who's who

profile

General Yakubu Dan-Yumma Gowon (Jack)
Nigeria

General Yakubu Dan-Yumma Gowon (Jack)

Former Military Head of State (1966-1975)

Date of Birth: 19/10/1934
Place of Birth: Lur, Plateau State

Education: St Bartholomew’s School, Wasasa, Zaria, 1939-49; School Certificate, Government College, Zaria, 1953; Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, United Kingdom, 1955-56.

Career: Second Lieutenant; Adjutant, batallion, 1960; peacekeeping mission, Congo-Kinshasa, 1961-62; Lt-Colonel, 1963; Head of the Federal Military Government and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, 1966-75; Exile, 1975-83; Founder, the Yakubu Gowon Centre for Development Studies, Jos; Initiator, Nigeria Prays, 1997 to date.