Joseph Nanven Garba (17 July 1943-1 June 2002) was President of the United Nations' UN General Assembly from 1989 to 1990, succeeding Dante Caputo and preceding Guido de Marco. He was also a politician from Nigeria that took part in the 1975 coup against Yakubu Gowon under Murtala Muhammad.
Biography[]
Joseph Nanven Garba was born on 17 July 1943 in Langtang, Nigeria, and he was educated at the Mons Cadet Officer School in the United Kingdom while serving in the Nigerian Army after 1961. From 1965 to 1966 he served in the United Nations mission to monitor India-Pakistan relations. In 1966, while serving as a Captain, he took part in the July Counter Coup alongside Sani Abacha, Ibrahim Babangida, Murtala Muhammad, Ibrahim Bako, Theophilus Danjuma, and Muhammadu Buhari against Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi's dictatorship, and on 29 July 1975 he led a coup against Yakubu Gowon after he refused to hold elections, leading to Murtala Muhammad becoming president. Garba ensured that the coup was bloodless, and in 1975 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1975, he became Nigeria's representative to the UN General Assembly and was president of the UN Security Council from January 1978, but he was recalled after Olusegun Obasanjo transitioned to civilian rule, and he was head of the military academy for two years. In 1989, he resumed his political career as President of the UN General Assembly for its 44th session, and he spoke out against Apartheid and drug use while promoting international cooperation. He died in 2002 at the age of 58.