{{Short description|Nigerian general, diplomat and politician (1943–2002)}} {{Use Nigerian English|date=April 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Joseph Nanven Garba | honorific_prefix = [[Major General]] | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NG|CFR|size=100%}} | image = Joseph Nanven Garba 2.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Garba, {{circa|1976}} | office = [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]] | term_start = 1989 | term_end = 1990 | predecessor = [[Dante Caputo]] | successor = [[Guido de Marco]] | office1 = [[Nigeria and the United Nations|Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations]] | president1 = [[Ibrahim Babangida]] | term_start1 = 1984 | term_end1 = 1990 | predecessor1 = [[Yusuf Maitama Sule]] | successor1 = [[Ibrahim Gambari]] | office2 = [[Nigerian Defence Academy#Commandants|Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy]] | term_start2 = July 1978 | term_end2 = July 1979 | predecessor2 = Brig. E.S. Armah | successor2 = Brig. [[Zamani Lekwot]] | office3 = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Nigeria)|Federal Commissioner for External Affairs]] | 1blankname3 = Head of State | 1namedata3 = [[Murtala Mohammed]]<br>[[Olusegun Obasanjo]] | term_start3 = 1975 | term_end3 = 1978 | predecessor3 = [[Arikpo Okoi]] | successor3 = [[Henry Adefope]] | office4 = [[Presidential Guard Brigade (Nigeria)#Commanders|Commander of the Brigade of Guards]] | term_start4 = 1968 | term_end4 = 1975 | predecessor4 = Brig. W.D. Bassey | successor4 = Brig. [[Mamman Jiya Vatsa|M.J. Vatsa]] | birth_name = Joseph Nanven Garba | birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|7|17|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Langtang, Nigeria|Langtang]], [[Northern Region, Nigeria|Northern Region]], [[Colonial Nigeria|British Nigeria]] (now in [[Plateau State]], Nigeria) | death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|6|1|1943|7|17|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Abuja]], Nigeria | spouse = | children = | parents = | relatives = | alma_mater = {{plainlist| * [[Nigerian Military School]] * [[Mons Officer Cadet School]] * [[Staff College, Camberley]] * [[National Defence College (India)]] * [[Harvard Kennedy School]] }} | occupation = {{hlist|Military officer|diplomat|politician}} <!--Military service--> | allegiance = {{flag|Nigeria}} | branch = [[File:Flag of the Nigerian Army Headquarters.svg|21px]] [[Nigerian Army]] | service_years = 1961–1980 | rank = [[File:Nigeria-Army-OF-7.svg|20px]] [[Major general]] }}
'''Joseph Nanven Garba''' {{post-nominals|country=NG|CFR}} (17 July 1943 – 1 June 2002) was a Nigerian general, diplomat, and politician who served as president of the [[United Nations General Assembly]] from 1989 to 1990. He served as [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Nigeria)|federal commissioner for external affairs]] from 1975 to 1978, commandant of the [[Nigerian Defence Academy]] from 1978 to 1979 and commander of the [[Presidential Guard Brigade (Nigeria)|Brigade of Guards]] from 1968 to 1975.
==Early life and military career== Born in [[Langtang, Nigeria|Langtang]], Nigeria, Garba was educated at Sacred Heart School, [[Shendam]] from 1952 to 1957. His early military career began at the [[Nigerian Military School]] in [[Zaria, Nigeria|Zaria]] in 1957, where he studied until 1961. In 1961 he enlisted in the [[Military of Nigeria|Nigerian Army]] and was sent to the [[Mons Officer Cadet School]] in [[Aldershot]], England, before being commissioned as an [[infantry]] officer in 1962. Garba rose through the ranks quickly: amongst his many military command posts<ref name="Online Nigeria">{{cite news |url=http://www.onlinenigeria.com/links/adv.asp?blurb=79 |title=End of a Diplomatic Guru |work=Online Nigeria |date=2002-06-14 |access-date=2006-07-28}}</ref> were [[platoon]] commander of 44th Battalion in 1963, company commander from 1963 to 64, and mortar platoon commander in 1964. He participated in the [[UNIPOM|United Nations Military Observer Mission in India/Pakistan]] (UNIPOM) from 1965 to 1966<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |url=http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/ngguardian/2002/jun/04/article27.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118030816/http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/ngguardian/2002/jun/04/article27.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=18 January 2013 |title=Joseph Garba: 1943-2002 |work=[[The Guardian (Nigeria)|The Guardian]] |date=2002-06-04 |access-date=2006-07-28}}</ref> before being made commander of the [[Presidential Guard Brigade (Nigeria)|Brigade of Guards]] in 1968. He studied at [[Staff College, Camberley]], England, in 1973.
