Gowon, Yakubu (1934– )

Nigerian politician, head of state 1966–75. He became army chief of staff following a coup in January 1966, and five months later seized power in a further coup. Unsuccessful in his efforts to prevent the secession of the eastern region of Biafra, Nigeria was plunged into civil war 1967–70. After leading the federal army to victory, he reunited the country with his policy of ‘no victor, no vanquished’. His later administration was plagued by allegations of corruption and Gowon's failure to timetable a return to civilian rule. Deposed by a bloodless coup in 1975, he went into exile in the UK, returning to Nigeria in 1983.

Gowon was born into a Christian family in northern Nigeria. He joined the army in 1954, and was educated at Sandhurst military college in the UK. Between 1961 and 1962 he served in the Congo as part of the UN peacekeeping force. During his exile in the UK he studied at the University of Warwick, gaining a doctorate in political science in 1984.