Aper Aku

Aper Aku was a Nigerian educator and politician who became the first civilian Governor of Benue State, elected in October 1979 and re-elected in October 1983, before being removed from office by the December 1983 military coup. He died in November 1988, shortly after being released from post-coup detention.

Aku was born in 1938 in Ikyobo, Ushongo Local Government Area, Benue State.

He attended Aku Primary School (1943-47) and Mkar Secondary School (1948-51), followed by Government College, Keffi (1952-57), the Nigeria College of Arts and Science / Ahmadu Bello University (1958-61), and Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone (1961-64), before completing a postgraduate education course at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1965-66).

Aku taught at William Bristow Secondary School, Gboko (1964), before joining the Federal Ministry of Establishment's External Aid for Education programme (1968) and serving as Principal of the Federal Training Centre, Kaduna (1970-72). He served on the Governing Council of the University of Ibadan (1972-76) and as Chairman of the Kwande Local Government Council (1977, resigning in 1978).

Aku was elected Governor of Benue State on the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) platform in October 1979 and was re-elected in October 1983. He was removed from office by the military coup of December 1983 and detained until shortly before his death.

Benue State's first civilian, executive Governor, elected and re-elected during Nigeria's Second Republic.

As Benue State's first executive civilian Governor, Aku was a founding figure of the state's Second Republic politics.

• 1938 — Born at Ikyobo, Ushongo Local Government Area
• 1972-1976 — Member, Governing Council, University of Ibadan
• October 1979 — Elected Governor of Benue State
• October 1983 — Re-elected Governor of Benue State
• December 1983 — Removed from office by military coup
• November 1988 — Died shortly after release from detention

• Photo: Kalush21, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Gov._Aper_Aku.jpg).