When General Gowon got to London, he was offered official accommodation by the Nigerian government which he, however, turned down for a variety of reasons. After some weeks at the Portman Hotel, he moved into the house of an old friend – Mr Emmanuel Otti – at 472 Finchley Road, London. The delay was to enable the house to be redecorated by Mr and Mrs Otti and Brigadier Sam Ogbemudia (who had been in the UK when the coup took place in Nigeria). Other friends came to the assistance of the family. It was not until September 1975 that he began to get his pension and gratuities as a retired Four-Star General.
In the nine years he had been Nigeria’s ruler he had not built himself a single house, inside or outside the country, nor did he expropriate one kobo of government money. Unlike some of those who served under him, his total savings throughout his service years as well as his years as Nigeria’s leader was N75,000 – all of which was inside Nigeria. In time to come this would stand in stark contrast to the conduct of and personal fortunes of most of those who conspired to remove him from office – or benefited from it.
Once settled in with his family, the General, who was offered several Masters Degree programmes, signed up for undergraduate studies in Political Science at Warwick University. Newspapers in Nigeria later carried news items and photographs depicting the former Nigerian leader carrying trays in a student cafeteria in the UK. The Muhammed regime was embarrassed and therefore dispatched Brigadier TY Danjuma (who, took Kano born Col. Wali along) to ask Gowon adopt a supposedly more dignified stance. Gowon rejected the overture and reassured his “embarrassed sympathisers” that he was comfortable with his situation. (Conceivably nothing could have been more embarrassing than to be overthrown while attending an OAU summit).
He made friends among the Nigerian students at Warwick, including a family friend of mine, Desmond Guobadia, now a legal practitioner in Lagos. Meanwhile his spouse, the former First Lady, Mrs Victoria Gowon (who was a nurse) registered as a catering student at a University College in London.”
After his overthrow, there was a commission of enquiry to probe General Gowon. At the end of it all, he was never found guilty of corruption. Also, two of his governors, Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson and Brigadier Oluwole Rotimi were cleared of corruption charges.
In foreign affairs, he excelled
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is one of the achievements of the leaders of West African in the seventies. It has just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, today, the ECOWAS is in comatose, whereas it was designed to strengthen cooperation and unity among the West African sub-region.
It was formed on May 28, 1975
General Gowon was one of the founders of that body. The President of Republic of Dahomey, Lt-Colonel Mathieu Kerekou, the President of the Republic of Gambia, Sir, Dawuda Jawara, the President of the newly independent Republic of Guinea- Bissau, Mr. Luiz Cabral, the President of Ivory Coast, Mr. Felix Houphouet Boigny, the President of Liberia, Dr. William R. Tolbert Jr. and the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mr. Moktar Ould Daddah personally led their countries’ delegations to the historic summit and signed the treaty.
Other personal signatories were the Head of State of the Republic of Niger, Lt-Colonel Seyin Kountche, the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr Siaka Stevens, the President of the Republic of Upper Volta, General Elhaj-Abubachar Sangoule Lamizana, the President of Togo, General Gnassingbe Eyadema and the Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon- the last two pioneers of the final successful effort at forming ECOWAS.
Plenipotentiaries at the summit were Major Amadou Bala Diarra, Vice-President, representing President Moussa Traore of the Republic of Mali, Dr Lansana Beavogui, Prime Minister, representing President Ahmed Sekou Toure of the Republic of Guinea, Mr Abdou Diof, Prime Minister, representing President Leopold Sedar Senghor of the Republic of Senegal and Lt-Colonel R.J.A. Felli, Commissioner for Economic Planning, representing the Head of State of the Republic of Ghana, Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
It is no exaggeration that General Yakubu Gowon was the brain behind the establishment of the following companies. These companies with their locations and the percentage of Federal Government shareholding are as follows: Anambra Motor MFG. Co. Ltd.-Anambra-35 per cent; Nkalagu Cement Co. Ltd. (Expansion)-Anambra-10 per cent; Steyr Nigeria Ltd.- Bauchi-35 per cent, Ashaka Cement Company Ltd.-Bauchi-30 per cent; New Nigeria Salt Company Ltd-Bendel-100 per cent; Delta Steel Company Ltd.-Bendel-100 per cent; Nigerian National Shrimp Co Ltd.-Bendel-51 per cent; Nigeria National Fish Co Ltd-Bendel-66 per cent; Benue Cement Company Ltd.- Benue-39 per cent; Calabar Cement Company Ltd.- Cross River-40 per cent; Nigeria Newsprint Mfg. Co. Ltd.-Cross River-80 per cent; Serwood Industries Ltd.- Cross River-20 per cent; Opobo Boa Yards Ltd.-Cross River-43.75 per cent; Savana Sugar Company Ltd.-Gongola-72 per cent; Aba Textile Mills Ltd- Imo-70 per cent and Electricity Meters Company Ltd.-Kaduna-80 per cent.
Others were Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd.-Kaduna-35 per cent; Batagarawa Steel Rolling Mill-Kaduna-100 per cent; Super Phosphate Fertilser Co.-Kaduna-100 per cent; North Brewery Ltd.-Kano-50 per cent; National Truces Manufacturing Co. Ltd.-Kano-35 per cent; Nigeria Sugar Company Ltd.-Kwara-19.7 per cent; Ajaokuta Steel. Ltd.-Kwara-100 per cent; Nigeria Paper Mills Ltd-Kwara-100 per cent: Lafiagi Sugar Company Ltd.-Kwara-90 per cent: Nigeria Yeast and Alcohol Manufacturing Co. Ltd.- Kwara-51 per cent; Flour Mills of Nigeria-Lagos-12 per cent; West Africa Distillers Ltd.-Lagos-100 per cent; Volkswagen of Nigeria Ltd-Lagos-35 per cent; NICHEMTEX Industries Ltd.-Lagos-9.23 per cent, Sunti Sugar Company Ltd.-Niger-90 per cent; West African Portland Cement Co. Ltd.-Ogun-20 per cent; National Salt Company Ltd.-Ogun-100 per cent.
There were also Nigeria National Paper Manufacturing Co. Ltd.-Ogun-70 per cent; Nigeria Transformers Ltd.-Ogun-65 per cent; Nigeria-Romania Wood Industries Ltd.-Ondo-25 per cent; Leyland Nigeria Ltd.-Oyo-35 per cent; Oshogbo Steel Rolling Mill-Oyo-100 per cent; Jos Steel Rolling Mill-Plateau-100 per cent and Sokoto Cement Company Ltd-Sokoto-31 per cent.
If I may ask, how many of these companies or industries are still operating today?
In the domestic front, bodies like the National Bank for Commerce and Industry established on April 2, 1973, the National Insurance Cooperation of Nigeria established on July 1, 1969, the National Oil Corporation, now NNPC established on April 1, 1971, the Nigerian Standard Organisation established on December 1, 1971, the Industrial Research Council of Nigeria established in June 1971, the Nigerians Enterprises Promotion Board established February 22, 1972 and the Nigerian National Supply Limited established in January 1972. These are some of the initiatives established by General Yakubu Gowon.
To be continued tomorrow.
Teniola is a former Director in the Presidency.
