appointed commander in chief of the armed forces and head of the military government. The army put down (1967-70) the secessionist Biafran government of General Ojukwu independent of Gowon, but he led Nigerian reconciliation through his personal influence, becoming a major African leader by 1975. While out of the country in 1975, he was overthrown and began a life of exile in England.

Gowon, Yakubu (1934– ) Nigerian general and statesman, head of state (1966–75). He seized power in 1966, ousting the leader of an earlier military coup. Following the Biafran civil war (1967–70) he maintained a policy of ‘no victor, no vanquished’ which helped to reconcile the warring factions. Gowon was himself removed in a military coup in 1975.

Gowon, Yakubu (b. 19 Oct. 1934). Nigerian head of state 1966–76 Born in Lur Pankshim, he was a graduate of Zaria Government College and joined the Nigerian army. He attended the Royal Military College at Sandhurst (UK) and Camberley Staff College, and was appointed lieutenant-colonel in 1963. Not implicated in the coup of 15 January 1966, he became leader of the government following a second coup on 29 July 1966. He was immediately faced with the Biafran War, which he had won by 1970. Keenly aware of the importance of international support, he had invited foreign observers to monitor his troops' conduct of the war. To make unity viable in the long run he insisted that the Biafra region was not to be punished, and Biafran soldiers be treated with respect. In 1970, he announced plans for an eventual return to civilian rule by 1976, though this was delayed in 1974. In 1976, while he was abroad, he was deposed in a bloodless coup. He has since lived mostly in England, graduating with a doctorate in political science from the University of Warwick.