By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) met President Muhammadu Buhari behnd closed-doors in the State House on Tuesday.
Gowon who spoke with State House correspondents after the meeting, said he was in the Presidential Villa to discuss the state of the nation with the President.
The former leader said he discussed the specific issues of Chibok girls, militancy in the Niger Delta and the state of economy with President Buhari.
“We discussed the general affairs of the country, the problems of the country, his fight against corruption, and all the efforts that he is making to deal with it and of course, the impatience of the public to see results of the fight which have yet to be found, since people have not been prosecuted yet, that would soon begin,”
He expressed support for the ongoing battle against corruption and the efforts to rescue the Chibok school girls from Boko Haram captivity.
“These are some of the issues we talked about, 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 set backs to the country both nationally and internationally and then of course the current situation about the Chibok girls and the efforts the government us making to rescue them.
He said the government needed to get credible information about the whereabout if the girls and also those that would assist the government achieve that, 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, certain credibility must be established of our sources on information on their location, but as at yet, no one knows where these girls are, and all these information that you have been getting, I don’t know their sources, but all efforts at engaging the international media and sources are necessary so that this matter can be resolved once and for all,” he said.
Gowon blamed the fall in global oil price and the activities of Niger Delta militants for the ongoing hardship in the country, expressing hope that issues will be resolved soon.
“Again we talked generally on the country and efforts the government is making to give the people what they want to see that they have money, but please remember we used to sell petroleum at $ 150 per barrel, but what is it today?
Its merely around $ 30 per barrel and the amount of crude oil we used to produce was over 2 million, it has gone down to about one million because of the problem we have been having with people blowing pipelines in the Niger Delta area.
So we have problem and there isn’t enough money to be able to go round. So very soon, with the efforts the government is making to get things back to normal, making contacts with the Avengers and other aggrieved militants in the Niger Delta’ who are creating havoc there, we hope that all will be well soon,” Gowon said.
