The 1979 Nigerian governors represented a new political generation. On 1 October 1979, nineteen elected state executives took office as Nigeria ended more than thirteen years of continuous military government and inaugurated the Second Republic.
Their emergence marked a major constitutional change. Nigeria moved away from the parliamentary system of the First Republic and adopted the presidential model established by the 1979 Constitution. State governors became independently elected chief executives, while Shehu Shagari assumed office as President of Nigeria.
Nearly 47 years later, two members of that original gubernatorial class remain alive: Jim Nwobodo, the former governor of old Anambra State, and Muhammadu Awwal Ibrahim, the former governor of Niger State and Emir of Suleja.
Their survival provides an important connection to one of the most ambitious democratic experiments in Nigeria’s political history.
The 1979 Nigerian Governors and the Return to Civilian Rule
The transition to the Second Republic began under the military government headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo. Elections were conducted in stages during July and August 1979, including the governorship election of 28 July.
On 1 October, Obasanjo transferred power to President Shehu Shagari, the candidate of the National Party of Nigeria. The peaceful handover introduced a new federal political order in which executive power was divided between the elected president and the governors of Nigeria’s nineteen states.
Five political parties won governorships.
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The National Party of Nigeria secured seven states. The Unity Party of Nigeria won five, while the Nigerian People’s Party controlled three. The Great Nigeria People’s Party and the People’s Redemption Party each won two states.
The geographical distribution reflected the political strengths of the parties. The Unity Party of Nigeria was particularly successful in the Yoruba-speaking South-West. The Nigerian People’s Party won old Anambra, Imo and Plateau states, while the National Party of Nigeria assembled a broader coalition across northern and southern Nigeria.
The Complete Class of 19 Governors
The original governors who entered office at the beginning of the Second Republic were:
Jim Nwobodo, Anambra State, Nigerian People’s Party
Abubakar Tatari Ali, Bauchi State, National Party of Nigeria
Ambrose Alli, Bendel State, Unity Party of Nigeria
Aper Aku, Benue State, National Party of Nigeria
Mohammed Goni, Borno State, Great Nigeria People’s Party
Clement Isong, Cross River State, National Party of Nigeria
Abubakar Barde, Gongola State, Great Nigeria People’s Party
Sam Mbakwe, Imo State, Nigerian People’s Party
Balarabe Musa, Kaduna State, People’s Redemption Party
Abubakar Rimi, Kano State, People’s Redemption Party
Adamu Atta, Kwara State, National Party of Nigeria
Lateef Jakande, Lagos State, Unity Party of Nigeria
Muhammadu Awwal Ibrahim, Niger State, National Party of Nigeria
Olabisi Onabanjo, Ogun State, Unity Party of Nigeria
Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Ondo State, Unity Party of Nigeria
Bola Ige, Oyo State, Unity Party of Nigeria
Solomon Lar, Plateau State, Nigerian People’s Party
Melford Okilo, Rivers State, National Party of Nigeria
Shehu Kangiwa, Sokoto State, National Party of Nigeria
The list reflects Nigeria’s state structure in 1979. Several of those states were later divided. Old Anambra included territories now found in Anambra, Enugu and parts of Ebonyi states. Bendel was divided into Edo and Delta, Gongola into Adamawa and Taraba, while the old Imo State included present-day Imo and Abia.
Jim Nwobodo: The Young Governor of Old Anambra
Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo was born on 9 May 1940. He entered office as governor of old Anambra State at the age of 39 after winning the 1979 election on the platform of the Nigerian People’s Party.
His administration governed a large and politically significant state whose territory covered present-day Anambra and Enugu states, as well as parts of Ebonyi State.
Education became one of the administration’s most enduring areas of public investment. Nwobodo’s government established the Anambra State University of Science and Technology, an institution that later developed into the Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Nwobodo’s political career continued after the Second Republic. He served as a federal minister and later represented Enugu East in the Senate between 1999 and 2003.
He remained publicly active in 2026. In April, he received a lifetime achievement award recognising his years of public service. In May, he participated in the unveiling of a renovated neonatal and special babies’ ward at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital.
Nwobodo celebrated his 86th birthday on 9 May 2026, making him one of Nigeria’s most prominent surviving politicians from the Second Republic.
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Muhammadu Awwal Ibrahim: From Government House to the Suleja Throne
Muhammadu Awwal Ibrahim became the first elected governor of Niger State in 1979. His name also appears in contemporary records as Muhammad or Mohammed Awwal Ibrahim, reflecting variations in the English spelling of the same name.
He won the Niger State governorship on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria and remained in office until the military coup of 31 December 1983 ended the Second Republic.
Ibrahim later became Emir of Suleja, also known by the traditional title Emir of Zazzau Suleja. His life therefore connects two important forms of Nigerian leadership: elected civilian government and the traditional institution.
As emir, he has continued to receive government representatives, community leaders and development organisations at his palace.
In March 2026, he received a delegation promoting the New Niger Health Agenda. During the meeting, he pledged the support of traditional and religious leaders for immunisation, maternal and child healthcare, hospital deliveries and other public health programmes.
His continuing role as Emir of Suleja makes him the second surviving member of the original class of 1979 Nigerian governors.
Changes in the Governorships Before 1983
The original group of nineteen was not the same as every politician who served as a civilian governor between October 1979 and December 1983.
