Why Yakubu Gowon Was Overthrown as Nigeria's Head of State in 1975
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ค. 2024
- On July 29, 1975, Nigeria’s Head-of-State General Yakubu Gowon was overthrown while attending an Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in Kampala, Uganda. The overthrow would be an unprecedented bloodless one. The first time in Nigeria’s history.
Yakubu Gowon was 31 years and nine months old when he succeeded Major-General Johnson Thomas Umunakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi as Head of State. He went on to rule the country for 9 years. The longest rule ever of Nigeria’s military Heads of State.
Gowon enlisted into the Nigerian Army and trained in Officer Cadet Training School, Teshie, Ghana in 1954. He was the first indigenous Adjutant, Fourth Battalion, Queen’s Own Nigerian Regiment, as the Nigerian Army was then known, between 1960 and 1961 and was Brigade-Major of United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces, Luluabourg, Congo between January and June 1963.
Gowon was promoted Major in 1962, Lieutenant-Colonel in 1963, named Adjutant-General, Nigerian Army from 1963 to 1965, was Chief of Staff in January 1966, became the second military ruler on August 1, 1966, promoted Major-General in 1967, and became a four-star General in 1971.
During the weekend of July 29, 1966, following a violent rolling mutiny that led to the overthrow and murder of Aguiyi-Ironsi, Gowon became the new Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces as he was the most senior army officer from Northern Nigeria. #HistoryVille #YakubuGowon
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Introduction
01:22 - Gowon, the Soldier
02:29 - Gowon, the Diplomat
03:31 - The Nine-Point Plan
03:52 - Political Misadventures
05:15 - Economic Misadventures
06:36 - Was Gowon Corrupt?
10:00 - Marriage
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Watch How Yakubu Gowon Was Overthrown...in 1975 here: buff.ly/3lBrOsN
It's time to review the history, for this man. He also looted the CBN
Gowon shall always be an officerand agentleman. You will never find such statesmen in Nigeria anymore. I will always remember him as a friend of my father. Such humility in his persona
You mean humble thief ?
Are you related to football coach Dediare?
He was evil, a puppet of the North...killed the Igbos in war.
I'm Ghanaian but kinda like Gowon. A lot of infrastructural development happened under him. Gowon was a very young officer chosen to lead in such uncertain times. Gowon was a making of the group that terminated the democratically elected first republic of Nigeria.
I love this channel
Thanks for this
You're welcome.
Many thanks
So he got married while his people died in war. Ojukwu would carry arm in war front. Ojukwu is the true hero
Thanks, Jah bless.
I like the documentary
Fantastic plz keep giving us does history more I hav sucribe with husband
Sure. Thank you.
What _goes_ around, comes *back* around...
How much for the phone price
4:00 picture is crazy when think of the many that starved and died for the wars they waged
Why did he renege on his promise to handover in 1974 by 1976?
My best TH-cam channel
Thanks, David.
'first bloodless coup' how many they had??
Long life sir.
One of Gowon' s aided escaped from Nigeria from new rulers.He had all the secret details, bank accounts if Gowon'.Di you know his name and story?
I am a Kenyan who is keenly following the history of this great nation Nigeria. Did Gowon to exile or he came back to Nigeria after been overhrown?
The second part of the video answers your question.
@oceej0 but the current Kenyan president, Jomo Kenyatta, like many of his colleagues across the continent, is doing all they can, to sell their countries, to China and with a confidence that defies logic and common sense...Zambia, for instance is gone. It has become the litmus test for Chinese take over. What a pity.
@@efemzyekun900 Nonsense .Africa has to develop on infrastructure .The west did nothing but build infrastructure to steal resources .The Chinese government does not support corruption , so the building of infrastructure will be implemented by the Chinese !
@@karmaking4633 stop your nonsense, china is not implementing the construction of any road in Afrika. China is rather contracted to build roads in Afrika any they get payed for that, it may be loans but china is not implementing any shit in Afrika
@@johnlembo2955 Read back what you wrote .You seem confused .
I’m not Nigerian, but from what l have seen the many videos, l can only say that , in a Country like Nigeria , the people did not agitate for the separation of powers, the Judiciary, the legislature, the executive and the army ,when there is no separation of powers it created room for coups every other time the military felt that ,only them had the right to change government at will , the military had too much power and another factor was the issue of each ethnic communities wanting to have control ,hence ignorant of the masses , these issues became deeply rooted in the society and the general undisciplined soldiers took advantage.
