Victoria Zakari Gowon married General Yakubu Gowon at Lagos Cathedral on 19 April 1969 — the wedding of the wartime Head of State while the Biafra war was still being fought.
Her public work during the civil war and reconstruction centred on Nigerian Red Cross relief operations. She accompanied her husband into exile in the United Kingdom after the 1975 coup and remains active in alumnae and church work.