Several changes occurred before the Second Republic ended.
Shehu Kangiwa, the governor of Sokoto State, died in 1981 after an accident during a polo match. His deputy, Garba Nadama, succeeded him.
Balarabe Musa of Kaduna State was removed from office through impeachment. His deputy, Abba Musa Rimi, became governor.
Abubakar Rimi resigned as governor of Kano State in 1983 and was succeeded by Abdu Dawakin Tofa. In Gongola State, Wilberforce Juta succeeded Abubakar Barde before the 1983 general election.
A second set of changes followed the 1983 elections. Politicians including Cornelius Adebayo, Christian Onoh, Samuel Ogbemudia, Sabo Bakin Zuwo, Victor Omololu Olunloyo, Lawal Kaita, Donald Etiebet and Bamanga Tukur entered government houses shortly before the military takeover.
These men were civilian governors during the Second Republic, but they were not members of the original class elected in 1979.
Prominent party leaders also played major roles without becoming state governors. Aminu Kano led the People’s Redemption Party and contested the presidency but never served as a governor. Adamu Ciroma was a leading National Party of Nigeria politician and presidential aspirant, but he was not governor of Plateau State. Solomon Lar held that office.
Audu Bako was a military governor of Kano before the Second Republic. The civilian governor elected in 1979 was Abubakar Rimi.
These differences explain why the original nineteen governors should be treated as a distinct political generation.
Political Achievement and Democratic Fragility
Several of the 1979 governors left important institutional legacies.
Lateef Jakande became closely associated with mass education, public housing and infrastructure in Lagos State. Ambrose Alli expanded access to education in Bendel State and established the university that was later named in his honour.
Sam Mbakwe became known for his energetic advocacy for the development of Imo State. Bola Ige and Michael Adekunle Ajasin headed governments influenced by the Unity Party of Nigeria’s commitment to free education and social welfare.
Aper Aku oversaw significant public projects in Benue State, while Solomon Lar became one of the defining political figures of Plateau State and later played a major role in the formation of the People’s Democratic Party.
These achievements, however, existed within a republic facing serious political and economic pressures.
Nigeria’s oil revenues declined in the early 1980s. Federal and state governments accumulated mounting financial obligations, while disputes between the federal administration and opposition-controlled states intensified.
The 1983 elections were accompanied by widespread allegations of intimidation, result manipulation and violence. The political crisis weakened confidence in the civilian government and provided the immediate background to the military coup of 31 December 1983.
Major-General Muhammadu Buhari emerged as head of the new military government, bringing the Second Republic to an abrupt end after four years and three months.
The Last Living Connection to the Original Class
The survival of Jim Nwobodo and Muhammadu Awwal Ibrahim carries significance beyond their individual political careers.
Both men entered government during a period of great national expectation. Nigeria was attempting to establish a new constitutional system, strengthen federal institutions and prove that civilian rule could survive after years of military intervention.
Their lives followed different paths after 1983. Nwobodo remained active in national politics, serving as a minister, senator and elder statesman. Ibrahim moved from elected political leadership into the traditional institution as Emir of Suleja.
Together, they represent the last living connection to the nineteen governors who stood at the beginning of the Second Republic.
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Conclusion
The 1979 Nigerian governors formed the first generation of elected state executives under Nigeria’s presidential Constitution.
Nineteen men took office across the federation’s nineteen states on 1 October 1979. Their governments introduced ambitious educational, housing, agricultural and infrastructural programmes, but they also operated within a republic weakened by economic decline, political conflict and disputed elections.
By 2026, only two members of that original class remained alive: Jim Nwobodo of old Anambra State and Muhammadu Awwal Ibrahim of Niger State.
Their continued presence offers Nigerians a rare human link to the democratic hopes, achievements and failures of the Second Republic.
Author’s Note
The history of the 1979 governors demonstrates why political generations must be defined carefully. The men elected at the beginning of the Second Republic were not the same as every governor who served before the military coup of 1983. Remembering the original nineteen, and the two who remain, helps preserve the story of Nigeria’s return to civilian government, the institutions those administrations created and the political weaknesses that ultimately brought the republic to an end.
References
United States Library of Congress Country Studies, “Nigeria: The Second Republic, 1979–83.”
Richard A. Joseph, “The Ethnic Trap: Notes on the Nigerian Campaign and Elections, 1978–79,” African Issues, Volume 11, Numbers 1 and 2, 1981.
Keith Panter-Brick, “Nigeria: The 1979 Elections,” Africa Spectrum, Volume 14, Number 3, 1979.
Niger State Government, “Niger State Governor to Facilitate the Establishment of Tertiary Institutions in Suleja Emirate,” 7 May 2024.
The Guardian Nigeria, “Suleja Emirate Joins Push to Strengthen Healthcare in Niger State,” 14 March 2026.
Premium Times, “Mbah Celebrates Jim Nwobodo on Vanguard’s Lifetime Achievement Award,” 25 April 2026.
Vanguard, “Jim Nwobodo: Celebrating an Icon and a Guru at 86,” 13 May 2026.
Premium Times, “Gov Mbah Unveils Re-equipped Neonatal Ward in Parklane Hospital, Enugu,” 28 May 2026.
