His Excellency, General (Dr) Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

General Yakubu "Jack" Dan-Yumma Gowon (born 19 October 1934) was the head of state (Head of the Federal Military Government) of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975.

He was Foreign Minister of Nigeria 1966 – 1967 and also chaired the African Union. Gowon has PhD in  political science at the  University of Warwick.

He is an 'elder statesman’ in African politics, and was an official observer at the Ghanaian presidential elections 2008. Gen. Gowon is also involved in the Guinea Worm Eradication Programme as well as the HIV Programme with Global Fund of Geneva. Gowon founded his own organization in 1992 called the Yakubu Gowon Centre.

The organization is said to work on issues in Nigeria such as good governance, infectious disease control including HIV/AIDS, guinea worm, and malaria.