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Gowon meets Buhari, discusses nation’s challenges

By Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja
24 August 2016   |   1:08 am
Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon yesterday met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja where they discussed national security, the economy and the fight against corruption.
Yakubu Gowon

Yakubu Gowon

Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon yesterday met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja where they discussed national security, the economy and the fight against corruption.

The meeting with the former leader preceded the visit of the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry. After the meeting, Gowon told journalists that he was at the State House to brief the President on his forthcoming vacation to the United Kingdom and the U.S, where he is plans to organise programmes of his ‘Nigeria Prays’ project.

Giving the details of his discussions with the President, Gowon said: “We discussed the general affairs of the country, the challenges of the nation, his fight against corruption and all the efforts he is making to deal with these issues. And of course, the impatience of the public to see results of the efforts, since no one has been prosecuted yet for corruption charges. But this would begin soon.

“One appreciates his efforts and determination to rid the country of corruption, which is one of the problems that have held the country down and has created serious setbacks for the nation both nationally and internationally.”

The former leader, who also spoke on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, appreciated the efforts of the present administration towards ensuring their release. He said: “I believe that the government is certainly determined to ensure that a number of these girls are brought back home safely as soon as possible. To achieve that we must have credible sources of information about their location. But no one knows where these girls are now, and all this information that you have been getting, I don’t know their sources.”

He appealed to the people to be patient with the current government, saying the economic downturn affecting the administration is caused by the dwindling revenue from oil.According to him: “The amount of crude oil we produce was over two million barrels but now it has gone down to about one million because of the crises in the Niger Delta.”

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