By What we call the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) today was birthed by the efforts of the then Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and his Togolese counterpart, Gnassingbe Eyadema. The duo toured the region in support of the integration idea in 1972.
Thoughts and ideas gathered from this sojourn became the Treaty of Lagos in 1975, which was later revised in 1993 to expand its scope from just economic policies in order to embrace the changing political realities in the region.
Just like every regional-based comity, it took the contributions of leaders of the 15 member nations. In no particular order, here’s a list of these history makers.
Felix Houphouet-Boigny, Côte d’Ivoire
“The Old One” – Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux in French – as he was fondly called, Felix Houphouet-Boigny was the first president of Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), serving between 1960 and 1993. Born October 18 1905, the union leader and farmer rose to political prominence in 1945 when he was elected to the French Parliament. He died on December 7, 1993. He was described as the longest-serving leader in Africa’s history at the time of his death.
William Tolbert Jr., Liberia
Twentieth president of Liberia between 1971 and 1980, William Tolbert Jr. was born in Bensonville, Montserrado County, Liberia, on May 13, 1913. He entered politics in 1943, serving in Liberia’s House of Representatives under the platform of the True Whig Party; the only established political party in the country. Tolbert Jr. also served as Vice President to President William Tubman, a position he held until he became president following Tubman’s death in 1971. As President, he was chairman of the Organization of African Unity from July 1979 until his assassination in April 1980.
General Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria
Born in Northern Nigeria in 1934, Yakubu ‘Jack’ Gowon was Nigeria’s Head of State from 1966 to 1975. Described as a “professional soldier”, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of the Nigerian Army on his 21st birthday in 1955. Gowon’s regime oversaw the bloody three-year Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970. He was later overthrown in a bloodless coup on July 29, 1975 and replaced by General Murtala Muhammed.
General Gnassingbe Eyadema, Togo
Gnassingbé Eyadéma became President of Togo on 14 April, 1967, a position he held until his death. He was born on 26 December, 1935 in the Pya village, Kara Region. Eyadema joined the French army in 1953 and participated in two successful military coups, in 1963 and 1967. He won multiparty presidential elections in 1993, 1998 and 2003, joining the league of longest-serving rulers in Africa. He later died in a plane crash on 5 February 2005.
Dawda Kairaba Jawara, The Gambia
Dawda Kairaba Jawara was Gambia’s first post-independence president who led the tiny West African country for 24 years. A veterinarian by training, he founded the Protectorate People’s Party, later rechristened the People’s Progressive Party in 1959. When Gambia adopted a republican constitution by referendum in 1970, he was elected its first president. He was later removed from power in a 1994 coup by a group of Gambian soldiers led by Yahyah Jammeh. Jawara died in August 2019 at the age of 95.
Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinea
Guinea Political leader and African statesman, Ahmed Sékou Touré led the people of Guinea as the country’s first President. He served from 1958 to 1984. Touré declared his Democratic Party of Guinea (Parti démocratique de Guinée, PDG) the only legal party in the state, in 1960, marking the beginning of more than two decades of his dictatorship. On 26 March 1984, he died of an heart attack while undergoing treatment at a clinic in Ohio.
Moussa Traoré, Mali
Former President of Mali, Moussa Traoré was born on 25 September 1936. A trained solider-turned-politician, he took part in the coup d’état that ousted President Modibo Keïta in 1968. He served as Head of State until March 1991, when he was overthrown by popular protests and a military coup led by the commander of his presidential guard, Col. Amadou Toumani. Traoré died on 15 September 2020, at the age of 83.
Lt-Col Seyni Kountché, Niger
The Damana Fandou-born solider began his military career in 1949 serving in the French colonial army. In 1974, Seyni Kountché assumed the reins of leadership of the Republic of Niger as the President of the Supreme Military Council after sacking the government of the country’s first president, Hamani Diori in a military coup d’état. He ruled the country as military head of state from 1974 to 1987. Kountché died in November 1987 at a Paris hospital.
Leopold Sedar Senghor, Senegal
Senghor was the first President of the Republic of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Renowned poet, writer and politician, born on October 9, 1906 in Joal, Senegal. Nicknamed “the Poet President” for his symbolic poetry, Senghor was elected on September 5, 1960 to lead the Republic of Senegal after independence. He wrote the Senegalese anthem, called the Red Lion. In December 1980, Senghor resigned from office before the end of his fifth presidential term. He died on December 20, 2001 in Verson, France.
General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Ghana
Solider and political leader, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong served as the Head of State of Ghana from 1972 to 1978. He enlisted as a Private in the colonial army in 1951. Using the general discontent on the devaluation of the Cedi by 44%, Acheampong staged a military coup, sacking the Busia’s government. His unpopular regime was ousted in 1978 by his colleagues on the Supreme Military Council. In June 1979, Acheampong was executed by firing squad after he was tried by the J.J. Rawlings-led Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.
Mathieu Kérékou, Benin
Mathieu Kérékou was born on September 2, 1933. He served as President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 as a military dictator and again from 1996 to 2006 under a democratic government. A former aide-de-camp to Dahomeyan President Hubert Maga from 1961 to 1963, he seized power in Dahomey in a military coup on 26 October 1972. His government adopted Marxism-Leninism as the state ideology. He later died in Benin on 14 October 2015 at the age of 82, following undisclosed health problems.
General El hadj Sangoulé Lamizana, Burkina-Faso
Born on January 31, 1916, Aboubakar Sangoulé Lamizana led Upper Volta (later renamed Burkina Faso), as President from January 3, 1966, to November 25, 1980. He also the nominal head of a “provisional military government” until a new Constitution came into being in 1970. In an open election that is considered as one of the most democratic ever held in West Africa, Lamizana was reelected in open in 1978. His government was overthrown in 1980 by Col. Saye Zerbo-led bloodless military coup. At 89, He passed on in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on May 26, 2005.
Luis Cabral, Guinée Bissau
Cabral, alongside five others, founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1956. PAIGC was an anti-colonial movement against the Portuguese authorities. Born Luís Severino de Almeida Cabral, he was the first President of Guinea-Bissau, serving between 1974 and 1980. He was removed from office on November 14, 1980 by a military coup organised by his Prime Minister and former armed forces commander, João Bernardo Vieira, forcing him into exile. Cabral died on May 30, 2009, in Portugal, at the age of 78.
Moktar Ould Daddah, Mauritania
Moktar Ould Daddah was born on December 25, 1924. He served as the President of Mauritania immediately after the country’s independence in 1960 till 1978. As President, he established a one-party state, with his Mauritanian People’s Party as the only legally allowed political party in the country. A military coup led by Lt. Col. Mustafa Ould Salek ousted Dadah on 10 July 1978, leading to his exile. He died in Paris, France on 14 October 2003, after a long illness.
Siaka Stevens, Sierra Leone
Former Prime Minister and President of Sierra Leone, Siaka Probyn Stevens led the country from 1967 to 1985. His party, All People’s Congress (APC) won the keenly contested general elections in 1967. He was sworn in as the Sierra Leone Prime Minister but was overthrown in a military coup days after. Stevens was later recalled into office, becoming the first President of Sierra Leone following the introduction of republic constitution. At the age of 82, he died on 29 May, 1988.
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