Gowon meets Buhari over Chibok girls matter

7 years ago

Gowon meets Buhari over Chibok girls matter

A former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.) on Tuesday met with President Muhammadu Buhari over a number of national issues.

The issues discussed by the two leaders included the fate of the girls abducted in their school in Chibok, Borno State, in 2014, the President’s ongoing anti-corruption war and the violence being unleashed on the Niger Delta by members of the Niger Delta Avengers.

Gowon spoke to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, which was held inside the President’s office.

He said he seized the opportunity of the meeting to pay his respect to the President and inform him of his plan to travel out of the country on holiday as well as for his programme, Nigeria Prays, holding in the United States and the United Kingdom.

On the current anti-corruption fight, Gowon expressed the belief that Nigerians would soon be seeing the results of ongoing prosecutions.

He said, “I have come to pay my respect to Mr. President and to let him know that I will be going out of the country on holiday and for my programme, Nigeria Prays, in the US and UK.

“We had cause to discuss general affairs of the country, the problems we have in the country and his fight against corruption.

“The expectation of the public is that they want to see result; no one has been found guilty. We believe that will soon begin.”

The former military leader described corruption as one of the major factors creating serious setback for the country.

He also spoke on the Chibok girls, assuring the people that government was committed to ensuring that a number of the girls were rescued.

“You know the current situation of the Chibok girls and the government is trying to get really credible information about the girls.

“The government is certainly determined to make sure that a number of the girls are brought back home as soon as possible.

“What has brought me (here) is about the general situation of the country and what the President is doing to give the people what they want,” he said.

Gowon also reminded Nigerians that there had been a sharp reduction in the nation’s resources because of the drop in oil price and production.

He, however, expressed the belief that government’s efforts aimed at making lives better for the people would soon begin to yield fruits.