Yakubu Gowon, former head of
state, says he would have made Jos Nigeria’s capital, but for the fear of being
accused of “parochialism and favouritism”.
He said this on Tuesday at the
26th anniversary exhibition and commemoration of the movement of the seat of
government from Lagos to Abuja.
Gowon, who was the head of state
from 1966 to 1975, said the idea of moving the nation’s capital from Lagos to
Abuja was conceived by his government in 1974.
The former head of state said in
the course of his search for a new capital city, he was attracted to somewhere
in Plateau. Gowon is from Kanke local government area in Plateau state.
He said: “One of the places I saw
that attracted me was somewhere in Plateau, those of you who know the place,
especially close to Jos forest, will agree that the area is beautiful and I
thought that place was beautiful for the capital city.
“But I did not make that choice
because I would have been accused of parochialism and favoritism, because it
was very close to my original place where I come from. So I said no, I must
look at other places.
“The search for a new capital
took me around the north-west, and in my state, I continued to look for other
places. When I came to Abuja, I was attracted.”
Gowon said although he was the
brain behind the present federal capital territory, successive governments
failed to name a street in the city after him.
“I had to officially complain to
General Ibrahim Babangida when he was the military president, that I have been
excluded from getting a street named after me in Abuja, while all other members
of the military council who nurtured the idea, had got streets name after
them,” he said.
Abuja was made Nigeria’s capital
on December 12, 1991.
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Yes, you were excluded from the recognition because you were only a tool in the hands of Hausa/Fulani Muslims who used you to crush Easterners and began the process of relocation of Federal government from Lagos. You have been used and dumped!
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