– Gen Yakubu Gowon (rtd) has been accused of plunging Nigeria into the wilderness

– The former head of state had said Nigeria is a nation in the wilderness at the moment

– Dr Jimanze Ego-Alowes in reply to Gowon's comment, says the ex-haed of state did not tell the people how he played a role in the nation's woes

Author and developmental economist, Dr Jimanze Ego-Alowes, has called on Nigerians to hold Gen Yakubu Gowon(rtd) accountable for the present unpalatable state of things in Nigeria.

Gowon is responsible for Nigeria's woes says Dr Jimanze Ego-Alowes

The call comes about 48 hours after the former head of state, Gen Yakubu Gowon (rtd), declared that Nigeria is "walking in the wilderness"

Ego-Alowes, according to the Guardian, accused Gowon and succeeding military dictators of northern extraction of imposing an undeveloped empire-state structure on the country, referring to them as internal colonialists with veto powers to annul the wishes of the rest of the country.

Faulting claims by Gowon's Nigeria Prays pet project that prayer is what the country needs to get out of its political and economic wilderness, he charged the ex-head of state to confer with former dictators to return Nigeria to its pre-1967 national boundaries, when the country was a nation-state, to ensure peace and genuine development.

The public intellectual stated that the creation of multiple states and local councils was the instrument the military dictators deployed to foster imbalance in the country to the disadvantage of the other ethnic nations.

While acknowledging that Gowon was correct in saying that Nigeria was in the wilderness, he blamed the former for failing to tell Nigerians that he was the one that plunged the country into the morass as a former dictator.

According to Ego-Alowes, "General Yakubu Gowon is absolutely correct. Nigeria is in the wilderness. The only point that Gowon forgot to remind us is that it was he, Gowon, who drove and plunged the nation into this wilderness. As a budding dictator, Gowon turned the nation away from the path of civilisation (when he rejected Aburi agreements negotiated with Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu in Ghana in 1967) of a commonly negotiated state and decided that war and the rule of the jungle was the way to build nations.

"However fanciful any party may get, it is a matter of historical record that Gowon and cohorts abjured on the rules of negotiated harmony and imposed those of the reign of terror and war. Perhaps, Gown was driven by a false sense of personal destiny and regional hegemony, or perhaps he naively thought actions have no consequences."

He further argued that Nigeria is currently "living through the manifestations of the historical malevolence of Gowon and advisers in preferring war to negotiation. And we all must acknowledge that no amount of prayer can turn jungle rule into a civilised living. We need to tell ourselves these self-evident truths."

Meanwhile, Gowon has added his voice to the discus on the DSS raid on the residences of some Nigerian judges over the weekend.

Gowon while speaking at the 20th anniversary of the "Nigeria Prays" in Abuja said the security agencies in Nigeria must never be allowed to overstep their boundaries.

Thisday in its report said Gowon urged the federal government not to allow these agencies operate beyond their powers while adding that such action exhibited by the DSS could threaten Nigeria's democracy.


Source:  http://latestnigerianews.com.ng/controversy-revealed-how-gowon-led-nigerian-into-bondage-ego-alowes/