Former Military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, has denied media reports claiming that he is dead.

But Gowon, in a terse statement on Monday night issued by his spokesman, Adeyeye E. Ajayi, said he is alive, still around and healthy.

The former head of state said he is not in a hurry to die, asking the general public to disregard his rumoured death.

He said: “I am still around and well. I am not in a hurry.”

Gowon is from Lur, a small village in the present Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State.

He was born in October 1934. He joined the Nigerian Army in 1954 and was trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England. He rose to the rank of general in 1966.

He was the head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975, during which time he presided over the Nigerian Civil War.

Gowon led the country during the Nigerian Civil War, which lasted from 1967 to 1970.

After the war, Gowon promised to return Nigeria to civilian rule. However, he was overthrown in a bloodless coup in 1975.