General Yakubu Gowon was the Head of State (Head of the Federal Military Government) of Nigeria from August 1966 to October 1975. He took power after one military coup d'état and was overthrown in another. During his rule, the Nigerian government successfully prevented Biafran secession during the 1967–1970 Nigerian Civil War.
Early life
Gowon is an indigene of Lur, a small village in the present Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State. His parents, Nde Yohanna and Matwok Kurnyang, left for Wusasa, Zaria as Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionaries in the early days of Gowon's life. Gowon was the fifth of eleven children. He grew up in Zaria and had his early life and education there.
