Ndubuisi Godwin Kanu was a Nigerian military officer and state governor. Early in his career, he fought for the Biafran side in the Nigerian Civil War and in July 1975 he was appointed to Murtala Muhammed's Supreme Military Council. After military president Olusegun Obasanjo came to power Kanu was appointed military governor of Imo State and then Lagos State. Returning to the military, he served with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. In retirement, he was a pro-democracy campaigner and called for decentralisation of power and increased federalism.

Imo State is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo River which flows along the state's eastern border. The state capital is Owerri and the State's slogan is the "Eastern Heartland."