Barrister (Colonel) Yohanna Anteyan Madaki (1941–2006) was Governor of

Gongola State Gongola State is a former administrative division of Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the Adamawa and Sardauna Provinces of North State, together with the Wukari Division of the then Benue-Plateau State; it existed until 27 Augus ...

and then of

Benue State Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 among the 7 states created at that time.The state derives its name from the Benue River which is th ...

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 ...

during the military regime of General

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...

Background

Yohanna Madaki was born in 1941 in Ziturung Ka̠ryi,

Zangon Kataf Zangon Kataf (Tyap language, Tyap: Nietcen-A̱fakan) is a Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area in Southern Kaduna, southern Kaduna State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Zonkwa. It is also a name of a town (Tyap lang ...

Local Government Area in

Kaduna State Kaduna State ( ha, Jihar Kaduna جىِهَر كَدُنا; ff, Leydi Kaduna, script=Latn, ; kcg, Sitet Kaduna) is a state in northern Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna which happened to be the 8th largest city in ...

. He attended the then St Paul's Primary School in

Zonkwa Zonkwa is the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area as well as the Bajju Chiefdom headquarters, in southern Kaduna state in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. Geography Landscape Zonkwa possesses an elevation of 798m. Climate Zonkwa has an avera ...

and thereafter proceeded to the Nigerian Military School (NMS) Zaria. Upon completing the NMS program, he enlisted as a Private in the Nigerian Army and served in various Battalions before proceeding to the Mons Cadet Officer Academy at Aldershot England. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army on completion of this course. He served actively during the

Nigerian civil war The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

and later in various capacities, including Colonel AQ at the 2nd mechanised division,

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

and member of the Special Military Tribunal (Ibadan Zone) 1984-85. Whilst in Ibadan he enrolled for the LLB program at the University of Ibadan and earned his law degree in 1984 then proceeded to the law school and was called to the bar in 1985. He was married to Sarah Yanshi and had 5 children, Dorothy, Julie, Astirah, Gagarin, Cindy.

Military Governor

Yohanna Madaki was appointed Military Governor of the defunct

(now Adamawa and

Taraba Taraba can refer to: * Taraba State * Taraba River The Taraba River is a river in Taraba State, Nigeria, a tributary of the Benue River. It joins the Benue on a floodplain 10 km wide and 50 km across. The major towns along the River Ta ...

) in 1985, and was posted from Gongola State to

as the Military Governor from August to September 1986. In his brief administration of Benue State he was unable to achieve much. While governor of Gongola State in 1985, in a controversial action he sacked the Emir of Muri in the present day

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

, saying: His grounds were the confiscation of land by the Emir from the local people. The land was returned to the original owners. After Benue state he was posted to the Nigerian Army Legal Service and retired shortly thereafter.

Later career

Yohanna Madaki retired in 1986 and went into full legal practice in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...

. He was engaged in many legal battles, often providing service free of charge to needy people, particularly those in the military. He engaged in a prolonged legal battle to save former military governor of

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa Ib ...

, Major General

Zamani Lekwot Zamani Lekwot (born 19 July 1944) in Jankasa, is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the military governor of Rivers State, Nigeria from July 1975 to July 1978 during the military administration of Generals Murtala Muhammed and Olu ...

from execution. He also served as a member of the 2nd Constituent Assembly in 1988 as well as member of the Presidential Committee on Reforms at the University of Ibadan in the year 2000. In later years he became the first National Legal Adviser of the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP). In this role, in May 2003 he described a trip to various countries of the campaign organisation of

All Nigeria People's Party The All Nigeria Peoples Party (abbr. ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria. Under the leadership of Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke who was its vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 presidential elections. The party w ...

(ANPP) presidential candidate, General

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

, as an act of treason. In 2001 he was appointed to the Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as Chairman for a term. Colonel Yohanna Anteyan Madaki (rtd) died on 20 May 2006 in a London hospital after a brief illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madaki, Yohanna Nigerian Army officers 1941 births 2006 deaths Governors of Benue State Governors of Gongola State Military personnel of the Nigerian Civil War Deaths in England University of Ibadan alumni 20th-century Nigerian lawyers