Nigerian Embassy Staff In Uganda Donated Money For Me After I Was Overthrown – Gowon

A former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has narrated how staff of the Nigerian High Commission in Kampala, Uganda, raised money for him after he was overthrown in 1975.

Gowon was in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, attending the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit when he was overthrown on 29 July 1975 by coup plotters led by the late Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed.

He also revealed that President Idi Amin wanted to place the Ugandan Air Force at his disposal to fight the coup plotters and return him to power, but he declined the offer.

Gowon made the revelations in his autobiography titled My Life of Duty and Allegiance, which was launched in Abuja on Wednesday.

Gowon was Nigeria’s Head of State for nine years, from 1966 to 1975.

Apart from the staff of the Nigerian High Commission in Kampala, he said members of his entourage also contributed money from their estacodes.

He said the contributions, including what remained of his estacode, amounted to £3,000.

Although he said he initially tried to reject the gesture, they insisted.

In 1975, the exchange rate was pegged at N2 to one pound sterling.

He said: “All I had in my pocket at that moment, when I was removed as Head of State, was the equivalent of £3,000. This amount comprised the remainder of my estacode and voluntary contributions by kind-hearted members of my entourage and staff of the Nigerian High Commission in Kampala.

“I tried to resist their kind gesture but had to acknowledge it with sincere gratitude. Yet, I was happy to have lived a life of fulfilment and contentment. I felt no bitterness towards anyone.”

He explained why Idi Amin was particularly angry when informed of his removal from office, adding that the late Ugandan leader had insisted that he (Gowon) must attend the ECOWAS meeting in Kampala.

According to him, “President Amin visited me in my suite at the hotel. His huge frame could barely contain the anger that had built up inside him after news of the coup in Lagos broke.

“I quite easily understood his dilemma. He felt his insistence on my being in Kampala weakened my flanks, and he honestly could not believe the shabby treatment I had received back home.

“Amin, self-willed as ever, would have none of that. He immediately volunteered to place the firepower of the Ugandan Air Force at my disposal so I could fight the coup makers at home and regain my seat.”

Gowon said that, for a moment, his mind dwelt on the striking similarity between his circumstances and those of Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie on 13 December 1960. Like him, the emperor was betrayed by a trusted commander of the Imperial Guards, Brigadier Mengistu Neway, who conspired to unseat the Head of State during a state visit to Brazil.

He recalled that several lives were lost in the counter-coup that restored Selassie to power, which he eventually lost again in September 1974.

“Although I knew I could fight back to regain my seat as Selassie did in 1960, I quickly asked myself if it was the proper thing to do. Between protecting my personal interest and promoting the interest of my country, I asked which option was right and best to promote unity and progress in Nigeria,” he added.

Although he described Amin’s offer as sincere and persuasive, he said he resisted the temptation because history had repeatedly shown that power was transient.