==Participation in the Nigerian Counter Coup of July 1966== Garba, then a Captain with the Federal Guards in Lagos, was one of the many officers of northern Nigerian origin (including Lieutenant Colonel [[Murtala Muhammed]], Major [[Theophilus Danjuma]], Lieutenant [[Muhammadu Buhari]], Lieutenant [[Ibrahim Babangida]], Lieutenant [[Ibrahim Bako]], 2nd Lieutenant [[Sani Abacha]] among others), who staged what became known as the [[Nigerian counter-coup of 1966]] because of grievances<ref name=Siollun>{{cite book|last1=Siollun|first1=Max|title=Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966 - 1976)|year=2009|publisher=Algora|isbn=9780875867090|page=97}}</ref> they felt towards the administration of General Aguiyi Ironsi's government which quelled the 15 January 1966 coup.
==Participation in the 1975 Military Coup== Garba first came to national attention in Nigeria when, on 29 July 1975, he announced the [[coup d'état]] against the leader of the country, General [[Yakubu Gowon]].<ref name="Online Nigeria"/> Garba's speech, broadcast from Radio Nigeria, began with the following statement: {{cquote|Fellow countrymen and women, I, Colonel Joseph Nanven Garba, in consultation with my colleagues, do hereby declare that in view of what has been happening in our country in the past few months, the Nigerian Armed Forces decided to effect a change of the leadership of the Federal Military Government. As from now, General Yakubu Gowon ceases to be head of the Federal Military Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. The general public is advised to be calm and to go about their lawful duties.<ref name="Coup">{{cite web |url=http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui38.htm |title=Military Rebellion of July 29, 1975: The Coup Against Gowon |access-date=2006-07-28|last=Omoigui |first=Nowa |date=2006-07-11}}</ref>}}
Garba was a close ally of Gowon. The coup was led by junior military officers unhappy at the lack of progress General Gowon had made in moving the country towards [[democracy|democratic]] rule, and Garba's role as an insider is credited with ensuring that the coup was bloodless.<ref name="Coup"/> Garba and Gowon later reconciled to the extent that Gowon attended Garba's funeral in Langtang in 2002.<ref name="Ogbaru">{{cite web|url=http://www.ogbaru.org/garbarememberd.html |title=Joe Garba: A Man Before His Time |access-date=2006-07-28 |last=Obaze |first=Oseloka |date=2003-06-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504003348/http://www.ogbaru.org/garbarememberd.html |archive-date=4 May 2006 }}</ref>
==Diplomatic career== Following the coup, Garba made a shift from the military to politics and diplomacy. In 1975 he was appointed Nigeria's [[Foreign Minister of Nigeria|foreign minister]] (Federal Commissioner for External Affairs) by [[Murtala Mohammed]], and continued in this role under [[Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ]] after the former was assassinated in 1976. Garba was the head of the Nigerian delegation to the [[United Nations General Assembly]] from 1975, culminating in his appointment as President of the [[United Nations Security Council]] in January 1978.<ref name="UN bio">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/ga/55/president/bio44.htm |title=Joseph N. Garba (Nigeria) Elected President of the Forty-Fourth Session of the General Assembly |access-date=2006-07-28 }}</ref>
In 1978, as Ọbasanjọ was preparing to hand rule of Nigeria over to civilians, Garba was reassigned to the role of Commandant of the [[Nigerian Defence Academy]]. He held this position until 1980, when he left to study at the National Defence College in [[New Delhi]], India. Following this, Garba studied as a fellow at [[Harvard Kennedy School]] at [[Harvard University]], where he obtained a [[Master of Public Administration|Master's degree in Public Administration]].<ref name="UN bio"/>
Returning to diplomatic life, Garba was appointed a [[Permanent Representative]] to the [[United Nations]] in 1984, a role he continued in until 1989. In 1989, he was elected [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]] for its [[Forty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly|forty-fourth session]]. During his tenure, the [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]] was adopted into international law. In the post of president, Garba was also an outspoken opponent of [[apartheid]] in South Africa.<ref name="UN commemoration">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/ga/president/57/pages/speeches/statement021028-GeneralGarba.htm |title=Commemoration Ceremony for Major-General Joseph Nanven Garba |access-date=2006-07-28 |last=Kavan |first=Jan |author-link=Jan Kavan |date=2002-10-28 }}</ref> Garba remained president for the [[Sixteenth special session of the United Nations General Assembly|sixteenth]], [[Special session of the United Nations General Assembly|seventeenth]], and [[Special session of the United Nations General Assembly|eighteenth]] special sessions of the assembly, on Apartheid, [[drug abuse]], and international economic co-operation respectively.
