Alhaji Mohammed Goni was a civil servant who was Governor of Borno State,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

(1979–1983) in the

Nigerian Second Republic The Second Nigerian Republic was a brief formation of the Nigerian state which succeeded the military governments formed after the overthrow of the first republic. Background Contested elections and political turbulence in the Western region en ...

Background

Mohammed Goni was born in 1942 in Kareto, Mobbar Local Government Area, Borno State. He attended

Maiduguri Maiduguri is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria. The city sits along the seasonal Ngadda River which disappears into the ''Firki'' swamps in the areas around Lake Chad. Maiduguri was founded in 1907 as a mil ...

Middle School (1953–55), Borno Provincial Secondary School (1956–61), Provincial Secondary School,

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

(1962–63) and the Institute of Administration,

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, A ...

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna State, Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau, Zazzau Emirate ...

(1964–87), where he gained a BA (Administration), specialising in international affairs. In 1977, he transferred to the Nigerian National Supply Company.

Governor of Borno State

In April 1979, Mohammed Goni resigned from the National Supply Company and entered politics. He was elected as the first civilian governor of the former Borno State, on the platform of the Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP), and was in office from October 1979 to September 1983. He was also part of the Progressives Coalition led by Chief

Obafemi Awolowo Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Yoruba nationalist and Nigerian statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement (1957-1960). Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe O ...

. Goni founded the Borno Radio Television (BRTV) to counter the propaganda which was being pumped out of the Federal Government owned and sponsored

Nigerian Television Authority The Nigerian Television Authority or NTA is a Nigerian government-owned and partly commercial broadcast station. Originally known as Nigerian Television (NTV), it was inaugurated in 1977 with a monopoly on national television broadcasting, after ...

(NTA). In retrospect, his period of office was considered one of achievement when compared with his successors. Before the 1983 elections, Goni transferred to the

Unity Party of Nigeria The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was a Nigerian political party that was dominant in western Nigeria during the second republic (1978-1983). The party revolved around the political leadership of Obafemi Awolowo, a sometimes polemical politician ...

(UPN), running unsuccessfully for reelection against the

Nigerian People's Party The Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) was one of the major political parties that contested elections in the Nigerian Second Republic. The party was made up of three major groups: the Lagos Progressives, Club 19, and the Nigerian Council of Understanding ...

(NPP) candidate Sheikh Jarma. In the case of Federal Electoral Commission v Alhadji Mohammed Goni (1983), the Supreme Court of Nigeria condemned cross-carpeting by political officeholders.

Later career

Mohammed Goni was a member of the committee that drafted the 1995 Constitution. In the April 2003 general elections he ran on the

United Nigeria People's Party The United Nigeria People's Party was a political party in Nigeria formed and led by Chief Donald Etiebet during General Sani Abacha's military era. At the 12 April 2003 legislative elections the party won 2.8% of popular vote, 2 out of 360 seat ...

(UNPP) platform as vice-presidential candidate with

Jim Nwobodo James Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo (born 9 May 1940) is a Nigerian businessman and politician who was governor of Anambra State (1979–1983) during the Nigerian Second Republic and was Senator for Enugu East Senatorial District in Enugu State (1999� ...

as the presidential candidate. They were not elected. In January 2011 he was elected by PDP delegates in Borno state to be their gubernatorial flag-bearer in the April 2011 elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goni, Mohammed 1942 births 2020 deaths Nigerian Muslims Governors of Borno State Great Nigeria People's Party politicians Unity Party of Nigeria politicians United Nigeria People's Party politicians