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Former head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, has revealed
how 46 hours after his arrival in Nigeria in 1966 from a
course in the United Kingdom, providence and insistence by
junior military officers led to him reluctantly becoming the
head of state at the age of 32 years old.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sunday ahead of his 80th birthday
today, Gowon said he didn’t even want to be the head of
state, but the love for his country and the confidence that his
fellow officers had in him, influenced him to change his mind.
He added that the decision became one of the biggest
challenges in his life.
“I never had any question of being a head of state, but as it
happened, I am a soldier, I love my country, and I want to do
whatever I can in my profession for the country. I was out of
the country and when I came back in early January from
abroad and arrived home in Nigeria, within 46 hours of my
arrival, there was unfortunately a coup, and all my
colleagues from the same school, from the same area, were
killed. I was the only one of that particular group that is alive
today,” the general said.
Speaking further on how he became head of state, Gowon
said, “If you remember, there was about 48 hours when
nobody was head of state and the permanent secretaries
wanted somebody to be head of state from whom they could
receive orders to carry out their duties.”
He said it was then the young military officers decided that
they wanted him to become the head of state. “It was the
young officers that more or less put me there. But it was
approved by senior officers,” he said.
Introspectively looking at the 30-month civil war of 1967,
Gowon said it remains another big challenge he faced to
ensure Nigeria remained united.
According to him, they did their best then to stop the riots in
the north and return the country to normalcy, peace and
progress, but the civil war became unavoidable when the
independence of Biafra was declared by Ojukwu.
In addition, General Gowon said he initially wanted to use
only police action to restore order in the east. “You can be
sure that the civil war was a result of the declaration of
independence by Ojukwu. If there was no declaration, or him
saying they had broken up from the country, honestly, there
would not be civil war. There would probably have been only
police action to restore law and order, and that was what I
tried to do before the civil war.
“There would have been police action, so that we can bring
back the break-away into the fold. But when it went beyond
that, with the invasion of the Mid-West and that they wanted
to come to Lagos and probable divide the rest of the country
from the central government, it was at that stage that I
changed and said it should be full military action.”
Speaking further on some of the greatest challenges he had
to face as Nigeria’s head of state, Gowon revealed that he
never really wanted to be Nigeria’s leader when he was
called upon to become one.
“I didn’t want to be head of state, I just wanted to be left with
the Army so that I could restore the discipline, the loyalty, the
love of the country that we had before. The younger officers
said no, they didn’t want anybody else to give them
leadership but me, because they knew the sort of officer I
was as the adjutant in one of the battalions and later
Adjutant-General of the Nigerian Army, who was in charge of
their wellbeing.
“They respected me so much and out of that, they said I
would be the one. So, that was how I became the head of
state, not that I wanted it, but since the junior officers would
not accept any other senior officer from any part of the
country except me,” he said, adding that he agreed to their
demand because he has been trained to face any situation
and deal with it.
According to him, the civil war was not a total war against a
total enemy, but against only those who were against the
unity of Nigeria. He further explained that, that was why the
civil war was fought in such a way to ensure minimal
damage and hurt.
The end of the civil war, according to the former head of state
with a PhD in Political Science, was one of his happiest day,
and the fact that the end of the civil war didn’t see the
emergence of guerrilla warfare.
how 46 hours after his arrival in Nigeria in 1966 from a
course in the United Kingdom, providence and insistence by
junior military officers led to him reluctantly becoming the
head of state at the age of 32 years old.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sunday ahead of his 80th birthday
today, Gowon said he didn’t even want to be the head of
state, but the love for his country and the confidence that his
fellow officers had in him, influenced him to change his mind.
He added that the decision became one of the biggest
challenges in his life.
“I never had any question of being a head of state, but as it
happened, I am a soldier, I love my country, and I want to do
whatever I can in my profession for the country. I was out of
the country and when I came back in early January from
abroad and arrived home in Nigeria, within 46 hours of my
arrival, there was unfortunately a coup, and all my
colleagues from the same school, from the same area, were
killed. I was the only one of that particular group that is alive
today,” the general said.
Speaking further on how he became head of state, Gowon
said, “If you remember, there was about 48 hours when
nobody was head of state and the permanent secretaries
wanted somebody to be head of state from whom they could
receive orders to carry out their duties.”
He said it was then the young military officers decided that
they wanted him to become the head of state. “It was the
young officers that more or less put me there. But it was
approved by senior officers,” he said.
Introspectively looking at the 30-month civil war of 1967,
Gowon said it remains another big challenge he faced to
ensure Nigeria remained united.
According to him, they did their best then to stop the riots in
the north and return the country to normalcy, peace and
progress, but the civil war became unavoidable when the
independence of Biafra was declared by Ojukwu.
In addition, General Gowon said he initially wanted to use
only police action to restore order in the east. “You can be
sure that the civil war was a result of the declaration of
independence by Ojukwu. If there was no declaration, or him
saying they had broken up from the country, honestly, there
would not be civil war. There would probably have been only
police action to restore law and order, and that was what I
tried to do before the civil war.
“There would have been police action, so that we can bring
back the break-away into the fold. But when it went beyond
that, with the invasion of the Mid-West and that they wanted
to come to Lagos and probable divide the rest of the country
from the central government, it was at that stage that I
changed and said it should be full military action.”
Speaking further on some of the greatest challenges he had
to face as Nigeria’s head of state, Gowon revealed that he
never really wanted to be Nigeria’s leader when he was
called upon to become one.
“I didn’t want to be head of state, I just wanted to be left with
the Army so that I could restore the discipline, the loyalty, the
love of the country that we had before. The younger officers
said no, they didn’t want anybody else to give them
leadership but me, because they knew the sort of officer I
was as the adjutant in one of the battalions and later
Adjutant-General of the Nigerian Army, who was in charge of
their wellbeing.
“They respected me so much and out of that, they said I
would be the one. So, that was how I became the head of
state, not that I wanted it, but since the junior officers would
not accept any other senior officer from any part of the
country except me,” he said, adding that he agreed to their
demand because he has been trained to face any situation
and deal with it.
According to him, the civil war was not a total war against a
total enemy, but against only those who were against the
unity of Nigeria. He further explained that, that was why the
civil war was fought in such a way to ensure minimal
damage and hurt.
The end of the civil war, according to the former head of state
with a PhD in Political Science, was one of his happiest day,
and the fact that the end of the civil war didn’t see the
emergence of guerrilla warfare.
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