Former Military Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon, was spotted at the Presidential Villa Abuja on Wednesday, where he engaged in frank talks with President Bola Tinubu on the prevailing economic situation in the country.
Gowon, while chatting with journalists after the private visit to the seat of power, said criticisms being channelled to Tinubu’s administration were not unusual for any Nigerian leader, noting that citizens should also give the President ample time to address the challenging issues.
The ex-military ruler said part of his visit to Tinubu centered on the political crisis within ECOWAS, especially with Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali now being controlled by military juntas.
He said he gave valuable lessons to the President on how the issues could be addressed once and for all.
Gowon said, “This is my first visit to Mr. President since the inauguration, but I was there at the inauguration to wish him well and all success. If you remember how busy he was after that, visitors, members of the government, various personalities, so it was not possible for me to see him. After that, I had to travel abroad, but from abroad, he was able to reach me on my birthday and after that interesting social media report that I was dead.
“But when I came back, I made a number of efforts, but unfortunately, I think because of his busy programme, it was not possible for me to see him.
“But luckily enough, this time he was able to give me the opportunity to see him and to discuss various matters, especially the issue of the ECOWAS problem at the moment, which I think needs to be resolved. And being the surviving leader or founding father of ECOWAS, I think we had to discuss some of his plans in order to see what can be done to bring the matter under control.
“So, this is what has brought me here, and we had a very interesting meeting, and I’m sure some of you have read reports that I refused to attend the ECOWAS conference, isn’t it? Is it you who did that report? Who did that? You know, I was trying to give the impression that it was me who was probably trying to sabotage ECOWAS. No, that is not the case. I think there was a miscommunication, but then it gave the opportunity for Mr. President to call me so that we could discuss what I was to do.
“So, the ECOWAS meeting was part of the discussion we had today. So that has been done and solved, and I hope that we can probably be able to have that message done later today at ECOWAS headquarters. Probably by 5 pm, they will let you know.”
On his advice to Mr President about the current economic hardship in the country, he said, “Well, I was telling him that no Nigerian leader can get there and will not have all the reports of what is being said about him. But certainly, there’s no doubt from what one hears and what one sees on the various media.
“I think the government is trying their best to deal with the various problems of the country, but with Nigerians? Don’t you worry, you will get criticised, but people who get there know better than you know. I think all one can say is that Nigerians, we’ve got to give the president time to get things really done. And it is too early to sort of say absolute result, perfect result will be achieved now. That is my opinion.
“I know and if I can remember, when I was fighting the war I was told I was too slow and that probably Nigeria cannot make it and that we should now seek for discussion. Well, did we do it or not? They probably do not know the problem underground so that is where we are.”