==Later life== In 1979, Garba was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic, and made a Grand Officer of the ''Ordre National Du Bénin'' ("National Order of [[Benin]]"). He wrote a number of books, including ''Revolution in Nigeria: Another View'' (1982), ''Diplomatic Soldiering'' (1987), and ''Fractured History: Elite Shifts and Policy Changes in Nigeria'' (1995), and was awarded an [[Honorary degree|honorary doctoral degree]] from the [[State University of New York]] in 1991.<ref name="Online Nigeria"/>
Garba spent four years (1992-1995) in New York directing the Southern African Peacekeeping and Peacemaking Project, which focused on the security challenges facing a changing southern African region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZ30qyqIguoC&q=garba+directing+South+Africa++peace+making&pg=PA13|title=Toward a New Africa Policy|last=Jacqz|first=Jane Wilder|date=1977-01-01|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=9780878557547|language=en}}</ref> A key focus of the project was the restructuring of the security forces for a new and post-apartheid South Africa. The findings and results of the project were published in two volumes in 1993 and 1994. On 26–28 January 1994, in Harare, Zimbabwe, he brought together for the first time military commanders from South Africa and their counterparts from the ANC and the southern Africa region, as well as international security experts for a conference on restructuring South Africa’s security forces.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} His input, role and engagement with some senior South African military and police commanders in South Africa, including Lt. General [[Pierre Steyn]], General [[Johannes Geldenhuys|J.J. Geldenhuys]], Major-General [[Bantu Holomisa]] and Lt. General Sebastian J. Smit, Major-General George Fivas, and commanders from the neighboring countries would prove instrumental to the smooth transition of the South African military in the post-apartheid era.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} [ see, Restructuring the security forces for a new South Africa.]
In his later years, Garba was reported as holding a desire to lead Nigeria, and said so publicly in 1995.<ref name="Ogbaru"/> During the Abacha transition program he was a member of the [[United Nigeria Congress Party]] (UNCP), In the fourth republic he joined the [[All Nigeria People's Party]], although he was never elected to public office. From 1999, he was Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Nigeria, and while carrying out the duties of this office in [[Abuja]] he died on 1 June 2002. Garba was survived by his wife and six children.
Following his death the president of the [[Nigerian Senate]], [[Anyim Pius Anyim|Anyim Pius]], described Garba as "one of [Nigeria's] finest diplomats, patriots and staunch advocates of an indivisible and indissolable African continent",<ref name="Allafrica">{{cite news |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200206030715.html |title=Nigeria: Tributes Pour in For Garba |access-date=2006-07-28|last=Cobb Jr. |first=Charlie |newspaper=Allafrica.com |date=2002-06-03}}</ref> referring to Garba's strong belief in and advocacy of [[Pan-Africanism]].
==Publications== *{{cite book |last=Garba |first=Joseph Nanven |title=Revolution in Nigeria: Another View |year=1982 |publisher=Africa Books |location=London |isbn=0-903274-15-9}} *{{cite book |last=Garba |first=Joseph Nanven |title=Diplomatic Soldiering: Nigerian Foreign Policy, 1975-1979 |year=1987 |publisher=Spectrum Books |location=Ibadan |isbn=978-2461-76-8 }} * Garba, Joseph Nanven (1993). The ''Honour To Serve: reflections On Nigeria’s Presidency of the 44th U.N. General Assembly''. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria). {{ISBN|978-129-285-7}} * Garba, Joseph Nanven (1993). ''Towards Sustainable Peace and Security in Southern Africa''. New York, N.Y.: Institute of International Education. * Garba, Joseph Nanven (1994). ''Restructuring the security forces for a new South Africa'', New York, N.Y.: Institute of International Education {{ISBN|978-0-87206-210-8}} *{{cite book |last=Garba |first=Joseph Nanven |title=Fractured History: Elite Shifts and Policy Changes in Nigeria |year=1995 |publisher=Sungai Books |location=Princeton |isbn=0-9635245-4-2 }}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons}} *{{C-SPAN|3697}} {{S-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box | before=[[Dante Maria Caputo]] |title=[[President of the United Nations General Assembly]] | years= 1989–1990 | after=[[Guido de Marco]] }} {{s-off}} {{succession box | before = [[Arikpo Okoi]] |title=[[Foreign Minister of Nigeria]] | years = 1975–1978 | after = [[Henry Adefope]]}} {{S-end}} {{Presidents of the UN General Assembly}}
{{Foreign Ministers of Nigeria}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garba, Joseph Nanven}} [[Category:Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School]] [[Category:People from Plateau State]] [[Category:Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly]] [[Category:Foreign ministers of Nigeria]] [[Category:Nigerian generals]] [[Category:Participants in the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup]] [[Category:Participants in the 1975 Nigerian military coup]] [[Category:Participants of coups in Nigeria]] [[Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni]] [[Category:1943 births]] [[Category:2002 deaths]] [[Category:Permanent representatives of Nigeria to the United Nations]] [[Category:Commanders of the Order of the Federal Republic]] [[Category:Nigerian Army Brigade of Guards Commanders]] [[Category:Nigerian Defence Academy Commandants]] [[Category:Nigerian Military School alumni]] [[Category:Tarok people]]