Gowon weeps as he defends military rule, claims coup saved Nigeria

DDM News

Former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, recently broke down while speaking about the 1975 military coup.

He was addressing an audience during the launch of The Military Factor in Nigeria’s Contemporary History in Abuja, Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) reports.

The retired general served as the chairman of the occasion, which drew military veterans, scholars, and young Nigerians.

While recounting the abrupt end of his tenure, Gowon became visibly emotional, pausing several times during his speech.

He explained how he returned from a Commonwealth meeting in the UK, only to learn he had been removed.

“I was supposed to be on leave,” Gowon said, “but I was summoned and caught in Nigeria’s first political shock.”

He described the sudden removal from power as deeply personal, marking a painful chapter in his life.

Gowon said the coup, led by General Murtala Mohammed, came just 36 hours after his return to Nigeria.

His voice cracked as he recalled the pressure of leading Nigeria during the civil war and its fragile recovery.

Despite admitting the failures of military regimes, Gowon defended the armed forces’ role in keeping Nigeria from collapse.

He said military rule was not ideal but necessary at critical points in Nigeria’s history to maintain national unity.

“Military interventions were not to glorify power,” he stated, “but to respond to national emergencies threatening our existence.”

Gowon warned against glorifying military takeovers, calling them responses to crisis, not models for governance.

He urged the younger generation to avoid repeating the past but instead learn from it to build a better Nigeria.

“We must understand history not to glorify it,” he said, “but to build on its lessons for the future.”

His speech emphasized reflection over nostalgia, especially in evaluating the legacy of military involvement in Nigerian politics.

Gowon’s remarks challenged popular narratives that paint military rule solely as a dark chapter in the nation’s history.

He admitted that democracy suffered under military regimes but stressed that Nigeria’s survival was often at stake.

To younger Nigerians, he said the nation’s future lies in unity, democratic values, and rejecting shortcuts to power.

“Let this moment be a call for deeper national reflection,” Gowon said, appealing directly to Nigeria’s youth.

The event sparked renewed debate over the role of the military in Nigeria’s political evolution and national identity.

Many online shared clips of the emotional speech, praising Gowon’s honesty but questioning his justification for military rule.

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