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.Urges them to imbibe Gowon’s legacies
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar (rtd), has admonished the political class to abhor corrupt practices in governance, for the growth of democracy and economy.
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In a statement entitled, ‘It is not because I worked For General Yakubu Gowon: It was Something I Saw Firsthand’, released, yesterday, in Kaduna, the civil rights activist condemned the level of corruption among politicians, while charting a clear path of moving the country forward.
He stated: “Please, compare this (government) to the case of former military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon. His nine-year regime was toppled in a military coup on July 29, 1975, while he was attending the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) meeting in Kampala, Uganda.”
Soon after a world press conference during which he magnanimously accepted his ouster and wished his successor, Gen. Murtala Muhammed, success, he called our High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sule Kolo, with a request. Gowon’s wife, Victoria, was in London to shop during the seasonal summer sales when prices of items are reduced. Some believed that he got her out of the way since he had security reports about the likelihood of a coup against his regime.
“His Chief of Staff, Gen. David Ejoor, left the country on vacation after failing to convince the C-in-C to pre-empt the coupists. He asked the high commissioner to check his wife out of her hotel because he could not pay her hotel bills.”
According to Musa, word on Gowon’s travel plan reached heads of states attending the OAU meeting, and one of them volunteered to lend him his presidential plane to fly to the United Kingdom.
Gowon had reportedly sent back his presidential plane, since according to him; he was no more entitled to its use as a former head of state.
Umar criticised the present generation of politicians, pointing out that “this generation of ‘leaders,’ at least, most of them, have strayed.”
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