Mohammed Goni
{{Short description|Nigerian politician (1942–2020)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mohammed Goni
| image =
| office1 = Governor of Borno State
| term_start1 = October 1979
| term_end1 = October 1983
| predecessor1 = Tunde Idiagbon
| successor1 = Asheik Jarma
| birth_date = {{Birth-date|1942}}
| birth_place = Kareto, Mobbar LGA, Borno State, Nigeria
| death_date = {{Death-date|29 April 2020}} (aged 78){{Cite web
| url = https://politicsnigeria.com/breaking-former-governor-mohammed-goni-is-dead/
| title = BREAKING: Former Governor, Mohammed Goni is dead
| date = 30 April 2020
| website = Politics Nigeria
| access-date = 30 September 2022
| archive-date = 8 July 2022
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220708230621/https://politicsnigeria.com/breaking-former-governor-mohammed-goni-is-dead/
| url-status = live
}}
| death_place = Maiduguri, Borno
| party =
}}
Alhaji Mohammed Goni was a civil servant who was Governor of Borno State, Nigeria (1979–1983) in the Nigerian Second Republic.{{cite web | last=Aondofa | first=Chila Andrew | title=Mohammed Goni: First Civilian Governor Of Borno State | website=The Abusites | date=2021-04-30 | url=https://www.theabusites.ng/mohammed-goni-governor-of-borno-state/ | access-date=2023-06-07}}
Background
Mohammed Goni was born in 1942 in Kareto, Mobbar Local Government Area, Borno State.
He attended Maiduguri Middle School (1953–55), Borno Provincial Secondary School (1956–61), Provincial Secondary School, Kano (1962–63) and the Institute of Administration, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1964–87), where he gained a BA (Administration), specialising in international affairs.{{cite web
|url = http://www.kanuri.net/borno_personalities2.php?aID=62
|title = Alhaji Mohammed Goni (The first civilian governor of Borno State)
|first1 = Bosoma
|last1 = Sheriff
|first2 = Shettima Maina
|last2 = Mohammed
|publisher = Kanuri Studies Association
|access-date = 14 December 2009
|archive-date = 17 July 2011
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717202150/http://www.kanuri.net/borno_personalities2.php?aID=62
|url-status = usurped
}}
In 1977, he transferred to the Nigerian National Supply Company.
Governor of Borno State
In April 1979, Mohammed Goni resigned from the National Supply Company and entered politics.
He was elected as the first civilian governor of the former Borno State, on the platform of the Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP), and was in office from October 1979 to September 1983.{{cite web
| url = http://news.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=8522
| title = How we underdeveloped Borno North, by Mohammed Goni
| date = 30 September 2009
| first1 = Timothy
| last1 = Ola
| publisher = OnlineNigeria Daily News
| access-date = 14 December 2009
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120225040919/http://news.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=8522
| archive-date = 25 February 2012
}}
He was also part of the Progressives Coalition led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo.{{cite web
| url = http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/21498/1/Only-two-party-system-can-save-Nigeria-Goni/Page1.html
| title = Only two-party system can save Nigeria, Goni
| first1 = Jide
| last1 = Babalola
| date = 11 October 2009
| publisher = The Nation
| access-date = 14 December 2009
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110726120632/http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/21498/1/Only-two-party-system-can-save-Nigeria-Goni/Page1.html
|archive-date = 26 July 2011
}}
Goni founded the Borno Radio Television (BRTV) to counter the propaganda which was being pumped out of the Federal Government owned and sponsored Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).{{cite web
|url = http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/africa%20media%20review/vol3no1/jamr003001010.pdf
|title = Africa Media Review Vol. 3 No. 1. 1988
|publisher = African Council on Communication Education
|year = 1988
|first1 = Jerry K.
|last1 = Domatob
|access-date = 14 December 2009
|archive-date = 25 July 2011
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110725082952/http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/africa%20media%20review/vol3no1/jamr003001010.pdf
|url-status = live
}}
In retrospect, his period of office was considered one of achievement when compared with his successors.{{cite web
| url = http://www.nationaldailyngr.com/77pol2.htm
| title = Tussle for Sheriff's succession
| first1 = Sadiq
| last1 = Abubakar
| work = National Daily
| access-date = 14 December 2009
| archive-date = 5 December 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201205135905/http://www.nationaldailyngr.com/77pol2.htm
| url-status = dead
}}
Before the 1983 elections, Goni transferred to the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), running unsuccessfully for reelection against the Nigerian People's Party (NPP) candidate Sheikh Jarma.{{cite web
|url = http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=2938
|title = Nigeria Should Revert To Parliamentary Govt – Darmai
|first1 = Abdulkareem
|last1 = Haruna
|date = 7 November 2009
|work = Daily Independent
|access-date = 14 December 2009
|archive-date = 24 July 2011
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724024102/http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=2938
|url-status = live
}}
In the case of Federal Electoral Commission v Alhadji Mohammed Goni (1983), the Supreme Court of Nigeria condemned cross-carpeting by political officeholders.{{cite web
|url = http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/10/06/coup-against-bauchi-state-anpp-4/
|title = Coup against Bauchi State ANPP
|date = 6 October 2009
|first1 = John Moyibi
|last1 = Amoda
|publisher = Vanguard
|access-date = 14 December 2009
|archive-date = 7 December 2009
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091207212203/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/10/06/coup-against-bauchi-state-anpp-4/
|url-status = live
}}
Later career
Mohammed Goni was a member of the committee that drafted the 1995 Constitution.
In the April 2003 general elections he ran on the United Nigeria People's Party (UNPP) platform as vice-presidential candidate with Jim Nwobodo as the presidential candidate. They were not elected.
In January 2011 he was elected by PDP delegates in Borno state to be their gubernatorial flag-bearer in the April 2011 elections.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{BornoStateGovernors}}
{{State governors in the Nigerian Second Republic}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goni, Mohammed}}
Category:Governors of Borno State
Category:Great Nigeria People's Party politicians
Category:Unity Party of Nigeria politicians