“By the time I tried to intervene and called the government house, it was already too late,” Gowon stated
22 June 2025,
Sheriff Oyewole
Former military head of state, Retired General Yakubu Gowon has stressed that he was not prepared to rule Nigeria when he mounted the podium of leadership in 1966
Former Retired General, who ruled Nigeria between 1966 and 1975 emphasized that ome training helped him in ruling Nigeria
Gowon made the Confession that he wasn’t trained to rule but benefitted from his proper home upbringing and training to pilot the affairs of the nation.
“I’ve had a good upbringing from home, from school, from various military training, you know, and of course, growing up in a very strict, prestigious state. I was not prepared,, simply to move to Nigeria, but, you know, I was for them to, as a loyal soldier, you know, to be loyal to my country, to be loyal to my head of state, and to that idea in my country. So I had that upbringing, and also, I was in the British training, especially at the Staff College in Benin, teaching you how to deal with any issue, any problem, whether you know it or not, how to appreciate, we used to call it, appreciate the situation. so that upbringing and training certainly helped me in a lot of ways, but certainly I was not trained to rule, but at least, given sufficient upbringing to be able to, you know, deal with the situation the best way you can.”
While Speaking In an exclusive interview with Arise News on Wednesday, Gowon denied his awareness about the planned coup that unseated General Agunyi Ironsi which facilitated his unexpected emergence into office, stated that he only learnt of the development at the early hours through a phone call
“By the time I tried to intervene and called the government house, it was already too late,” Gowon stated
Gowon who ruled the Country for Nine years was however overthrown in a bloodless coup while he was attending an OAU summit in Kampala, Uganda. On July 29th 1975 after which hid Government was Succeeded by General Muritala Mohammed / Obasanjo regime.
