Former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon yesterday pleaded with Nigerians to give President Muhammadu Buhari time to fix the country’s problems.
Gowon, who noted that governance was never an easy affair, said: “Nigeria is not an easy place to govern.”
He stressed the need to give any new government in power time to “put things in order”.
The ex-head of state and leader of Nigeria Prays spoke to reporters at the Ikenne home of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, after leading a delegation of the Awolowo Foundation to the family to condole with it on the death of its matriarch, Chief Hannah Idowu Dideolu (HID) Awolowo.
He noted that when he came to power after the death of Maj.-Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, he thought that within three months or six months, his government would be able to sort out all that was wrong with the country at the time, but it soon dawned on him that things could not be done overnight.
Gowon said: “Let me tell you this; it was not easy. When I became Head of State, I hoped that three months, six months the most; we would be done. But when you have problems in a nation, it is not easy to do them overnight. So, you’ve always got to give time and you’ve got to be patient for leaders to be able to get things in order.
“Whenever any government comes in, give them time to be able to put things right. Nigeria is not an easy place to govern.
“I can assure that there are as many problems as there are Nigerians in the world and everybody wants to do things in a particular way, in his own way and probably for his own interest.
“And you think of that; how are you going to get all that put together and put things right? I think we’ve got to be patient and then we got to cooperate with the government to do the right thing.
“Always never be tired in telling the government what needed to be done in order to improve things.”
He noted that his military government would not have been able to achieve much more at a critical period of the nation’s history without the expertise and commitment of the late Chief Awolowo, who was his Finance minister then.
Gowon, who is the chairman, Board of Trustees of the Awolowo Foundation, added that he could not have succeeded in persuading Awolowo to serve in his government, if HID had not influenced her husband into taking the appointment when it was presented.
He said it was a thing of joy to him that God used him to release Awolowo from prison in Calabar, Cross River State, to re-unite with HID and his family, stressing that this might have informed why the late matriarch developed a longstanding family friendship with the Gowons.
The former head of state said: “In paying condolence to mama, you cannot do it without really mentioning papa. And of course, you know that papa was very instrumental to some of our successes in government in those days.
“And how did that come about? It was my fortune and I thank God that it was me that had the opportunity to release papa from prison from Calabar to Lagos and certainly to be able to help us have peace in the West at that time.”
Gowon added that HID was happy and grateful that his administration released Awolowo from prison.
“I can assure you that was what earned me the respect of mama right throughout her life.
“However, what we did was alright. There was also a need to get papa involved and that would probably seal what we wanted to achieve, especially in the West, which was at the time pretty dicey. You’d remember Operation Wetie and then the coup and what not.
“So, we had to seek mama’s support to see if we can get papa to come and join the government to help. And of course, our hope was that when that happened, we would be able to finish as quickly as possible so that we can return to democracy.
“Yes, we really pleaded with mama; she was the one who encouraged papa to accept that invitation and so, for that, we ever remain grateful to her for what she did,” Gowon said.
“You know what happened after then; we had government not totally military, but with some political juggernauts as the saying goes . And we were able to start making a move towards returning to normalcy.
“What people may not know; it was through mama that I was able to get the services of Papa Awolowo to join the government at that time and to be the vice chairman of our Executive Council and the minister for Finance.
“And you all knew what he did to ensure that we were able to survive as a nation during those two and half years of crisis in Nigeria.
“And mama’s contributions really have been tremendous and I will always thank her for that because, if we had not approached her to prevail on papa to join the government, probably he might not have. But he then accepted and he did exceptionally well and may God bless him and may God bless his soul.
“And so, mama as we can see had been exceptionally good in everything she did. She was with papa throughout his political period,” he said.
Gowon addressed the children of the late matriarch of the Awolowo family at the Efunyela Hall within the home on behalf the delegation.
He said the foundation was sad about the passing on of HID Awolowo, describing her as a great and distinguished woman.
The delegation included Prince Bola Ajibola, Chief Arthur Mbanefo, Prof. O .O Akinkungbe, Chief Richard Okafor, Prof. Funmi Soetan, Pa Olanihu Ajayi, and Mr. Olatomiwa Ashaolu among others.
The members were received by Mrs. Omotola Oyediran and Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo
