The complete story of Edith Ike and Gowon’s romance, including how General Gowon first disputed his son’s paternity until acknowledging it after 48 years. Image one shows young Musa Ngodadi Gowon in the United States with his mother, Edith Ike.
Image two shows a young Musa in his early twenties leading a colorful life in the United States.
Image three shows a young Edith Ike (left) with her mother.
Image four shows a young Edith Ike in the early 1960s.
Image five: Musa Gowon, affectionately known as “Big Mus,” in the early 1990s
Beautiful Edith Ike Okogwu with her kids Richard Ike Dapo and Musa Gowon in image six.
On August 1, 1966, 31-year-old Yakubu Gowon was appointed Nigeria’s youngest military head of state.
In his capacity as the nation’s leader, he oversaw the 1966–1970 Nigerian Civil War. During that period, a particular Edith Ike was romantically linked with the vivacious Lieutenant Colonel Gowon in a marriage-preparation relationship. However, because of Gowon’s prosecution during the Civil War, it was believed that Edith Ike ended the passionate romance. According to reports, she objected to the way Nigerian troops, led by a man she was seeing, slaughtered and crippled her fellow Igbos during the civil war. Her parents had resided in the north for more than thirty years before that, despite being from Aro-Ndikelionwu in the Orumba North Local Government of Anambra State. After the 1966 pogrom’s initial wave, they moved to the East.
During this time, Edith Ike gave birth to a boy for Gowon. Its name was Musa Jack Ngodadi Gowon. After Gowon rejected her plans to relocate to the United States or the United Kingdom, Edith Ike traveled to West Germany on June 30, 1967. Later on, she left Germany and immigrated to the US. Toward the end of 1968, Edith Ike and Gowon’s affair came to an end. This followed the July 14, 1968, NAF napalm bombing of Aba General Hospital by Federal Troops, which resulted in the deaths of almost 500 patients. Musa was born in 1968, although Gen. Yakubu Gowon denied that he was his father. On April 19, 1969, Gowon wed his present wife, nurse Victoria Zakari, during the height of the Civil War.
After living in the United States for decades, Edith Ike eventually left her son Musa behind and returned to Nigeria. She became well-known in Nigeria as a public relations specialist, working with Guinness PLC and other businesses. She remarried twice: to Nze Mark Odu and later to Dr. Okongwu. The argument about Musa’s paternity dragged on. Later, it became the focus of a case that made it all the way to Nigeria’s Supreme Court, where Edith Ike prevailed. Gowon, however, would not claim the child as his own. The young Musa, meantime, was reported to have lived a lavish lifestyle in the United States after joining a Colombian drug cartel.
He was found in possession of hard drugs in 1992 while traveling from Germany to the United States. He insisted that he had been set up and strongly denied any involvement in the crime. On November 18, 1992, Musa was sentenced to 40 years in jail in the United States at the age of 23 and lost his mother to cancer in December 2003 while in U.S. custody. Musa completed a graduate course while incarcerated and earned a law degree. Musa Gowon was given a presidential pardon by the Barrack Obama administration in 2015, following 22 years in prison. Due to his good behavior while incarcerated, he was released. His 40-year prison term was essentially halved as a result.
US officials deported him to Nigeria on January 1, 2016. Yakubu Gowon eventually admitted Musa’s fatherhood later that year. This came when Musa was identified as his biological son via a comprehensive DNA test. The 48-year-old paternity controversy over Musa Gowon was essentially resolved by this. After a trying time, Gen. Gowon acknowledged Musa as his son and asked for solitude in a statement. “A DNA test was recently conducted to ascertain the paternity of Musa Gowon, who recently returned to the country, after years of doubts and speculation,” he stated.His paternity was confirmed by the test results, which were definitive. After a very trying time in his life, we, the family, are trying to help him get back on his feet.
In addition to Musa, Ibrahim Bala was the son of General Gowon and his wife, Victoria. Musa Gowon and former Vivienne Agbonkhese are blissfully wed. On Saturday, June 11, 2021, they were married in Benin City.
Since then, Musa Gowon has become a well-known fashion designer from Nigeria. His name is Musa Jack Gowon, and he owns MJG Fashions. The apparel firm creates custom-cut and embroidered African attire. The company has stores all over Nigeria, including Abuja, and factories in Enugu and Lagos. For those who appreciate fine clothing and needlework, Musa designs what many consider to be well-designed garments, and MJG styles have become increasingly popular in the fashion industry over time.