Correct.
You managed to make this about why Gowon was overthrown but didn’t once bring up Murtala Muhammed? Yet you brought up Gowon’s 1969 wedding as a factor in his being deposed in 1975?
The Biggest Mistake in Nigeria’s history...
Soro soke !!
Nigeria has never had a good leader NEVER !
Scrap NYSC.
That thing is a scam
O.D.O.O.
Know ya history whom did Yakubu Gowon overthrew?
Godfrey Pamosoo he participated to overthrow ironsi whom participated to overthrow balewa. thereafter, who overthrew gowon and then whom overthrew the overthrower thereafter? na be riddle?
Ogechi pls go back and re-read ya history if at all we have the civil war in our history curriculum. Where is it written that Yakubu Gowon participated in any of the coups before he was overthrown, where? There never was.
Gowon did not succeed J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi, rather he violently overthrew Ironsi by betraying the very man who mentored and regarded him as a son.
Don't blame Gowon. The fault lies with Nzeogwu and Ifeajuna, two hot headed soldiers and incompetent coup plotters. With the 1966 coup, they started a fight they couldn't finish and murdered non-Igbo leaders for which they weren't punished by Ironsi. Their idealism, naivety, and foolishness led to revenge attacks on Igbos which directly led to secession and caused the civil war. Thankfully, both Nzeogwu and Ifeajuna deservedly got shot in Biafra, the first one in battle and the next one by firing squad for trying to betray Ojukwu.
@@DamaniDanDadar I'm not surprised that you relied on a simplistic explanation as your default response. The Nzeogwu coup didn't just occur out of the thin air as you eluded. There were prevailing political instabilities that raged on in the western region engineered by the central government of Abubarkar, which prompted the January 15 1966 coup. The western region was in a failed state, and anarchy, mayhem, and chaos reigned supreme. These disturbances were not caused by Igbo politicians, rather they were caused by primarily by Prime Minister Abubarkar and Akintola and their thugs. The only naivete displayed by Nzeogwu and Ifeajuna was that they were nationalistic, and broadly saw Nigeria from that prism. I wish they had been as tribalistic as you and others. If they had only viewed Nigeria from that narrow perspective of parochialism, yes, they would have finished the damn bloody job. Gowon is a coward then, today and for the rest of his life. How do you like your Nigeria now?
@@primeminister51 Thanks for your response. However, you conveniently avoided the facts in the points I raised and attacked only those that appealed to your personal sentiments. Nobody denies the fact that there was corruption and instability right after independence. That happened even pre-independence under native authority rulers appointed by the British, even with Shagari and Ekwueme to Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha, etc.
My point is this, and please don't avoid it again or lean towards revisionist history. Just because you and I are aggrieved about Nigeria's governance then or now does not give us the right to arbitrarily, extrajudicially, and selectively murder national leaders (Zik and most Igbos excluded!!) in very brutal and personal circumstances, like Nzeogwu and his cohorts did. That was arrogant, poorly thought through, and short-sighted, not "nationalistic". To not foresee or prepare for the enormous reprisal against Igbos was naive. A similar reason was given by Rwanda's Kagame for why he had nothing to do with President Habyarimana's death - the military and strategic worthlessness and the certain genocide of his Tutsi people.
The Nzeogwu coup killings of Nigeria's leaders, some in front of their families, really horrified and riled not just the northerners, but everyone with common sense and fairness including moderate Igbos, the press, and the international community. Except in combat, every professional soldier understands the importance of trying and convicting accused persons before execution. To do otherwise eliminates civility, exposes extrajudicial bias, and opens wounds and grievances that almost never heal - things that continue today and the basis of our conversation here on TH-cam many decades after the war. Examples abound of both clever and idiotic coups... from Chile to Burkina Faso to Suriname to even the Soviet Union. Sadly, Ironsi simply detained rather than try them. In no other government in Nigeria's history have plotters of a failed coup been spared. Then or now, impunity in any system betrays weak leadership and often leads to quiet dissatisfaction amongst the masses at the very least or civil unrest and war at worst. That unbridled and overzealous ambition in both Ifeajuna and Nzeogwu is why Ojukwu never trusted either of them and his intuition was right.
