Jonathan: I never thought I’d sit with Gowon in Council of State

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said he could never have imagined being in the same meeting as an ex-President with former head of state, Yakubu Gowon.

 

“I said Gowon was a very young man, young, but then, he was the Head of State when I was in primary 5. Then, Diete-Spiff was our first military governor (Rivers State), A very young man at 24. When I was in primary 5, I couldn’t have imagined that one day, I would be a retired president, sitting with Gowon in the Council of State meeting.”

 

The ex-President further commended Gowon for his contributions to keeping Nigeria one during his tenure as Head of State.

 

The former President made this disclosure on Thursday at the International Conference Centre, Abuja during the public presentation of the autobiography of elder statesman, Edwin Clark.

 

Titled, “Brutally Frank,” the book tells the story of a man who became a Commissioner for Education in the defunct Mid-West Region in 1967 at the invitation of the then Governor, Col Samuel Ogbemudia, and rose to become Federal Commissioner for Information.

 

Dignitaries at the event included the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi; the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Senate President Godwin Akpabio; former Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen TY Danjuma (retd.), who is the chief launcher and a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Victor Attah.

 

Also at the event are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; former Edo State Governor, Osarenwen Osunbor; and ex-Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, among others.