Olayiwola Matthew
The Federal Executive Council has approved the renaming of the University of Abuja (UniAbuja) to Yakubu Gowon University.
Mohammed Idris, the minister of information, spoke at the 14th council meeting of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He addressed state house correspondents after the meeting, which is the last for 2024.
Idris said the renaming of UniAbuja is to honour General Yakubu Gowon (retd) who recently celebrated his 90th birthday.
The minister emphasised that the proposal to rename the university will be forwarded to the national assembly for formal approval, ensuring that the change is officially recognised.
Yakubu Gowon is a retired Nigerian military officer who served as the head of state from 1966 to 1975.
He became Nigeria’s youngest leader at the age of 31 following a counter-coup during a period of severe political instability.
Gowon is best known for leading Nigeria during the civil war (1967–1970), a conflict sparked by the secession of the southeastern region.
Under his leadership, Nigeria adopted the slogan “to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done”, preserving the country’s territorial integrity.
Post-war, Gowon initiated the “no victor, no vanquished” policy and a reconstruction project aimed at healing national divisions.
Gowon’s tenure was also marked by significant economic growth fueled by an oil boom, which he leveraged to embark on large-scale infrastructure projects and the expansion of education.
In 1975, Gowon was overthrown in a bloodless coup while attending an Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in Uganda.
After his ouster, he spent years in exile, pursued academic studies, and later became an advocate for peace and unity in Nigeria.
Established in 1988, UniAbuja was designed as a dual-mode institution, offering both conventional and distance learning programmes to cater to a diverse student population.