I also disagree with your opinion of Gowon as a coward (everyone knows who the real coward turned out to be). Gowon was not without his faults but he oversaw a difficult civil war, restrained his field commanders as best as he could, re-integrated Igbos, hired Biafran ex-pilots as his presidential pilots and reabsorbed Biafran officers on his staff, preached forgiveness, and prevented retributive attacks on Igbos. He gets an A-minus from me. Ojukwu (God bless his heart) initially had a vision, but constantly argued with his military advisers, drowned his paranoia in imported whiskey and cognac in his "bunker" while his troops fought for his ideals, smoked expensive cigars while his people starved, boasted about fighting to the death himself, but ran away when it mattered most. Despite that, I do still think he was a good man caught on the wrong side of history. He fought a good fight with meagre resources, meant well for his people, and would have been a good founding leader of the Igbo nation. As for Nzeogwu, he reminds me of the typical Nigerian policeman. He shot at an unarmed civilian's home (Ahmadu Bello) with tank fire and assault rifles, killed the man like a dog, and it made him feel like a tough guy. But in his first real fight (in Biafra) where the enemy (Nigerian federal forces) were armed and could shoot back, he was killed instantly. Like the neighborhood bully who finally met his match. Graciously, Gowon still accorded him a full military burial.
The 1966 coup and its results should be mandatory reading for all developing multiethnic societies about how to not usurp a democracy or settle a political grievance. Nigeria will struggle as long as Nigerians adopt that sort of reactionary, subjective, "fire-brigade" approach to addressing problems rather than an inclusive, thoughtful, prepared, unbiased method that respects rights and freedoms.
Those agitating for Biafra are also disillusioned. Why? Because if Igbo state governors couldn't turn their states into distinctly developed and prosperous regions that are economically and infrastructurally comparable to European states or at least different from the rest of Nigeria, despite recent decades of civilian self-rule and billions in free federal funds allocated to them annually, then just drawing a boundary and calling it Biafra to appease a people won't make a difference. It reminds me of George Orwell's classic novel, Animal Farm. At least read the synopsis to understand my analogy. Post-Biafran and contemporary Igbo leaders are known as much for corruption and ineptitude as non-Igbo leaders.
Biafra may have worked in 1967 if it had won. We will never know. Now though, I'm not so sure; everyone's priorities seem misplaced and selfish... from the accomplished Nnewi politician to the fresh Nsukka graduate and to the teenaged apprentice Onitsha shopkeeper. Same applies to the average Nigerian; our conscience is mostly individual not collective, and is singularly fueled by personal/financial gain and materialism. That trait is inherently antithetical to nation building, whether that nation is Biafra or Nigeria.
@@DamaniDanDadar except Nzeogwu did not order the direct killing of all these officers. While you have a basic understanding of what happened you have unfortunately drank from the koolade that is the idea that this was an igbo coup. Please read "why we struck" by Adewale Ademoyega, a westerner and a core member of the coup plotters. Most of the officials who were killed fought their arrest with firearms. The only people who did not were Tafawa Balewa and Okotie-Eboh. Maimalari tried to escape. Ifaejuna made the wrong call in killing Balewa and okotie. I see why he did it. He could not get past a blockade of soldiers to enter lagos holding 2 of the most important people in the country. But still, killing them was wrong. Nzeogwu was reportedly quite unhappy about those 2 particular killings and the subsequent disappearance of Ifeajuna.
I have to ask though, no one seems to criticise Gowon and his coup plotters who he joined for the killing of Fajuyi and Ironsi. They claim "murder" for Balewa and co, but say "he deserved what he got" where Ironsi is concerned. This is not to say that Ironsi was a good leader. He was terribly out of his depth, but did he deserve to die?
Lastly, generally speaking there is hardly any revolution for the better in those times that was not bloodless. It's sad, but it's true. The american war of independence. The civil rights movement. Guerilla warfare by Nelson Mandela in the war on Apartheid befire his imprisonment. Even look at Ghana and what Jerry Rawlings did. Ghana today is far better off for it too. My point is, people want to deny and denounce Nzeogwu and say he was bigoted to discredit what he was trying to achieve. That is the lie Gowon and Ironsi wickedly cooked up to draw the people to their side. They won in the end and thatvis why we are where we are today
@@DamaniDanDadar I enjoyed reading this 👍
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