It is a matter of great honour and a rare privilege for me to be asked to send my best wishes to General Yakubu Gowon a man who formed a substantial part of my moral and patriotic diet when I was growing up. Although I had come into relative maturity, the name of General Gowon rang through a substantial part of that phase of my life and we spoke of the name with reverence and awe.
We heard and saw this very dashingly young and handsome man in great admiration. We were all elated when he married his beautiful and elegant wife, Victoria. They seemed to be a perfect pair that dropped from heaven. At a time when the cross-no-gutter skirt seemed the highest form a fashion statement, the first Lady had a practiced gait that combined a deep moral backbone resting on a beautiful soul. She seemed to do everything right. She was not flamboyant but she exuded character, grace and beauty. With her husband, they both commanded national attention and adulation.
This tribute is for the General, not his wife. However, for me personally, there is something very special about this couple based on the rare privilege that I have had since they unexpectedly opened their doors to me many years ago.
First, the coup that overthrew Gowon then as now remained the subject of controversy. The man exhibited no crooked bone in his body, no visible form of bitterness and, for a country coming out of a war; his healing balm of no victor, no vanquished had begun to take effect. For those of us who loved the man, we did not understand nor accept all the claims that the coup plotters had made against him. The coup against Gowon would later become a metaphor for treachery in the eyes of my simple mother.
After my ordination, she found time to counsel me. Like my grand mother, my mother, then as now, love to speak in metaphors, anecdotes or proverbs to elicit human lessons. You know, she said, if those who were so close to Gowon could betray an innocent, good and God-fearing man like him, then anything is possible. Learn not to expect too much from even your closest friends. Only God is ever faithful. My mother has had to return to this theme even in ordinary conversations and whenever any news of treachery comes up. It has been so many years, but I have not forgotten those words.
Growing up, I never imagined that I would meet General Gowon in real life. Fate however smiled on me sooner than I had ever expected or dreamt of. In 1986, I arrived London to pursue a doctoral programme at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Not knowing any Nigerian in London, I immediately sought out Mr. Eddie Iroh, who had settled as the London Editor of The Guardian. His home would later become my little hang out where I was a frequent guest and was sure of the best pounded yam and all forms of soups that Eddie’s culinary skills could summon at the shortest notice. In Eddie’s house, every Sunday was an exciting seminar of sorts.
In the course of one of my visits, he invited me for the launch of a newly published biography of General Gowon. I was excited at the prospects of seeing General Gowon since I was convinced that an actual meeting was totally out of the question. I arrived the venue and was met by Eddie and Ms. Donu Kogbara. I was chatting with Donu when Eddie walked up and disrupted our conversation as General Gowon walked in: Let me introduce you to the General, Eddie said, literally seizing my hand. I was just thrilled by this unexpected luck, but a more serious shock was just two steps away.
It turned out Eddie had no need making the introduction because as we got close to him, it was the General who stretched out his hand, saying: You are Father Kukah, as we approached him. I enjoy reading your column, The Mustard Seed, in the New Nigerian. Well done, you write well. I was too dumbfounded to speak and just managed a rather fake smile and mumbled a thank you. General Gowon knows me, General Gowon knows me, a little voice kept saying inside me. This little voice literally drowned everything else around the hall and refused to stay quiet. Yes, I had been writing a column at the behest of my friend, Mohammed Haruna in the New Nigerian on Sunday. However, I really could never have imagined or dreamt of the fact that anyone had taken any serious notice, not to talk of General Gowon. More luck lay ahead.